Moderate Republicans

[hopper]

Any moderate Republicans on here? I'd just like to hear your thoughts on the present state of the Republican Party.

Yeah I;m actually a moderate republican. I actually was thinking about putting a thread together like this yesterday. I just don't like the state of the party right now. The only things they win is a majority of whites and the Dems win all the minority voters by ample margins.That can;t go on like this forever. I'm just wondering how long they are gonna go on this anti-abortion and anti-tax crusade. I think the anti-abortion stance is popular in the 3 deep south states(AL, LA, and MS) but thats probably it. They refuse to moderate on Reaganomics. Yeah sure big tax cuts worked in the 80's but China and Brazil were not big economic powerhouses then and the party fails to understand this. Do tax cuts that are actually stimulative. Congressional Republicans either beat themselves or let the Dems beat them. 2 example's of this have occured in the last 2 weeks: Lettting Obama give temporary amnesty to kids that were brought here illegally by their parents. The Republicans had chances for immigration reform in 2006 and blew it. They just gave Obama 3-6 more points on election day for the 2006 blunder. Healthcare Reform is another example: they have no alternative to ObamaCare. They let the Dems beat them there. The Republicans always talking about lowering the cost of Healthcare and so do the Dems but the R's have nothing to insure 31 million additional people like ObamaCare does.

[hopper]

I think we've stretched the definition of "moderate" a bit too far in some cases, like Dick Lugar. Sure he's not that conservative, but he's also not a moderate.

He cooperated on a bill with Democrats in one instance. That makes him a RINO.

Quite pathetic they would chuck him out for that. I would agree that the Republican far-right e.g. Bachmann, Cain and Palin, have taken over the party and castigated anyone who is not 100% with them as a RINO. Although the Democrats did the same to Lieberman, despite him agreeing with the Party 70% of the time or so.

Yeah but Leiberman is no where as polarizing as Bachmann, Palin, or Cain. Cain was actually likeable before he ran for President. All he had was 9-9-9 and then the scandals came out. His reputation was definately damaged after the scandals. I'm sure Bachmann and Palin are nice people but they can't be the face of the party. I am glad they have moved on to Rubio and are basically phasing out Palin and Bachmann though. Smart Move.

[hopper]

I think we've stretched the definition of "moderate" a bit too far in some cases, like Dick Lugar. Sure he's not that conservative, but he's also not a moderate.

Heck, I've had people call me a moderate before.

Lugar-his voting was in the middle of both Moderate and Conservative wings of the party.

On Lugar getting voted out his voting record was one of the reasons but not the only reason for getting voted out.

[hopper]

Moderate Republicans are just called Democrats these days.

No basically what I do when thinking a political problem is not to go to a direct government solution like the Dems do but to think out a logical solution to a problem.

[hopper]

Any moderate Republicans on here?

There are very few moderate Republicans (those that are are vilified as RINOs), which is the problem with the present state of the party.

I think what happened was the Republicans were a Northeast based political party before the Republican Revolution of 1994. Their Southern base is way more conservative than their former Northeast Base especially Socially therefore the Northeast Republicans currently are like Democrats to them. There is a friction there between the party's old base and their current base.

[hopper]

Continuing on that point, defining Goldwater as "true conservatism" would be like defining Bryan as "true liberalism". Is someone who today would be considered on the religious right in terms of social issues really a good representative of "true" liberalism? There were significant aspects to his viewpoint that had a specifically conservative attitude. The same way there were significant aspects of Goldwater that has a specifically liberal attitude.

Goldwater was a libertarian republican. He never wanted the government to run a deficit(boy what he be scared now!) Goldwater didn't mind gays openly in the military I think. He said once "as long as they shoot straight".

[hopper]

I think the party is no longer a party of substance, rather it is just a party of simplistic talking points that have stayed rather static over the years. Cut taxes, strong national defense, small government, family values. These things sound good, but it doesn't promote much substance in terms of policy when to win a primary/election, all you need to do is recite those over and over.

I'm also bothered by the strain of anti-intellectualism in the party. It seems that being "folksy" and having "common-sense conservatism" is more valued than having the smartest people possible. Science is looked at with suspicion (global warming and evolution, for example), which I think is a shame. I want the smartest, most capable people running our country, not people like Perry or Palin.

I also think the party needs to be more tolerant on social issues. It needs to be realistic when it comes to immigration policy. I think it should take a more realist stance on foreign policy, and move away from neoconservatism. And it needs to acknowledge that if we are going to rid the country of this deficit, cutting taxes will not be the solution.

This is my opinion, at least.

I think raising taxes maybe and cutting spending at the same time could be a good solution. I know all Republicans want to do is cut spending but that isn't realistic. We know Dems say do both bit when it comes right down to it they will just raise taxes and not cut any spending.

[hopper]

I think the party is no longer a party of substance, rather it is just a party of simplistic talking points that have stayed rather static over the years. Cut taxes, strong national defense, small government, family values. These things sound good, but it doesn't promote much substance in terms of policy when to win a primary/election, all you need to do is recite those over and over.

I'm also bothered by the strain of anti-intellectualism in the party. It seems that being "folksy" and having "common-sense conservatism" is more valued than having the smartest people possible. Science is looked at with suspicion (global warming and evolution, for example), which I think is a shame. I want the smartest, most capable people running our country, not people like Perry or Palin.

I also think the party needs to be more tolerant on social issues. It needs to be realistic when it comes to immigration policy. I think it should take a more realist stance on foreign policy, and move away from neoconservatism. And it needs to acknowledge that if we are going to rid the country of this deficit, cutting taxes will not be the solution.

This is my opinion, at least.

I don't think Perry would be a bad president but he is a sucky debater.

On Immigration Policy the Republicans are going to have to do immigration reform in the next 4 years I think wether Obama or Romney is President. They cannot let Obama pull a fast one on them again on the immigration front.

[hopper]

That NC-SC poster, Duke, is a moderate republican. Dereich and ajc, both from Florida, are moderate  GOPers, too. Redcommander used to be moderate, not anymore. Tory, Clarence and Tmth would be considered moderate republicans in today's GOP, but they're not "moderate". They are sane conservatives.

I feel ignored.

You are a reactionary by your own admission, aren't you?

But most of my positions on major issues would put me in the "moderate" camp of the GOP.

That says considerably more about the GOP than about you, to be quite honest.

Well no he is from NJ. You have to be a moderate republican in most places in NJ to get elected to office therefore most NJ  Republicans are moderate. Maybe up in Sussex County you can be conservative because it is out there in the boonies. There is nothing going on in Northwest Jersey.

[hopper]

There are no moderate Republicans. There all out to repress the people in favour of greedy big business and outdated religious beliefs.

Well no I don't like the religious right myself. Whenever I think of the religious right they think religion should be a player in politics and they are anti-abortion. I don't like those 2 things.

As for big business you have to break down your opinions of big business being greedy to make me understand your point. I personally don't think that a poor person has ever hired anybody though.