9300 signatures, holy smokes it’s an incredible tidal wave of grass roots support. That’s really going to inspire him. Run Fred run!
I can see what you meant, now!
So you’d say this Thompson guy is significantly more conservative than the other GOP candidates?
Voted NO on loosening restrictions on cell phone wiretapping. (Oct 2001)
Voted NO on ending special funding for minority & women-owned business. (Oct 1997)
Voted NO on banning affirmative action hiring with federal funds. (Jul 1995)
Voted YES on increasing funding for forest roads and fish habitat. (Sep 1999)… Voted YES on reducing funds for road-building in National Forests. (Sep 1997)
Voted YES on banning “soft money” contributions and restricting issue ads. (Mar 2002)
Voted YES on funding for National Endowment for the Arts. (Aug 1999)
Voted YES on favoring 1997 McCain-Feingold overhaul of campaign finance. (Oct 1997)
Voted YES on funding GOP version of Medicare prescription drug benefit. (Apr 2001)
Voted YES on limiting self-employment health deduction. (Jul 1999)
Voted YES on Medicare means-testing. (Jun 1997)
Voted NO on medical savings acounts. (Apr 1996)
Voted YES on cutting nuclear weapons below START levels. (May 1999)
Voted NO on increasing tax deductions for college tuition. (May 2001)
Man, how come you guys can’t run a decent candidate who’s a full-blown conservative? You had control of Congress for twelve years, and up until a few months ago, more than half the governors were Republicans.
So then why is it so hard to field a viable presidential candidate who’s actually conservative enough to pass muster? Why are those ‘electable’ conservative candidates so hard to dig up? If I listened to the way you guys talk, I’d think the GOP primary would be jam packed with real true-blue conservatives. Haven’t you guys been saying for years that America is trending hard to the right, and Liberalism is dead, and yadda yadda yadda?
If so, then why is the GOP primary field so frigging weak on viable conservative candidates that you can actually feel good about voting for?
[quote]Brad61 wrote:
Man, how come you guys can’t run a decent candidate who’s a full-blown conservative? You had control of Congress for twelve years, and up until a few months ago, more than half the governors were Republicans.[/quote]
Conservative politicians come in all flavors and stripes - I know your Hillary handbook doesn’t mention anything about this - and every candidate has a fair amount of conservative bona fides. The question is not just where they fit on some chart somewhere, but also temperment, age, strength of principles, ability to do business within and without the party, etc.
The GOP candidates are a pretty decent group of pols - the problem is the GOP isn’t sure what it wants: the party is weak. Nothing wrong with admitting that, I think - that, of course, is in contrast to the Democrats who have never lost an election because of losing faith with the electorate or bad policy (it was always some sinister scheme with poll rigging or voter intimidation taking away what rightfully belonged to the Democrats).
Plainly stated, the GOP and conservative voters have to decide which priorities matter most - that situation is in a flux at the moment.
And more besides, which one of the main GOP candidates couldn’t beat Hillary in a national election?
[quote]So then why is it so hard to field a viable presidential candidate who’s actually conservative enough to pass muster? Why are those ‘electable’ conservative candidates so hard to dig up?
If I listened to the way you guys talk, I’d think the GOP primary would be jam packed with real true-blue conservatives. Haven’t you guys been saying for years that America is trending hard to the right, and Liberalism is dead, and yadda yadda yadda?[/quote]
Which candidate is not viable? What world do you live in?
You act as though the Democrats have this phalanx of candidates that will blow the GOP out of the water unless the GOP finds some political messiah and quick - do you even pay attention to politics at all?
And your frontrunner is Hillary? After years of whining that Bush was a polarizing figure, your number one option is Hillary Clinton?
You need to be a realist.
If the field is as weak as you say it is, why are the candidates doing so well against your Democrats in preliminary polling?
In fact, as a mindless partisan Democrat, you should actually be worried that an admittedly weak GOP has candidates that are still outpolling (and when they aren’t, providing for a very close contest) the best the Democrats have to offer - instead we get your silly hubris.
But then, have you ever offered these forums anything other than silliness? Par for the course, I guess.
[quote]Brad61 wrote:
http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/Fred_Thompson.htm[/quote]
As for Fred’s position on the chart - looks like a fine place to me.
Which polls show a GOP victory in 2008? All you have to do is let people know that Mitt is a Mormon and a flip-flopper, McCain will be 82, and Rudy has been married three times, and is a serial-adulterer.
Your frontrunner is currently… who? Rudy Giuliani? He’s a cross-dresser, how much farther do you think he’s going to get? Ralph Nader could beat a cross-dresser in a national election.
[quote]thunderbolt23 wrote:
The GOP candidates are a pretty decent group of pols - the problem is the GOP isn’t sure what it wants: the party is weak.[/quote]
End of thread. You didn’t need the whole song-and-dance after that. You start a thread to bitch about how shitty the GOP field is, but then when somebody agrees, you pretend the GOP field is strong… what a joke you are.
[quote]Brad61 wrote:
Which polls show a GOP victory in 2008? All you have to do is let people know that Mitt is a Mormon and a flip-flopper, McCain will be 82, and Rudy has been married three times, and is a serial-adulterer.[/quote]
Um, how about:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/national.html
These races are close among the serious contenders, with GOP eeking ahead in races against Hillary - how can that be with such a weak GOP field and such an unstoppable Democrat field?
You have this weird fetish with Giuliani’s comic routine where he dressed up in drag - are you just as obsessive with Derek Jeter poking fun at himself in women’s clothes?
I didn’t start the thread, genius. Oops.
Go read up. No wait - go finish high school and then read up. I said typical GOP voters were unexcited about the crop of candidates precisely because they aren’t sure what they want anymore - the party is in a state of flux. The two main candidates - McCain and Giuliani - along with potential candidate Thompson are all decent candidates; the GOP is just not sure what its identity is at the moment.
Seriously, Brad - you are one of the dimmest bulbs we have in these forums. Who are you trying to fool?
Looks like James Dobson from Focus On The Family is saying Thompson’s not Christian enough.
Oh, Thompson’s a Christian, sure. But Dobson thinks Thompson doesn’t talk about his religious beliefs nearly often enough. See, the Religious Right would much rather see another Evangelical Christian like George W. Bush run for President.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070328/28dobson.htm
And that in a nutshell, is the GOP’s roadmap for defeat in 2008… All the candidates are either too Crazy For Jesus for the average voter (Sam Brownback) or they just aren’t nearly Crazy For Jesus enough (Rudy G, Thompson). Or to say it in a nicer way, virtually none of the GOP’s candidates can bridge the growing gap between the two main GOP camps: Christian Conservatives, and the Goldwater Conservatives.
Bush was able to bridge the gap, and eke out a razor thin victory in 2000 and 2004. But many Goldwater conservatives have grown tired of elected officials who legislate based on faith. And Christian Conservatives feel like they have not gotten the policy “payoffs” they deserve, for delivering their votes to the GOP. For example, even with “their guy” in the White House and GOP domination of Congress, there was no federal effort made to make abortion illegal. They’re also a little demoralized by all the sex and corruption scandals. The coalition between these two groups is not nearly as strong as it was, in the last two elections.
I don’t see anybody on the horizon who can bring the two GOP factions together. Do you?
Maybe Pander Bear John McCain will get Born Again, at the last minute? Wouldn’t surprise me, at this point…
[quote]thunderbolt23 wrote:
You have this weird fetish with Giuliani’s comic routine where he dressed up in drag[/quote]
Wait a second, I’m not the transvestite here, I’m not the one with the ‘weird fetish’.