to reclaim their "conservative" base? Are the social and christian conservatives tearing the GOP apart? Should the GOP just stop trying to legislate people's morals?
2007-08-10 14:13:56 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Politics
I think it will take another generation for that to happen. The GOP has become a faith based political ideology. Their platform is determined by God, in their minds. As with any group that is bonded by faith, they are easily led down a jaded path by those people seeking power.
The problem with faith based political beliefs over secular political beliefs is that there is no tolerance for exception. When faith becomes the main criteria for choosing leadership, competence loses out. The Bush administration is a shining example of this factor.
The social conservatives who are entrenched in the GOP will remain in control thru their productive lives. Their children will be the ones who question the wisdom of their parents. Their children will be the ones who weigh the effectiveness of faith guided politics. Their children will be the ones who decide on a new direction, as each new generation does.
Jeffersonian conservatives have no party in today's America. I would predict a takeover of the Democratic party by classical conservatives a much more likely event in our lifetime rather than the GOP. The reverse happened 40 years ago.
2007-08-11 00:28:53 · answer #1 · answered by Overt Operative 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋
It should, but it won't happen. The grip that the God and Greed coalition has on the Party is too strong. The Party even denies these days that GOP ever stood for "Government of the People."
Conservatives fighting for the soul of the Republican Party would find themselves facing scorched earth tactics every foot of the way. What consrvatives should do is align themselves with the Libertarians and create a new party. The old Right is closer to the center than anyone else these days.
Maybe once they free themselves from the Megalomaniacs, Fanatics and Sociopaths who rule the Republican Party in these sad times, they might be able to rebuild an American Consensus.
2007-08-10 21:42:33 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
Yes. If they want to win, they need to dump the Neo Cons which have alienated the American people with their never ending wars, and Nazi-style, police state legislation at home (like the Patriot Act).
They should nominate a Conservative who stands for Constitutional government like Ron Paul.
2007-08-10 23:56:53 · answer #3 · answered by iraqisax 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Absolutely! The latest tribe of those who claim to be Republicans are so like liberals and socialists that it's hard to distinguish between them. Republicans should ignore what the mainstream media says Americans are like (because it's mostly propaganda) and go back to representing traditional Americans.
Return to honesty and openness.
Eschew pork and 'earmarks' altogether.
Govern on the big issues and stop trying to micromanage everything.
Concentrate on foreign policy and protecting the country from those who would destroy it and forget the social engineering agenda.
We are supposed to be a federal republic not a homogeneous mush. Let the states deal with social engineering issues as originally intended by our founders. One size fits all doesn't work in a free society so Republicans should stop trying to make it work because doing so is continuously eroding our liberties and rights. It is playing right into the hands of liberals and socialists who live to rule.
2007-08-10 21:47:51 · answer #4 · answered by Dr. Stoidi 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
yes, the governent is for the people, not the Christian people, and I say that as a Christian. The GOP needs its basics back. Smaller government, less taxes.
2007-08-10 21:20:47 · answer #5 · answered by SteveA8 6 · 5⤊ 0⤋
folks like barry goldwater sure thought so! they used to get by with calling the democrats 'tax and spenders'...but they have turned themselves into 'borrow and spenders'...they talk a lot about 'freedom', but their social conservative wing-the dobson/robertson/phelps/anita bryant wing-has had way too much influence on them-there is no aspect of private human behavior they won't try to legislate to death...and now with the help of the "let's rule the world, shall we" neocons and the fear-mongering 'hide under the bed, bin laden is trying to eat your kids' types, this nation is well on its way to being fortress amerika, home of the subservient subjects of the state, corporation, party, and church
2007-08-10 22:13:38 · answer #6 · answered by spike missing debra m 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
You can't be a warmongering bunch and have small government at the same time. Only Pat Buchanan's ilk would be willing to give up the former (empire-building) in order to have the latter (smaller government).
2007-08-10 21:21:49 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
There is no going back. It is like a hysteresis loop where the two points are close together but movement is constrained along the curve, the long way around. "You can't get there from here." Wish we could.
Edit: Please don't lump me with Pat Buchanan.
2007-08-11 08:56:36 · answer #8 · answered by balloon buster 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes.
The extreme right wing neocons have ripped the republican party apart.
They have done damage to everything they have touched.
You can't legislate moral values. You learn them from example and the cons are no example I'd want my kids to learn from.
War, hate, self centered, greedy, thieves, sexual deviants........not morals I'd want for my family.
It used to be that republicans loved america. I don't see that anymore, not from the extreme rightwing.
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And no real republican would trample on the constitution!
2007-08-10 21:28:57 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋
They would have to turn the clock back to the early sixties. Neo-cons have eviscerated the Republican Party. That is a tragedy.
2007-08-10 21:18:01 · answer #10 · answered by Chi Guy 5 · 6⤊ 1⤋