Is The Party Over For Republicans?

The Nation: In The Past Two Years, The GOP's Dream Of A Permanent Majority Has Become A Nightmare

(The Nation)  This column was written by Eyal Press.

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Two long years ago, veteran political reporter Thomas Edsall published Building Red America: The New Conservative Coalition and the Drive for Permanent Power. In the course of several hundred fluidly argued, thoroughly dispiriting pages, Edsall threw a wet blanket on the hopes of Democrats who thought their party stood a fighting chance of wresting power back from Karl Rove & Co. Republicans were more ruthless, more unified and more generously bankrolled by big business, Edsall maintained, in addition to being inordinately savvier. He was, of course, hardly alone in this view. "Republican hegemony in America is now expected to last for years, maybe decades," crooned conservative writer Fred Barnes after the 2004 election. "We are in a tremendous amount of trouble," sighed a glum Democratic chairman in the New York Times that same fall.

Although the Democrats may still find a way to lose the election in November, no serious observer would suggest today that it would be because they succumbed to an indomitable foe. Less than a full election cycle after Rove's "permanent majority" was said to be upon us, Bush's approval ratings have sunk to the lowest level of any President since presidential job-approval ratings were introduced. Republicans in Congress are streaming for the exits. Surveys show young voters identifying as Democrats over Republicans by double-digit margins, and the 81 percent of Americans who believe the country is seriously "on the wrong track" have conservatives wondering aloud whether Rove's dream has become a nightmare.

"Without change we could face a catastrophic election this fall," warned former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in a May 6 article on the website of the journal Human Events. His prognosis is echoed in several new books written by conservatives that come wrapped in optimistic packaging about how the situation may be righted with the proper adjustments but that are full of gloomy pronouncements about the disaster to come if the same tired formula is pursued. "A generation of young Americans has been lost to our party," worries former Bush speechwriter David Frum in Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again, the content of which is far less sanguine than the title suggests. "Conservatives have conspicuously failed to earn [Americans'] trust on most domestic policy questions," write journalists Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam in Grand New Party, which argues that Bush's plutocratic policies have begun to alienate even many on the right.

The chastened tone of these books is striking in a movement that could scarcely have sounded more sure of itself a few years ago, when the myriad factions of the Republican Party--libertarians, opponents of abortion, champions of big business, neocons--appeared to be marching in lockstep to Karl Rove's tune. Now Republicans are hurling blame at Bush for betraying conservative principles as they search about for scapegoats. "Everyone is sniping at each other," a member of the House Republican Conference recently told Politico shortly after the GOP lost a special election in Louisiana's 6th District, a seat it had held since 1975. The defeat came on the heels of a similar setback in March in Illinois, in the district formerly represented by Dennis Hastert. These turnovers, and a widely anticipated special election loss on May 13 in Mississippi, cast a grim shadow over a recent meeting on Capitol Hill where Tom Cole, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, warned members there were no resources to "save" incumbents facing well-heeled Democratic challengers.

To some degree, strategic and philosophical tensions among conservatives are nothing new. The priorities of Friedrich von Hayek devotees and James Dobson fans, to say nothing of pro-empire neoconservatives and isolationist paleocons, have never been neatly aligned. In many ways, it's a wonder such disparate groups ever found a home in the same party. Yet every time hopes have risen on the left that the various strands of the conservative coalition might unravel, these hopes have been dashed. The conservative movement that has reshaped the political landscape over the past four decades has proven resilient and enviably adept at pressing forward with an agenda that never seems to moderate. Will now be any different? Will the conservative crackup under Bush come to be seen as a minor detour on the right's steady march to power? Or will it bring an era to a close?

Some who see a lasting realignment under way point to demographic factors, in particular the growing numbers of Hispanics, Asians, professional women and unmarried people who have joined the electorate in recent years and to whom the GOP has done little to endear itself. But while the number of registered Republicans has been falling steadily, more Americans still identify themselves as conservative than liberal. The main problem facing the conservative movement is not demographic. It is doctrinal. It is the problem that confronts any insurgency whose heady idealism comes crashing up against reality once power is seized.

For forty years, the most important trait of conservatives of all stripes has been their unshakable conviction that their vision and their ideas are right. Moral permissiveness, a feckless foreign policy, a welfare-dependent underclass: all the viruses that had infected the body politic under the stewardship of liberals would be cured if only conservatives were given a chance. The right was united above all in its belief that a new Eden would dawn when Americans were liberated from the tyranny of government, whose intrusive hands reached unwarrantedly into every aspect of citizens' lives (save, of course, the bedroom, where those hands were needed to prevent overly liberated citizens from indulging the wrong impulses). When Bill Clinton ended welfare and declared that the era of big government was over, the argument seemed to have been cinched: at long last, even Democrats had come to realize the folly of their ways. But something funny happened on the way to making the revolution complete: when Republicans were finally given the opportunity to free the citizenry from the chains of the Leviathan state, the result was crony capitalism, fiscal recklessness and bumbling incompetence on an unprecedented scale. The opportunity to govern without interference from liberals came, and the consequences--in New Orleans, in Baghdad, in neighborhoods ravaged by housing foreclosures, in levels of inequality unmatched since the Gilded Age--have been calamitous.

Conservatives stunned by this turn of events shouldn't be: it's not exactly shocking that a party committed to the idea that government is the problem did not appoint qualified experts to run agencies like FEMA. Or that a party that views the market as a solution to everything found a way to disburse no-bid contracts to the likes of Halliburton and tax cuts to billionaires in the midst of a war. Yet the idea that Republicans could shrink the bloated government down to size without compromising the national interest--indeed, while enhancing freedom--has proved anything but easy to rebut. Ronald Reagan won landslide victories by promising to get big government off ordinary Americans' backs. Democrats were routinely pilloried as "tax-and-spend liberals" who poured voters' hard-earned savings into outmoded social programs that only exacerbated the problems they promised to solve.

It took Bush's ruinous tenure to illustrate that there are some problems--predatory lending, escalating energy costs, natural disasters--for which the government is a necessary remedy and, perhaps, to persuade less affluent voters to think twice before aligning themselves with the Republican Party against "liberal elites." For several decades, Republicans have succeeded in luring such voters into their ranks not merely by promising to lower their taxes but also by tapping into their cultural anxieties on issues like gay marriage, abortion and guns. A few years ago, one would have been hard-pressed to find a pundit in the country who didn't think this strategy was working. Indeed, the evidence suggested as much: in 2004, for example, white working-class women with annual household incomes between $30,000 and $50,000 backed Republicans by a margin of 60 to 39 percent. Their support helped Bush carry crucial blue-collar states like Ohio. Soon thereafter, Time magazine named Bush its Person of the Year.

Two years later, however, this same group of female voters swung to the Democrats, and just like that the GOP majority in Congress was gone. The shift undoubtedly had something to do with growing disenchantment over the war in Iraq. But it's also possible that, at a time when more and more Americans are vulnerable to the dislocations of an increasingly volatile economy, the right's pro-family, antigovernment rhetoric has worn thin. The paradox of championing stability and traditional values, on the one hand, and unfettered capitalism, on the other, is apparently no longer something only liberals find odd. In a cover story in National Review, Ramesh Ponnuru and Richard Lowry observed that on domestic issues "it is almost impossible to exaggerate the Democratic advantage" and warned that ignoring the economic anxieties of working-class voters who've been absorbed into the GOP could prove fatal. "We don't have to support 'universal coverage' on health care," they wrote. "But we ought to talk more about health care than about the budget." Douthat and Salam agree, citing a Pew survey conducted in 2005 that divided the electorate into nine discrete categories. Voters in several of the conservative groups expressed criticism of big business and support for more government involvement to address the economic risks facing families, even if this required paying higher taxes. On domestic issues, they conclude, the Republican Party "isn't just out of touch with the country as a whole; it's increasingly out of touch with its own base."

[johnpatrick9]

Excellent article..many of us always knew they were nuts.

[chazzone]

America has become a nation of ill informed children who have no idea what it takes to make life work. In fact they are so spoiled that they think that what we have is somehow bad.
Freedom isn''t free, yet they feel that they can just give away what our fathers and grandfathers died for.
The Republicans are int rouble because they have no backbone, and instead of standing up for what is right and disputing the lies of the Leftist media, have allowed these lies to poison the minds of the dumb masses.
In short order we will all be "Red" states, and I don''t mean Republican.

our freedom will be gone, our economy in shambles (not the little blip we see today), and America will finally be gone...Vote Obama for change, indeed.

[quatermass2]

What this article doesn''t state clearly and up front is that the Republicans, and Bush Jr. in particular, were in increasing troubles right through August 2001, and were it not for 9/11, it is entirely probable that they would have lost the House (they''d already lost the Senate in a special appointment) in 2002, and lost the Presidency in 2004. Bush''s disapproval rating had climbed steadily until it reached a high of 40% in August 2001, while his approval rating had dropped consistently and steadily to 50% that month. (His unprecedented month-long vacation in the middle of Nowheresville, Texas, had a lot to do with that.) After 9/11, and the imposition of martial law on Republicans in Congress, they had a free ride on anything they wanted. Did they end up working for national unity? Hell, no - anything BUT. They used 9/11 as a wedge issue to get even MORE power, but for no discernable GOOD, at least, not any good for anyone not in the top 1% of income. Instead, it was war and profiteering by the connected. The whole tawdry excusion through the disgusting "patriot games" of the last 7 years has been an aberration, and never could have resulted in a "permanent Republican majority", at least, not without additional levels of propaganda and intimidation.

[trillion1]

The republicans are in trouble because they put big business above the needs of Americans.

[noloyalisti]

Yes the GOP and their conservative backers raping the middle class and American consumers. Lying their way into invasions and occupations for oil, depraved activities while campaigning against them. Spying and torturing and locking up dissenters without charges. Gutting the constitution so they can be lawless and greedy and We the People have no recourse for retribution. Yes,it''s been quite a party for them.

[wooleywews]

The reason is the Republican Party left the true principals of the United States. 1) Balance budgets 2) Financial responsibility 3) Less government 4) personal responsibility by the people instead relying on the government%u2014Nanny state.
The principals are correct---- The current Republican Leadership is weak.---- Why do you think a Moderate John McCain was picked by the Republican voters? Because the Conservatives failed us. The principals are correct%u2014the people are wrong!

[jsl45]

I have always considered myself a conservative until Shrub the Dumbnificent and Darth Cheney came along....this time around the republicans could run Jesus Christ for President and I wouldn''t vote for him......republicans no longer have conservatives principals; they spend money like drunk sailors, have been responsible for increasing the size of the government, have a disasterous nation building foreign policy, have ignored the constitution, ignored the Geneva Convention, and been responsible for the torture, holding enemy combtants without good reason or evidence...the list is just too long...I don''t know when I''ll be able to ever vote for a repulblican again.....what a MESS they have created.

[terrapin78]

The Repugs are gone because they work for SPECIAL INTERESTS instead of the AMERICAN PEOPLE!

I am PROUDLY voting for Obama!

[wogerwabbit]

Posted by jsl45 at 04:20 PM

amen

[aldon61]

Like a previous poster, I was a long time republican , having cast my first presidential vote for Barry Goldwater in 1964. For the first time ever, I voted for a democrat, Al Gore in 2000, due in part to the way George W. managed the state of Texas. Like he did when he became president, he inherited a large surplus when he became our Governor. Guess what? It was gone in 1 year flat! I believe it took him a little longer to squander the national surplus. The man is run by cronies, and only is interested in one thing....the accumulation of wealth for he and his insiders. Now the brush has expanded our government, driven our national debt to epic levels, invaded a nation, allowed torturing of prisoners, lied to the american people over 900 times, and has tried to rape our environment in pursuit of oil (more money). Our infrastructure has been ignored, our relationships with our allies is at an all time low, and to top it all off, the republicans in congress have been enablers to this mad man! Are the republicans in trouble come November? Yeah, I think so!

[dmgenet]

The "party" was over as soon Repubs started getting indicted and Bush''s so-called foreign policy continued to fall apart. It''s not supposed to be a party but obviously a lot of corporations and some foreign countries thinks so. Too bad.

[dmgenet]

RE: the comments "Posted by aldon61 at 04:52 PM : May 22, 2008"

A big fat DITTO.... Thanks

[wooleywews]

The Repugs are gone because they work for SPECIAL INTERESTS instead of the AMERICAN PEOPLE!

I am PROUDLY voting for Obama!

How about the principals of smaller government? Less intrusion. Big Government Pries into individuals lives of others. You say The Repug worked for special Interest. Are you sure that Obama does not work for different Special interest- those that would benefit from larger government. Example, currently for every one dollar that is collected for welfare programs only 28 cents is received by the individual. How does Obama expect to hold or reduce cost on national health care if this is the best return the government can provide? This is why Obama is starting to develop a disconnect from some voters because he speaks about hope and change but there are not specific details on how this Change will be bought about. This is a serious question and it is not about attacking Obama.

[joyous88]

the republicons are the new fascists, the new nazis,

hitler was a good christian just like bush and mcsame,

all the republicons care abouit is making money they

are anti-american, they should be illegal, not that

they care about the law or the constitution.

[godseyesore-2009]

Let''s all hope it''s over. Those idiotic, evil, immoral, sanctimonious, nazi, doltheads have done more harm to US than any terrorism. They deserve to rot in history''s extreme condemnation. If you voted for them, you have to bear some of the embarrassing responsibility henceforth.

[Razzl]

The fundamental impulse of conservatism is authoritarian, or paternalistic, if you like; Government is the natural tool for expressing those impulses, so it''s interesting that the conservatives'' bitter and long-lasting defeat by Roosevelt and the New Deal led them to conclude that, since they couldn''t convince the public to hand them control of government, government must be a creature of liberalism and therefore the enemy. They could not have been more wrong, as Bushes'' success in harnessing government to authoritarianism shows, but he simply didn''t know what to do with it once he had it. This fundamental error about government is what cost the conservatives their era, and we should all be thankful for it...

[bluestardad]

STICK A FORK IN THE REPIGS THEY ARE DONE!

START IRAQ WAR CRIMES TRIALS NOW!

LOOK AT THE REAL REASON AMERICA KEEPS FUNDING AND FIGHTING IN THE MIDDLE EAST!

AMERICA STAND UP OR SHUT UP!

[babooph]

The religous groups were easy targets for slick low grade politicos-they already believe an invisible man in the sky controls them-Reps of high integrity should have stopped this abuse long ago & all would be well today for them !!

[glock4me]

Keep it up libs and us conservatives will give you all BRAIN CANCER!!! Bwu-ha-ha!!

[irliberal]

Posted by Glock4me at 07:09 PM :

It is posts like these that make me think that the entire republican party is arrested at the 6th grade maturity level.

[ramos937]

Let''s see: (1) The country is againist the Iraq War for reasons too numerous to be counted here. The GOP is in favor of it. (2) Minorities are made to feel unwelcome by the GOP. Witness the punitive immigrant legislation sponsored by exclusively GOP office holders. And notice the lack of black or brown or yellow faces at McCain''s events. (3) Gas is at an all time high and the GOP defends big oil. (4) Under the GOP, the national debt went from a public $5 trillion (incurred by all of the administrations up to Bush the son) to over $10 trillion under George W. and the Republican congress.

Yep, I would say the party is over for the GOP as a national party.

[glock4me]

Posted by Glock4me at 07:09 PM :

It is posts like these that make me think that the entire republican party is arrested at the 6th grade maturity level.


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Posted by IRLiberal at 07:25 PM : May 22, 2008



Here''s something else for you to think about... my vote counts as much as yours does. (Dude, is your head starting to hurt?)

[perceptions5]

Well one thing is for sure Obama won''t win the white house in November.

Seems his pal and pastor, Rev. Wright, has scared the hell out of "white Democrat" voters.

Obama hasn''t won the white democrat vote since February before Rev. Wrights racist rants were exposed. Obama did win a slight majority of voters in the elite liberal state of Oregon, which isn''t America.

Unfortunately the Democrats are "stuck" with Obama now and couldn''t nominate Hillary if they wanted to.

And the reason why they can''t is because of the color of Obama''s skin.

And that just some "straight talk" for you folks.

Something you would never see the flamming left-wing liberals that make up the staff at The Nation "ever" write about.

Because, they to, are in-the-tank for Obama.

So The Nation will censor, distort, lie, and smear in order to "promote and prop up" their hero, Obama.

Sad.............

[glock4me]

Posted by perceptions5 at 08:24 PM : May 22, 2008

Perceptions5, well said. There is a lot of truth in what you said and you said it better than I ever could.

If Hillary is nominated there will be h3ll to pay with black democrats and if Obama is nominated the dems face likely defeat. Further, the PC culture (created in large part by liberal elements of society) has made it nearly impossible to discuss some of the issues behind this democrat problem.

The conservative dislike for McCain''s moderate-to-liberal stance on certain issues could also be a problem, but the republicans have an easier problem than the democrats.

[rafterman1]

===in the elite liberal state of Oregon, which isn''''t America.===
posted by peerception5

Last I checked, there were 50 states and they were all America.

If America is ever defeated, it won''t be by terrorists or Muslims. It will be from within by people like you, who seem to think that people who don''t think just like you aren''t Americans, that they are somehow "the enemy". Now that is truely sad.

But based on all the special elections you neocons keep losing, it seems that there are a lot of places in this country that "aren''t America".

[nbrdknkldgr]

And that just some "straight talk" for you folks.

Something you would never see the flamming left-wing liberals that make up the staff at The Nation "ever" write about.

Because, they to, are in-the-tank for Obama.

So The Nation will censor, distort, lie, and smear in order to "promote and prop up" their hero, Obama.

Sad.............

Posted by perceptions5 at 08:24 PM : May 22, 2008




Here is some straight talk for you...Obama getting into the white house will largely depend on who he picks as a running mate, and I guarantee you that it won''t be Hillary, and that''s sad because she shot herself in the foot long time ago!

[nbrdknkldgr]

They stole enough $$$ from this country so they''ll have at least 8 years to crawl back into their caves to count it!

[rafterman1]

===disputing the lies of the Leftist media, have allowed these lies to poison the minds of the dumb masses.===
Posted by chazzone

Wha lies would that be? That we are in an unending, bloody war in Iraq? That gas prices are through the roof? That jobs are flowing overseas? That a ressession is brewing? That people are losing homes more than ever before? That the dollar continues to plunge? That our prestige in the world is at an all-time low? That Bush is president and that Congress was under Republican control six of the last eight years? That those in charge should be made responsible for the problems we have? Exactly what lies are you referring to?

[ubrew12]

The book "What''s the matter with Kansas - how conservatives won the heart of America'' describes the puzzling appeal of Republicans among working-class Americans fairly well.

Glad to see reality rear its ugly head (finally) for those people. I DO think that those working-class Americans who''ve been voting Republican the last 20 years owe something to the rest of us: how about paying for the national debt? Thanks to you, Republicans created 80% of it.

[neobrian-2009]

OUTLAW RepubliCons!!!!!
IT SHOULD be Against The LAW To be a RE-CON!
They should ALL Be Jailed,Waterboarded
There Money to be used for National Health Insurance
They should be Newtered ( Spelled Correctly :)
While in prison,Forced to listen to Rove & Shrub
All their assets divvied up to maintain Arts & Music Schools
CEO`s should be forced to work at Mickey Dees
After their Parole,they`ll live in trailer courts
in weather stricken areas.
At No Time Will They EVER be Able to Hold Political Office !
These CONS Have RUINED The WORLD !!!
BAN ALL REPUBLICONS !!!!!!!!!!!!
CRIMINALS,KILLERS,THIEVES,LIARS,..ALL RE-CONS!!!

[wooleywews]

Hey is this rev. Wright?


OUTLAW RepubliCons!!!!!
IT SHOULD be Against The LAW To be a RE-CON!
They should ALL Be Jailed,Waterboarded
There Money to be used for National Health Insurance
They should be Newtered ( Spelled Correctly :)
While in prison,Forced to listen to Rove & Shrub
All their assets divvied up to maintain Arts & Music Schools
CEO`s should be forced to work at Mickey Dees
After their Parole,they`ll live in trailer courts
in weather stricken areas.
At No Time Will They EVER be Able to Hold Political Office !
These CONS Have RUINED The WORLD !!!
BAN ALL REPUBLICONS !!!!!!!!!!!!
CRIMINALS,KILLERS,THIEVES,LIARS,..ALL RE-CONS!!!







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Posted by neobrian

[stn_sage]

Excepting Bush, Cheney, staff, profiteers, and supporters, everyone else better pray it''s over!

We also better hope that it''s not to late to turn things around and fix ALL the problems that Bush & the Rep controlled 110th Congress gave us!

And, THAT remains to be seen!

[messiahx4eve]

Hillary is the People''s choice while Obama is the delegate''s choice, the electorial voting system once again shows its flaws by NOT following the Will of the People. Anyone should be able to be president but the way the delegate system works, you have to be financed by MILLIONS just in order to be heard, thus limiting WHO can be elected president. Bush senior already proved that you can buy the presidency by his purchase of eight years of dubya misery. The corporate america wants puppets for presidents, not anyone with an IQ above 70, hence bought and paid for delegates and super delegates in the electorial system, we just get to vote for their amusement.

[it_oldtimer]

Ermm...last time I checked, Obama had both the most actual votes AND the most delegates...or did I miss something recently?

And I believe that I recently read that Bill and Hill together made in excess of $100 Million dollars last year, according to their tax returns, while Obama only managed to finally pay off his student loans just a few short years ago?

Poor Hillary, she has to battle such a ultra-rich opponent when she herself is sooo very poor.

It looks like maybe, just maybe, lots of personal wealth and tons of inside political connections might just not be sufficient to "buy" the nomination this time around?

One can always hope...

[bluestardad]

REPIGS ARE DONE!

THEY LIED AMERICA INTO A WAR

EVEN NOW VOTED AGAINST A NEW AND IMPROVED GI BILL!

FOR THE VERY SOLDIERS THEY HAVE FORCED TO RETURN TO WAR ZONES 4 TO 6 TIMES!

YES AMERICA WENT TO WAR WITH THE GOVERNMENT WE HAVE! BUT NOW AMERICA IS CHANGING ITS GOVERNMENT AND FOR NOW IS TRYING TO DO SO WITHIN THE EXSISTING SYSTEM!

WAR CRIMES TRIALS NEED TO BE FILED AGAINST THOSE WHO LIED AMERICA INTO THIS WAR COSTING THOUSANDS OF LIVES AND TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS!

AMERICA STAND UP OR SHUT UP!

[doctor--o]

This is a lucid article that paints a picture in moderate terms of the scope of Republican failure.

It is actually much worse.

But, the ace in the hole for Republicans goes to certain truths best summarized by JS Mills:

"Conservatives are not necessarily ignorant, but most ignorant people are conservative."

[joe1022joe]

The Nation is a radical left wing rag. Without doubt its editors, reporters, and most of its subscribers fervently wish for the demise of the Republican Party. These people have a big problem, however. The people of the United States of America will never -- repeat never -- elect Barak Hussein Obama president. The Dems have an imulse to political suicide. They have done it many times before. Their ideology gets in the way of their own self interest -- unless tilting at windmills is considered in their self interest. Now the San Francisco/Marin County/Manhattan/moveon.org/The Nation crowd has backed an unelectible candidate. They are among the best friends of the Republican Party.

[bluestardad]

WAR CRIMES TRIALS ACTION STARTED!

Obama Seeks Red Cross Help On War Crime Charges Against Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld
Posted by Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscr on Wednesday, May 21st at 11:59 AM

May 20, 2008

Obama Seeks Red Cross Help On War Crime Charges Against Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld

By: Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscribers (Traduccisn al Espaqol abajo)

Russian Foreign Ministry reports to President Medvedev are stating today
that US Presidential candidate Barack Obama has sent one of his top aides
named Valerie Jarrett to meet with officials from the International
Committee of the Red Cross, in Geneva, Switzerland, to what is being
described in these reports as the %u2018preliminary stage%u2019 to begin actions in
the International Court of Justice charging the present United States
President, Vice President and former US Defense Secretary with war crimes.

As we had previously written about in our October 15, 2005 report, the
International Committee of the Red Cross opened in that year a War Crimes
Portfolio alleging that President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Defense
Secretary Rumsfeld, and other US Officials, were in violation of Articles 3
and 4 of the Geneva Convention and could be tried for Crimes Against
Humanity.

[messiahx4eve]

IT_Oldtimer go back and check your stats on state to state popularity, Hillary is the more popular with middle and mid-level groups than Obama, I personally don''t care for either one, either my cat or dog would make a better candidate than either of these two blenderheads but that''s just my personal feelings there. I support more of an Aggarian type life style anyway.

[navyjimfl]

never voted democrat but will this time.....bush has done serious harm to the repubican party.....I don''t know anyone who thinks he is a good president......worst president we have ever had....this country is in trouble...

[grumpas]

I have more character and ethic''s than to vote Republican!!!! Anyone who does vote for them are showing just how little moral fiber they do have! Because they are voting for more unbridled corruption, bigotry and greed! If that''s what you want stop complaining about the mess in Washington! Because it''s what you have put in there.

[joyous88]

if the party is not over for this group of anti american criminals, it should be.

When you do not support the Constitution of the United States you are ANTI-American,

the republicon party is ANTI_American,

and conservatives, they are just greed driven criminals

[perceptions5]

The problem for Obama is that he''s a product of the most corrupt liberal institution in America, our mostly liberal MSM wolfpack press. And yes the Washington Post along with Newsweek, Time, NYTimes, CNN, and NBC/MSNBC are the "alpha" members of this "liberal pack".

It''s really ashame that it took a comedy show, Saturday Night Live, to expose this sorry liberal corrupt bias in what is suppose to be a "free press", not a "free left-wing press".

Americans want a president that''s going to "solve" their problems.

Obama has "no record" of accomplishments, none.

His old district, the south-side of Chicago, is STILL an area of massive poverty and hopelessness.

The National Guard was recently sent to this part of the city due to dozens of shooting and killings. (sorry our corrupt liberal wolfpack press didn''t have space to print that for all Americans).

Bottom line is Obama will lose in November because HIS pal and pastor, Rev. Wright scared the HELL out of White Democrats. Which is WHY Obama hasn''t won the white democrat vote since February except for a small majority in the Oregon vote.

Obama- Say NO to a Jimmy Carter second term

[bluestardad]

REPIGS ARE DONE!

THEY LIED AMERICA INTO A WAR

EVEN NOW VOTED AGAINST A NEW AND IMPROVED GI BILL!

FOR THE VERY SOLDIERS THEY HAVE FORCED TO RETURN TO WAR ZONES 4 TO 6 TIMES!

YES AMERICA WENT TO WAR WITH THE GOVERNMENT WE HAVE! BUT NOW AMERICA IS CHANGING ITS GOVERNMENT AND FOR NOW IS TRYING TO DO SO WITHIN THE EXSISTING SYSTEM!

WAR CRIMES TRIALS NEED TO BE FILED AGAINST THOSE WHO LIED AMERICA INTO THIS WAR COSTING THOUSANDS OF LIVES AND TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS!

AMERICA STAND UP OR SHUT UP!

[joyous88]

Obama is the only choice we have,

and he will make a great president

if you like bush (you must be insane) vote McSame

[superdem]

If Republican policies worked, America should be in great shape after nearly 8 years of total Republican rule. Are we in great shape ? We''re completely falling apart, corruption is rampant, we''re stuck in two unwinnable wars, basic prices are going through the roof, jobs are disappearing, nothing has been done to solve any of America''s problems. Conservatism means "NEVER CHANGE" - they haven''t changed from plantation and robber baron mentality, that just doesn''t work. We''re still talking about "lessening dependence on foreign oil" - a refrain from the Carter presidency. What do you expect when Reagan took down Carter''s solar panels from the White House and encouraged everyone to buy SUVs - we''re the stupidest people on earth to have embraced that, but the Republicans led us to ruin, no doubt about that. Nothing like endless foreign wars, and $5 gasoline to focus the mind.

[johnny343sc]

This article assumes way too much and way overstates the problems facing America today.

The main things really affecting voters now are the economy and the Iraq War. Iraq has a positive end in sight (albeit not a quick one as most would like) and the economy is going through its usual "high-low period". You can''t have a good economy all of the time.

Face it: The world is having problems now because of higher prices for oil we buy from rogue nations. Talking to these nations amounts to sucking-up to them. We need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. If there is money in doing so, then companies will follow where the money is. This will ease the strain on the oil supply. How about curbing America''s wastefulnesss? Throwaway plastics consume oil like our cars do. Anyone ever try making recycling mandatory? How about fuel efficiency mandatory for vehicles?

Things will be just fine in the long run. C''mon, stop "jumping-off-the-deep-end". Things could be way worse. We could let our guard down and get attacked a-la 9/11, but believe you me...

...the terrorists are just waiting for a President Barry Hussein to let the US focus internally and forget about foreign policy to help make -that- a possibility, just like Bill Clinton did in the 1990s.

;)

[ubrew12]

johnny343sc said: "The main things really affecting voters now are the economy and the Iraq War. Iraq has a positive end in sight"

Republicans have built a house of cards out of our economy the last 8 years, using debt in the walls. Now those walls are crumbling, leaving only the debt. Minor? Temporary? We''re going to be paying for Republican mismanagement of our debt for decades!

Any fool can buy a good economy with a credit card. But once the card maxes out and Republicans hand the card over to ordinary Americans and ask them to pay the bill (while they, like Halliburton, skip the country), well, its a little much to ask people to vote for them, isn''t it?

Iraq has a positive end in sight? That''s just too funny for rebuttal.

[jjp735i]

The Republican Party problem is that they have two kinds of conservatives, the fiscal conservative and the social conservative. The fiscal conservative should have tried to rein in spending, but failed badly. The social conservative on the other hand tried to force people into living a certian life style that they, the social conservative, had in mind. The problem there is those same social conservatives failed to live that very same life style they wanted others to live.

Split the party. Even the fiscal conservatives in the White House grew tired of the social conservatives, calling them nuts and worse, even as they courted them for power. Religion and politics do not mix. The Taliban makes a great example. We are a country of many different types of religion and and to make it even harder, many different types of Christian groups. Each pushing for changes that only they want. The Christian groups even attack each other for crying out loud. The Catholic Church is this or that, the Evangelicals are this or that.

People scream when you compare the social conservatives as Nazi or Taliban minded, but do come across that way. Every one is a sinner but them.

Split the Republican Party or at least try to be clear when referring to a conservative. Be clear just what kind of conservative you are. Maybe you will do better with votes.

[jon2012-2009]

"...Then again, voters have witnessed this before--Bush ran as a ''compassionate conservative'' in 2000. While McCain promises to be different, he has also suggested the government should do little to assist families engulfed by the subprime mortgage crisis."

Ignore when McCain promises to be anything. Just look at his consistent record as a Republican stalwart allied with Bush policies. He''s been around long enough to make up your mind about him based on that. At his age, doubtful he can change his spots. (And I don''t mean his liver spots.)