Why does Texas support McCain? And why do the other red states support McCain?

"A man younger than 30 who's not a liberal has no heart and a man older than 30 who's not a conservative has no brain."

Winston Churchill

 

You do know that while he was a POW that McCain disowned his country, confessed to war crimes, and helped the North Vietnamese set up defensive positions for future air raids and escape routes of U.S. Navy bombers?

 

I bet if someone pulled out your fingernails one at a time they could get you to say that stuff too.

 

I don't think the point was to bash McCain for what he did under torture. I think the point is to make sure people aren't pretending and acting like McCain never gave in while he was in captivity.

 

Although generally true, old people are more conservative than young ones, this ignores the reality of political brand loyalty, so to speak, to use the relevant advertising terminology. Party identification for an entire generation of young people exposed to the utter failure of Bush/Republican poliicies are voting Democratic right now. Not all, but many will remain loyal over the years. Democratic self-identification is up moderately; Republican self-identification is far, far down, based on polling. Though we won't have the proof till election day, there are reportedly ginormous increases in youth registration, the vast majority of which will go Obama/downballot Dems.

This is the equivalent of Cheerios marketing their brand with cartoon honey bees. Once you get 'em young, you'll have 'em for many, many a year. or, in this case, potentially thirty-forty years of elections. (Until, that is, their teeth fall out and they're reduced to Metamucil-infused Republican oatmeal.)

Sure. Democrats, if they get 60 Senators, have two years to pass their agenda through. I also see a civil war brewing between the religious fundamentalists and the flat taxers, to borrow the good shorthand, Dobsons vs. Norquists, and probably a rightward shift of the Republicans while out of power. And yes, the Democrats will overreach, probably sooner than later, and they'll be voted out if they do.

I could not disagree more with government always "mess[ing] it up." Federal highways, FDA, public education system, national defense. Outsourcing government functions to private industries has brought us nothing but trouble. Perceived efficiencies of the private sector are usually nullified by failures in the bidding processes and the bribery of elected officials to win bloated contracts. Then, with outsourced government functions, you get all of government's perceived inefficiencies, now with shareholders' profit motives. See Halliburton.

Split government is good when nothing needs to get done, as nothing substantial will. However, we're pretty much in crisis mode, as a result of the Republicans' single party government over much of Bush's term. Looking back at history, we're in FDR territory. One needs a single party in order to right the ship of state, to pass actual reforms. Two or four years from now, hopefully we can go back to divided government, as that means Dems will have pushed their reforms through.

 

To put it simply, there are a few microcosms of culture w/in the US. The 'red vs blue' is one way of grouping them.

 

I have to disagree with many of you, especially with the notion that Texans are republicans because they are racists. Not that we don't have our share, but it is pretty offensive to say it is so prevalent that it swings the whole state red.

I think Texans are republicans because they are genuinely conservative and in agreement with the ideological underpinnings of that party. There is a strong contingent of morality voters that agree with the GOP about things like abortion. But, in Texas I think the stronger tug is capitalism. There is a strong belief in the efficiency of the market, in the inefficiency of government, in entrepreneurialism, and in rugged individualism. I think it is a strawman to say people are or aren't voting their self-interest by voting republican when they are actually voting their ideology. It's too simple to say the rich are voting their pocketbooks or that the poor should be.

 

One thing you have to realize is that even more than ideology, texas has really done well economically over the past 10 years at least, being immune to any economic problems that have affected the rest of the country.

That combined with this is a fairly strong conservative base, less government, less taxes, and bible belt, it will be hard to break the grip. These republicans will go down with the ship (this funny, there was a woman on the elevator with me with a mccain/palin pin).

Where the party is going to crumble is with the reagan democrats who they've been very good at catering to. These are the people who will look at the economic situation and decide there needs to be a new direction.

 

I'm not saying most Republicans are racists. Far from it. However, many people inherit their political affiliation from their parents. Vestiges of racism combine with its current practice.

Why did all of the South, including Texas, switch from heavily Democratic to heavily Republican in a matter of a few short years? Did rugged individualism switch parties?

Or, is it the remnants of the Southern Strategy Nixon exploited?

Nixon strategist:

 

Research shows positives and negatives for everyone. Everyone wants to post blame, but the only truth is that everything is based on opinion when it comes to politics.

Obama will have his way with this country because of a growing liberal congress. Assuming a full blown depression doesn't incur, the next president is likely to be in office for 8 years and be given credit for leading us out of an economic recession, even if they really had little to do with it.

The democrats will blame Bush if the bailout doesn't work, and will take credit if the economy bounces back because they pushed it. It works that way with both parties. I can't believe any of you trust either candidate. How many times to you have to be lied to by politicians to learn that they all lie to you.

I vote Republican because at least I believe they give me a chance to control my life. I want more control over my decisions, not less.

 

See, this is the fallacy that I am talking about.

The Patriot act took away your freedoms....the bailout is taking away your money, the Iraqi war is taking away American lives.

The Republican party is one big sham....they have done NOTHING that they said they would do...

If there was a common sense party that had a chance I would toss both the Republicans and democrats out on their collective arses.

Bring back the federalist party....ugh.

DD

 

How much more control over your life has GW Bush given you? How much more do you have when he has grown the govt. larger than ever even so called liberals. He has allowed the government to spy on your phone calls. How is that more control? How is it more control that he would allow the government to lock you up and send you gitmo without saying what the charges are against you, and without you having access to speedy trial?

The republicans even want to take hold of marriage and make sure that only some marriage are legal.

I will vote for Democrats because at least they will give me more control of my life.

 

dont underestimate the pretentious population who think they are "informed" but just blow hot air like novak blows defensive assignments

 

I wasn't referring to you, actually, and I think your point is more nuanced than just calling me and all my countrymen racists. But, I do think the Democrats left the South, ideologically, by embracing social progressivism that left the religious and morally conservative out in the cold. And, I think the perspective of Texans towards capitalism and business has changed in the intervening time as we took the oil money and built a sophisticated and robust economy. That the Democrats also became the party for minorities certainly didn't help them around Texas, but I don't think it had to play out that way.

 

Fair enough. I think the bad rap progressives have gotten cannot easily be disentangled from progressives' fight for minority and equal rights, but I take your point. I also believe the focus of religious conservatives is mostly too narrow, often strictly on abortion, that Democratic social policies more ably represent the "Love thy neighbor" factor.

Probably been posted before, but I liked Morey's take on Houston's anti-zoning laws, kind of the libertarian zenith of the government-don't-tread-on-me ideology: Zone Defense: Strip Malls with Actual Strippers

 

This is what the uneducated tell themselves because they don't want to research the issues.

DD

 

And you realize Winston Churchill drank brandy for breakfast for 50 years, right?

 

Spying on my phone calls doesn't affect my life. I think Social Security is forced upon me. Let me decide how to handle my retirement. I think I should have limitless healthcare options and not be subject to National Healthcare(Thinking more Hillary than Obama there). I want to choose how I spend my money.

Does the government do a good job with your money? When is the last time they did? Hasn't been in my lifetime. Cut goverment programs, cut spending. Why is it that everybody points toward George Bush? George Bush must be the Republican that rules us, and we all must be in line with him. Don't look now, but it is the democrats that have sided with him recently.

 

It isn't just Bush. Bush and the GOP congress didn't cut spending for 6 years.

If you think that the modern GOP will cut spending then I don't know what to tell you. There isn't any recent history of them doing that.

You can say that govt. spying on you doesn't affect you, or the fact that they can detain you and not send you to trial etc. and that's fine if you are OK with it. But you have no idea how future administrations will use this power.

Again if you are OK with it, then why choose America? I love our nation because of our constitution and the rights we have. I don't like giving up my freedoms.

 

brandy...a very conservative choice in those days...