Burning Giraffe
Active member
- Joined
- May 9, 2009
- Messages
- 357
- Reaction score
- 121
- Location
- Burgaw, NC
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Libertarian
In my opinion the Republican Party has to do a couple things, stop being so partisan. Not only towards the Dems and other parties but also inside their own walls, never seen the party so united and divided at the same time. If they clean this up they will have better success.
Where's McDonnell?
Who is McDonnell?
Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia
My guess is that it will be somewhat Libertarian candidates like Rand Paul (I say somewhat because he's still all for Medicare - since he's a doctor making money off of it).
Although, I'd like to note this irony: that he complained about the "elites in charge" in his victory speech that he gave from the private and exclusive Bowling Green Country Club. Membership is $2,500 + $270/month + a minimum food and beverage purchase of $50/month or $6340 per year in a city where the average income is about $34,000.
Further proving the people have no real idea how to use the word "elite".
1. I used to live in Reston, Va. I miss it.
2. McDonnell is untested. I'm not even sure he'd win in Virginia if he was the nominee.
Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia
Tell me about him.
The biggest question for the Republican Party is who will lead it. Will it be the Status Quo, with Neo-Conservatives and Corporatists like Mitt Romney or Rick Perry? Will Reagan Conservatives like Erik Cantor and Paul Ryan rise in the Republican Leadership? Will conservative libertarians like Ron Paul and Rand Paul rise to power within the party?
The biggest question for the Republican Party is who will lead it. Will it be the Status Quo, with Neo-Conservatives and Corporatists like Mitt Romney or Rick Perry? Will Reagan Conservatives like Erik Cantor and Paul Ryan rise in the Republican Leadership? Will conservative libertarians like Ron Paul and Rand Paul rise to power within the party?
Where? Because I don't see any conservatives in the Democrat party. Even so-called "Blue dogs" are really lap dogs for Madam Pelosi and Co.To be honest with you, I think they all are the future of the Republican Party.
We have a two-party system, and the only reason why we do is because we have a winner-take-all electoral system. That's Duverger's Law because it leads to a political system that tries to get rid of third parties that spoil the vote. Hence why we have libertarians, neoconservatives, paleoconservatives, and Christian conservatives all in one party.
So what I think is that those people will become leaders of the various "factions" within the GOP. Maybe this will show the GOP as once again becoming a "big tent" party that it needs to be in order to successfully compete with the Democratic Party, which is so big tent it has it's own group of conservatives within it.
I beg to differ. Both parties are starting to shift away from the center, and that is actually good because it would force people to take sides.I think this is healthy, because I don't think any one particular faction should have so much power in government. Unfortunately, as the GOP's big tent becomes bigger, get ready for accusations of RINO being thrown around with abandon.
The Republican Party has a pretty big tent and after their reckless behavior while they were in power followed by their humiliating defeat in 2006, the GOP has been in turmoil, trying to figure out which direction to go. The Tea Party protests set a precedent for the direction much of the GOP took. Many people rushed to the Ron Paul (libertarian) camp. Many people started looking for a serious moderate who could offer real solutions and be taken seriously by both moderates and conservatives, which looks to be Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty. Still, the conservative, Hannity-watching, camp of Tea Party crowd is very much behind Sarah Palin.
As much as I like her personally, I still don't think she has a chance. But some people still take her seriously.
For me, I'm looking at Paul Ryan and Eric Cantor. They are young, very smart, very sensible, and extremely pro-active. They actually put their name to pieces of legislation that address the most important issues facing this nation. I hope one of them runs for President - even if they aren't the nominee, at least the Republican Primary will be issue-driven and not merely rhetoric trying to appeal to the different groups within the GOP.
Both parties are starting to shift away from the center, and that is actually good because it would force people to take sides.
.
The biggest question for the Republican Party is who will lead it. Will it be the Status Quo, with Neo-Conservatives and Corporatists like Mitt Romney or Rick Perry? Will Reagan Conservatives like Erik Cantor and Paul Ryan rise in the Republican Leadership? Will conservative libertarians like Ron Paul and Rand Paul rise to power within the party?
I really hope it's someone like Paul Ryan. He's extremely intelligent, and actually has constructive ideas, although I disagree with him on most issues.
Unfortunately, I have a feeling the future of the Republican Party is going to be Sarah Palin and her ilk. She may lose the 2012 primary to Mitt Romney, but I think that her mindset (populism, anti-elitism, pro-ignorance) is coming to represent a larger fraction of the GOP.
I hope I'm wrong. Only time will tell.
I personally think the Republicans need to focus on working from the ground up, if they want to be successful. A new president won't take office and start working for about 3 years. The better focus is Senate/house seats(both state and federal) and governorships. If you want to stop legislation from coming to fruition, you start there.
Forget all this "star" crap and just get to work. That goes for either party.
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