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How Conservative is your view of Republicans?

NeverTrump

Exposing GOP since 2015
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It always shocks me with this in party fighting inside my party. Far right tea party types think that the Republicans are Democrat lite. Liberals think that Republicans are radical extremist racists...

What is your view of the Republican Party?
 
It always shocks me with this in party fighting inside my party. Far right tea party types think that the Republicans are Democrat lite. Liberals think that Republicans are radical extremist racists...

What is your view of the Republican Party?

The fact that people see the party as a single entity is as false as it is communistic. People are different, and will always be slated slightly different even if they hold some of the same values.

My view of most Republicans is that they stick to party platform rather then their own ideals. The new wave of Libertarian Republicans agree with most Republican ideals but are not slaves to them and differ from the ideals slightly.

I think we would be better off if we did not label ourselves by party and rather label ourselves by our ideals.
 
It always shocks me with this in party fighting inside my party. Far right tea party types think that the Republicans are Democrat lite. Liberals think that Republicans are radical extremist racists...

What is your view of the Republican Party?
Actual conservatism is not a bad thing, and I agree with much of the philosophical concepts of being conservative. The problem is the Republican Party is not conservative, nor are they rational. Republicans support many big government concepts and actively attempt to change laws to support big government. This is the opposite of conservatism. The Tea Party, as it currently exists in the national political landscape, tends to attract lunatics of the worst kind, who also want to change America, by basically gutting her of so many of the things which make her great.

In my time on this forum, I'm constantly called a Democrat/liberal, but every time I am, I always see it merely as a reflection as to how out of whack the Republican Party is. I'm not a Democrat, and while I believe in equality and the idea of doing what's best not just for myself but for the good of the entire country (which used to be called patriotism, if you can remember that far back Republicans), I certainly am not a Democrat/liberal.


At the end of the day, conservatism should be about adhering to the status quo but only until something better comes along, it should be about equality under the law for everyone, and government which exists only as it needs to, not as it wants to. Keep in mind that does not mean government has to be a certain size, only that the size should be limited to what is necessary for full functionality granted to it by the people. If Republicans would stand for that, and not the ridiculous stuff it currently stands for, I could easily see myself voting Republican. But they don't. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what broad concept they stand for. Sure I can tell you their positions on a number of different things (for a quick hint, find something a Democrat has said and Republicans will be in opposition, almost without exception), but as a general rule, I cannot tell that Republicans have any one broad general idea that they stand for at this point.
 
What is your view of the Republican Party?

Just to preface this, I'm defining "the Republican Party" as the leadership of the Party, the Party platform, and the tactics and strategies the aforementioned have used in the recent past.

I understand that "all Republicans are individuals", but when I step into a voting booth I'm not voting for Joe the Republican who lives down the street from me, Mike, the local Tea Party guy, or Tom the neighborhood Libertarian. I'm voting for a placticized, glad-handing douchebag who is going to, almost without fail, toe the official, national Republican Party line.

With that said, I view of the modern Republican Party as an ignorant, hypocritical, lying, repressive, theocratic blight on America.

Mind you, I don't view the Democratic Party a whole heck of a lot more favorably, but that's a topic for another thread.
 
I'd like to say they're the financially responsible party that attempts to push their religion into every facet of our lives and loves to discriminate every chance they get. But they aren't even financially responsible anymore so I can't say that.
 
It always shocks me with this in party fighting inside my party. Far right tea party types think that the Republicans are Democrat lite. Liberals think that Republicans are radical extremist racists...

What is your view of the Republican Party?

As a "far right tea party type", I think that the GOP is an electoral coalition of many disparate elements.

If we want "parties" to represent actual political philosophies, we have to switch to the parliamentary system. In most European countries, I would have no problem identifying with a particular party: in Germany, in would be the FDP, for example, in Denmark - the Venstre, in Poland - the Civic Platform, etc (I happen to be a fairly moderate "far right tea party type").

(In the UK, it is more complicated: the Liberal Democrats are supposed to be the classical liberals, but they are not, most of them. Nick Clegg is trying to push in that direction, but there's not much to celebrate at this point).

In America, I can see myself only as an independent who occasionally votes for particular Republicans, and (almost) never for the other side.
 
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I'd like to say they're the financially responsible party that attempts to push their religion into every facet of our lives and loves to discriminate every chance they get. But they aren't even financially responsible anymore so I can't say that.

True...however not ALL Republicans are like that. Just most. We need to stop talking about parties as a single entity. Saying all Republicans are religious(I am not) is like saying all Democrats are statists and irresponsible with money(I have a democratic friend who is a fiscal conservative but he is a social liberal).
 
True...however not ALL Republicans are like that. Just most. We need to stop talking about parties as a single entity. Saying all Republicans are religious(I am not) is like saying all Democrats are statists and irresponsible with money(I have a democratic friend who is a fiscal conservative but he is a social liberal).

I'm talking about the party, the platform, and the main bulk of the politicians. Just peruse through their official platform on the GOP website and it's all pretty clear.
 
I'm talking about the party, the platform, and the main bulk of the politicians. Just peruse through their official platform on the GOP website and it's all pretty clear.

Understandable...I was under the impression that were talking about the party as a whole. I would agree on the "main bulk" part very thoroughly. There are not very many decent Republicans, or Democrats for that matter, left.
 
I've made it clear before my views on both parties (neither overly favorable), but Republicans in particular have something against personal freedoms.

They squawk all the time about how the government is too big and how it is too intrusive, and we are losing rights, but they turn around and justify everything (generally speaking here) with the Bible. Why are you against gay marriage? "The Bible". Why are you against abortion? "The Bible". Very hypocritical in several ways: first they complain about the government taking our rights away (which i don't disagree with) but then they favor 1st amendment violations with banning of gay marriage and invasion of privacy by telling a woman what she can and cannot do with her body; the odd part is they complain about the Obama administration taking away of privacy (which again I don't disagree with). The justification behind the hatred of gay marriage is religious, how can one justify then passing religious based legislation and not see the first amendment violations? They are FORCING the people to conform to their views. Secondly, the idea of smaller government. How can a party claim to support smaller government while intruding on peoples every day lives via abortion and gay marriage, that seems like MORE government not less.

Suffice it to say I mainly have issues with the social conservative views, not the economic views.
 
My view of the republican party is the same as my view of the democratic party. Both of them are corrupt with the desire for power and control. Both act like 4 th graders when addressing issues of the opposition. Political parties should be abolished.
 
The current GOP is anything but conservative. They're demographic panderers and corporate apologists. I wish the GOP would go back to being conservative, really conservative. If for no other reason than to provide an actual difference in choice to the demographic panderers and corporate apologists of the Democratic Party...
 
It always shocks me with this in party fighting inside my party. Far right tea party types think that the Republicans are Democrat lite. Liberals think that Republicans are radical extremist racists...

What is your view of the Republican Party?

It's mixed,because unlike the Democrats who are pretty much all the same in ideology,their are many differences. You have the "moderates"like McCain,Graham,Ayotte,Grassley,Hatch. Libertarians like Paul,Cruz and Mike Lee. Across the board Reagan conservatives like Johnson,Coburn,Sessions.
 
It always shocks me with this in party fighting inside my party. Far right tea party types think that the Republicans are Democrat lite. Liberals think that Republicans are radical extremist racists...

What is your view of the Republican Party?

republican party is more liberal than the democratic party on most issues except wedge issues,of course in this world if you conservative on everything but support gay marriage you count as uber liberal,or if you support social programs but believe in god and thank him during a speach your ultra die hard conservative.

in reality,the republicans are very liberal,only being conservative on a few wedge issues to keep voters excited.in the last election,people kept claiming romney lost because he was too conservative,but in reality he was left of obama just by rviewing his history.as of 2013 conservatives still heavily outnumber liberals,and moderates are second place to conservatives barely,so to say republicans lose because they are too conservative is absurd,they lose because they try to run on wedge issues while trying to be as liberalas democrats,while at the same time losing the largest base in americas support.
 
I'm talking about the party, the platform, and the main bulk of the politicians. Just peruse through their official platform on the GOP website and it's all pretty clear.

Peruse through stuff like this? Our Party - GOP

Economy

We believe in the power and opportunity of America’s free-market economy. We believe in the importance of sensible business regulations that promote confidence in our economy among consumers, entrepreneurs and businesses alike. We oppose interventionist policies that put the federal government in control of industry and allow it to pick winners and losers in the marketplace.

National Defense

President Ronald Reagan’s approach to America’s national defense, which successfully confronted the Soviet Union and ended the Cold War, is as essential today as it was then: Peace through strength — an enduring peace, based on freedom and the will to defend it. Today, it requires defending America’s homeland, including remaining vigilant in confronting global terrorism, maintaining a robust defense against the threats arising from nuclear proliferation, including a strong ballistic missile defense for America and our allies, and promoting an effective, capable intelligence community. It requires a full commitment to America’s Armed Forces to ensure they are modern, agile and adaptable to the unpredictable range of challenges in the years ahead. And it requires a sustained international effort, which complements our military activities, to develop and maintain alliances and relationships that will lead to greater peace and stability. While the United States participates in various international organizations which can serve the cause of peace and posterity, they must never substitute for principled American leadership nor prevent America from joining other democracies to protect our vital national interests....
 
republican party is more liberal than the democratic party on most issues except wedge issues,of course in this world if you conservative on everything but support gay marriage you count as uber liberal,or if you support social programs but believe in god and thank him during a speach your ultra die hard conservative.

in reality,the republicans are very liberal,only being conservative on a few wedge issues to keep voters excited.in the last election,people kept claiming romney lost because he was too conservative,but in reality he was left of obama just by rviewing his history.as of 2013 conservatives still heavily outnumber liberals,and moderates are second place to conservatives barely,so to say republicans lose because they are too conservative is absurd,they lose because they try to run on wedge issues while trying to be as liberalas democrats,while at the same time losing the largest base in americas support.

Guy, you really, really need a urinalysis test so the world can see what you're on...because you're certainly NOT dwelling in reality.
 
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It's mixed,because unlike the Democrats who are pretty much all the same in ideology,their are many differences. You have the "moderates"like McCain,Graham,Ayotte,Grassley,Hatch. Libertarians like Paul,Cruz and Mike Lee. Across the board Reagan conservatives like Johnson,Coburn,Sessions.

Flat wrong.

If you were paying attention, you'd know that there's a lot of liberals who support Edward Snowden...and a lot (like myself) who think that he (and Bradley Manning) are guilty of something akin to treason. You'd find that a third of liberals are pro-life (I'm strongly pro-choice). You'd find that about a third of liberals have a gun in the home (I don't). You'd find that many of us are outraged at Obama's use of drones in Pakistan, Yemen, and the Sudan...and many of us who figure he probably had a good reason to do so (I'm abivalent on this one).

So please don't make the mistake of thinking that Democrats are monolithic. If I wanted to make the 'monolith' accusation at the GOP, I'd need only to point back to what happened to John Huntsman in the 2012 primaries when he said he believed in evolution...

...but Republicans are not all alike - you know that and so do I. But you must admit that the GOP is much farther to the right than it was even ten years ago, for even Bob Dole has pointed out that he, Reagan, and Bush 41 would have a very tough time getting through primaries in today's GOP. You also must admit that in most cases, Republican primaries have become a contest of "I'm more conservative than you", that the greatest threat most Republicans in the House feel are from primary challenges from the far right.
 
There are fundamentally two kinds of Republican voters I detest:

1. Southern conservatives who seek to force national conformity to their regional peculiarities. Mostly they are populist social conservatives who don't mind pork barrel spending (see: Haley Barbour or Mike Huckabee), but occasionally you'll find a pretend-libertarian thrown into the mix who just so happens to be Statist on social issues while his Friedmanite friends look the other way (Ted Cruz).

2. Northern ethnic social conservatives, usually of the Catholic persuasion (Rick Santorum) who are unabashedly Big Government on economic issues - see Saintly Rick's shepherding of Bush II's anti-Chinese steel tariffs through the Senate in 2006. These are "Reagan Democrats".

Give me a Gary Johnson or a Jon Huntsman - more in touch by far with classical Northern Republicanism - and I will vote for them in every election.
 
I think the Republican party is simply the right wing of the Oligarchy, with the Democrats being the left wing of Oligarchy. Both parties are horrid.
 
There are fundamentally two kinds of Republican voters I detest:

1. Southern conservatives who seek to force national conformity to their regional peculiarities. Mostly they are populist social conservatives who don't mind pork barrel spending (see: Haley Barbour or Mike Huckabee), but occasionally you'll find a pretend-libertarian thrown into the mix who just so happens to be Statist on social issues while his Friedmanite friends look the other way (Ted Cruz).

2. Northern ethnic social conservatives, usually of the Catholic persuasion (Rick Santorum) who are unabashedly Big Government on economic issues - see Saintly Rick's shepherding of Bush II's anti-Chinese steel tariffs through the Senate in 2006. These are "Reagan Democrats".

Give me a Gary Johnson or a Jon Huntsman - more in touch by far with classical Northern Republicanism - and I will vote for them in every election.

The only Republican candidate that the Obama campaign was worried about (and rightly, I believe) was Huntsman - he could have taken a lot of liberal votes away, especially given that he has more than his fair share of brains and common sense. But the GOP shot itself in the foot when they rejected him for believing in evolution.
 
What is your view of the Republican Party?

The GOP is an extremely diverse party. You'll find true conservatives, moderate conservatives, moderates and even neoconservatives who are actually liberals. The problem is, no one has been in control of the GOP since 2008 after the neconservatives lost control of the GOP.

Unlike the Democrat Party that is made up of every radical loony special interest group there is, where everyone is in lockstep. The Democrat's rule is simple, that we will support your radical agenda as long as you support our radical agenda no matter how loony and un-American it is.
 
The GOP is an extremely diverse party. You'll find true conservatives, moderate conservatives, moderates and even neoconservatives who are actually liberals. The problem is, no one has been in control of the GOP since 2008 after the neconservatives lost control of the GOP.

Unlike the Democrat Party that is made up of every radical loony special interest group there is, where everyone is in lockstep. The Democrat's rule is simple, that we will support your radical agenda as long as you support our radical agenda no matter how loony and un-American it is.

That's just a matter of perception. It was only several years ago that Democrats talked about how lockstep Republicans were and how disorganized Democrats were. Once Republicans get into the White House, it gets easier to suggest that their party has a solid agenda.
 
The GOP is an extremely diverse party. You'll find true conservatives, moderate conservatives, moderates and even neoconservatives who are actually liberals. The problem is, no one has been in control of the GOP since 2008 after the neconservatives lost control of the GOP.

Unlike the Democrat Party that is made up of every radical loony special interest group there is, where everyone is in lockstep. The Democrat's rule is simple, that we will support your radical agenda as long as you support our radical agenda no matter how loony and un-American it is.

I guess I need to repeat what I posted in #18:

You, sir, are flat wrong.

If you were paying attention, you'd know that there's a lot of liberals who support Edward Snowden...and a lot (like myself) who think that he (and Bradley Manning) are guilty of something akin to treason. You'd find that a third of liberals are pro-life (I'm strongly pro-choice). You'd find that about a third of liberals have a gun in the home (I don't). You'd find that many of us are outraged at Obama's use of drones in Pakistan, Yemen, and the Sudan...and many of us who figure he probably had a good reason to do so (I'm ambivalent on this one).

So please don't make the mistake of thinking that Democrats are monolithic. If I wanted to make the 'monolith' accusation at the GOP, I'd need only to point back to what happened to John Huntsman in the 2012 primaries when he said he believed in evolution...

...but Republicans are not all alike - you know that and so do I. But you must admit that the GOP is much farther to the right than it was even ten years ago, for even Bob Dole has pointed out that he, Reagan, and Bush 41 would have a very tough time getting through primaries in today's GOP. You also must admit that in most cases, Republican primaries have become a contest of "I'm more conservative than you", that the greatest threat most Republicans in the House feel are from primary challenges from the far right.

------------

Oh, and one more thing - you say the GOP is "an extremely diverse party". Care to post pictures of Tea Party rallies? How many brown people do you see in them? There's almost never any at all...and when there are some, they're like raisins in the sun. Regular GOP rallies have a few more brown people, but not by much. And don't even ask about LGBT's.

On the Democratic side, sure, you'll find a few all-white pictures of rallies - which are usually from almost-lily-white districts - but the vast majority of them show a real diversity of races, and of LGBT's. But don't let little things like facts keep you from trumpeting your "extremely diverse GOP" fantasy....
 
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