forum republicans...

[Keystone Phil]

Everytime a race doesn't go their way, the left leaning members always threaten to bolt. Doesn't that get old after awhile, guys? Think about it: If you find yourself saying, "I'm leaving if candidate so and so wins/loses" a great deal of the time then you really should reconsider your membership. That is not meant to be mean; it just makes sense.

And please don't tell me that I am the RINO for not going nuts over Chafee. I'd vote for the man if I was forced to choose between the two in the General but I am not supporting him now. I don't care. Part of me will be laughing at Lincoln when he loses in November because right now he is laughing at conservatives. He doesn't deserve my full backing.

Also note that I am not threatening to leave my party after a primary loss like this, nor did I do so after the loss in TN in August, or PA in 2004, etc.

[Keystone Phil]

You don't because you, like me, are a very loyal Republican.  That being said, for every moderate that threatens to bolt over the loss of someone like Chafee, there is at least one extreme conservative that threatens to bolt for a third-party or not participate in politics at all.  Its so tempting to encourage the latter

It isn't even totally about being a loyal Republican; it is about being a mature adult. You can be angry with the party and/or the primary voters if someone you like doesn't win/someone you don't like wins but to base your membership on the results of a primary is so ridiculous.

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Yeah, just like how angry you were that Pat Toomey ran against and almost beat "loyal Republican"....







....Arlen Specter

[Keystone Phil]

Well yes, I was angry that Toomey got so close.  I'm not a fan of that yard sign, but at least Specter makes me proud with his votes in the Senate - as opposed to Toomey who would make me ashamed of his service.

A conservative voting record is worthy of shame? Remind me of how you feel about your Senior Senator again.

[Keystone Phil]

Obviously not a Republican here, but I will put my 2 cents in.  I think many who threaten to bolt the GOP are sick and tired of the GOP pandering to the far reaches of the right wing time and time again.  Basically turning away from the reasons that brought them into the Republican Party to embrace the far right.  angering them so much that it could just take one more thing to lose them for good.  And that is exactly what has happened to the GOP in this part of the country.  Where the GOP use to do fairly well and was dominate in the suburbs, with a large presence of Rockefeller Republicans.   That group still may exist to a point, but due to the direction the GOP has taken have either registered as Dem or Ind, or stayed with the GOP, but rarley votes that way anymore.

But do I threaten to leave when my party panders to liberals? I get upset and I understand that some others in the party might get upset with people like Laffey. However, if you feel the need to threaten to leave everytime a conservative challenges a liberal then you don't belong. Reach the decision yourself by thinking about what you believe. Some of these people may realize that they aren't really the best fit for the GOP after thinking about their ideology and values. If more people did that, it would save us all from the aggravation of "leaving the party" threats every time we Republicans choose our candidates.

[Keystone Phil]

Well yes, I was angry that Toomey got so close.  I'm not a fan of that yard sign, but at least Specter makes me proud with his votes in the Senate - as opposed to Toomey who would make me ashamed of his service.

A conservative voting record is worthy of shame? Remind me of how you feel about your Senior Senator again.

...not as thrilled as I am about my Junior Senator, who technically has a more conservative voting record, but handles himself in a more moderate way.

But tell me how you feel about Frist. I never hear you blasting him. He's still number one on your list for 2008 right?

[Keystone Phil]

as for the specter/kerry sign...who paid for it?  some silly union?

No one would make an issue if it was paid for by a union. The signs, which were put all over the Philadelphia area, were paid for by Specter. Now his campaign knew he would win by a comfortable margin but Specter's people just had to boost his support in the heavily Dem areas. So much for doing everything they could to help the President win the state. 

[Keystone Phil]

This is for all the Chafee fans out there. I posted the same thing on the Congressional board:



I am watching Laffey's concession speech on C-SPAN.org and it is pretty sad. He starts off by thanking his mom and saying that he didn't know how he'd tell his dad about the loss in the morning (his dad suffers from Alzheimer's). That was depressing. Anyway, the main point of this is how Laffey came right out and said that he'd be backing Chafee. How many here think Chafee would have done the same thing if the situation was flipped? I honestly don't think he would. Stephen Laffey is a good man. I don't think I can say the same for Linc and that's after putting my ideological differences aside.


By the way, Laffey didn't threaten to leave the party even though he was personally attacked by his own party over the past year.

[Keystone Phil]

Obviously not a Republican here, but I will put my 2 cents in.  I think many who threaten to bolt the GOP are sick and tired of the GOP pandering to the far reaches of the right wing time and time again.  Basically turning away from the reasons that brought them into the Republican Party to embrace the far right.  angering them so much that it could just take one more thing to lose them for good.  And that is exactly what has happened to the GOP in this part of the country.  Where the GOP use to do fairly well and was dominate in the suburbs, with a large presence of Rockefeller Republicans.   That group still may exist to a point, but due to the direction the GOP has taken have either registered as Dem or Ind, or stayed with the GOP, but rarley votes that way anymore.

But do I threaten to leave when my party panders to liberals? I get upset and I understand that some others in the party might get upset with people like Laffey. However, if you feel the need to threaten to leave everytime a conservative challenges a liberal then you don't belong. Reach the decision yourself by thinking about what you believe. Some of these people may realize that they aren't really the best fit for the GOP after thinking about their ideology and values. If more people did that, it would save us all from the aggravation of "leaving the party" threats every time we Republicans choose our candidates.

Well considering the GOP panders to the liberals in the party about 1/10th (probably less) of the time that it panders to the hard right in the party, their really is no comparison.  they will pander to the left in the party every now & then, and basically only when they would be completley ass dead without them (as in this case), but the vast majority of the time they pander to the far right in the party.  The vast amount of time and energy the GOP spends on pandering to the far right angers many of the Rockefeller holdovers, and as a result some (not all) threaten to bolt).  If the GOP pandered to the Lincolin Chafee or for the boards sake Berger wing of the GOP as much as they now pander to the far right, their probably would be quite a few more of those in the hard right in the party that threaten to bolt.  The comparison is really not valid because of how much more the GOP panders to the far right than they do to the left in the party.

Wait...repeat what you just said for me, please.

[Keystone Phil]

again, "If....then..." statements are just never good things.

So do me a favor and never threaten us with "If so and so wins/loses, I am leaving the party."

[Keystone Phil]

Obviously not a Republican here, but I will put my 2 cents in.  I think many who threaten to bolt the GOP are sick and tired of the GOP pandering to the far reaches of the right wing time and time again.  Basically turning away from the reasons that brought them into the Republican Party to embrace the far right.  angering them so much that it could just take one more thing to lose them for good.  And that is exactly what has happened to the GOP in this part of the country.  Where the GOP use to do fairly well and was dominate in the suburbs, with a large presence of Rockefeller Republicans.   That group still may exist to a point, but due to the direction the GOP has taken have either registered as Dem or Ind, or stayed with the GOP, but rarley votes that way anymore.

But do I threaten to leave when my party panders to liberals? I get upset and I understand that some others in the party might get upset with people like Laffey. However, if you feel the need to threaten to leave everytime a conservative challenges a liberal then you don't belong. Reach the decision yourself by thinking about what you believe. Some of these people may realize that they aren't really the best fit for the GOP after thinking about their ideology and values. If more people did that, it would save us all from the aggravation of "leaving the party" threats every time we Republicans choose our candidates.

Well considering the GOP panders to the liberals in the party about 1/10th (probably less) of the time that it panders to the hard right in the party, their really is no comparison.  they will pander to the left in the party every now & then, and basically only when they would be completley ass dead without them (as in this case), but the vast majority of the time they pander to the far right in the party.  The vast amount of time and energy the GOP spends on pandering to the far right angers many of the Rockefeller holdovers, and as a result some (not all) threaten to bolt).  If the GOP pandered to the Lincolin Chafee or for the boards sake Berger wing of the GOP as much as they now pander to the far right, their probably would be quite a few more of those in the hard right in the party that threaten to bolt.  The comparison is really not valid because of how much more the GOP panders to the far right than they do to the left in the party.

Wait...repeat what you just said for me, please.

The GOP panders to the far right of the party MUCH more than it does those in the left in the party.  therefore those in the far right of the party have less to complain about and less reason to bolt or threaten to bolt from theparty than the more liberal members of the party.  And that is the reason you see more people in the left of the party threating to leave than those in the right in the party.

I'm sorry. Can you go over that again please? Repeat the last couple of things you said.

[Keystone Phil]

or you having fun having me repeat myself?

No, not at all.

Clarify your last remarks for me, please.

[Keystone Phil]

I...don't really think that's an issue anymore?

Ok, well then let's keep it that way. Please don't lecture me on "If's" and "then's" if you did the same thing.

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Lincoln Chafee was used to getting his ass kissed by this party every step of the way. I think it is a pretty good bet that he'd screw us when we stay away from him since he screws us when we stick with him.

[Keystone Phil]

I...don't really think that's an issue anymore?

Ok, well then let's keep it that way. Please don't lecture me on "If's" and "then's" if you did the same thing.

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Lincoln Chafee was used to getting his ass kissed by this party every step of the way. I think it is a pretty good bet that he'd screw us when we stay away from him since he screws us when we stick with him.

by "screw us" you mean put the interests of his state ahead of the party....

Ok and that probably means that he is better off as a Dem. Sorry but there is no reason why that man is a Republican.

[Keystone Phil]

[editted]

....never mind.  Phil's apparently having problems distinguishing between the "self" and the "other."  Get well soon!

Send me your likely inappropriate uneditted remarks.