Is it possible to be a “moderate” Republican?

[VAR]

I mean this in a practical sense - of course, one can be a “moderate” Republican if they want to, but does it make sense in our current political landscape? Please be honest and don’t let the fact that I’m asking this question cloud your judgement. And: If you identify as a “moderate Republican”, then you do not get to participate in this discussion. I’ll ask the mods to delete your posts if you do.

[America Needs R'hllor]

You can be anything if you put your mind to it

[beesley]

of course, one can be a “moderate” Republican if they want to, but does it make sense in our current political landscape?

What does this mean? Are you asking whether the Republican party consists only of extremists/strong right-wingers/strong conservatives?

[VAR]

of course, one can be a “moderate” Republican if they want to, but does it make sense in our current political landscape?

What does this mean? Are you asking whether the Republican party consists only of extremists/strong right-wingers/strong conservatives?

No? I’m simply asking if it’s possible for someone who doesn’t support Trump to be a member of a party in which Trump is very popular.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

of course, one can be a “moderate” Republican if they want to, but does it make sense in our current political landscape?

What does this mean? Are you asking whether the Republican party consists only of extremists/strong right-wingers/strong conservatives?

No? I’m simply asking if it’s possible for someone who doesn’t support Trump to be a member of a party in which Trump is very popular.

Trump is the epitome of a moderate Republican.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

No. The only true moderate Republicans left are Independents or Democrats. It was possible to be one before Trump, but seeing how the last 4 years have gone and thinking that the Republican Party can be “saved” or pulled back to the middle is absolutely silly.

[Del Tachi]

Yes, "moderates" represent the largest electoral faction of Republican voters and mostly dictate and dominate the intra-party discussion.  Trump, Romney, McCain, Dole and Poppy each dominated the "moderate" lane in the open GOP primary contests they won, and I'd argue George W. Bush was the "moderate" in 2000 as well (we don't have great exit polling data for the 2000 GOP contests, especially considering that Bush wrapped it up before Super Tuesday.)   

The base of the GOP (especially in the Northeast and Midwest) is simply too heterodox to be motivated by Heritage Foundation-type movement conservatism.  Hyped "rising stars" of the GOP (i.e., Walker, Cruz, Rubio, Perry, etc.) floundered because they incorrectly assumed winning a GOP primary to be about who could most credibly claim the mantle of TrueConservativeTM.  For what it's worth, it should be informative that all of thepost-Reagan Republicans have campaigned and governed from the ideological center-to-center-left of the GOP.     

The disconnect is that the mainstream, liberal punditry has equated "moderation" in Republican politics with "sounding nice."  Liz Cheney, John Boehner, Marco Rubio and Mitt Romney (among other Sunday morning mainstays) are not moderates in any *ideologicial* sense of the word, but only in that they converse and transact in the preferred euphemisms and tautologies of Democrat-run media.  The policies and philosophies they've championed throughout their careers are decidedly more conservative than anything offered by Trump or Trumpism. 

[VAR]

The disconnect is that the mainstream, liberal punditry has equated "moderation" in Republican politics with "sounding nice."  Liz Cheney, John Boehner, Marco Rubio and Mitt Romney (among other Sunday morning mainstays) are not moderates in any *ideologicial* sense of the word, but only in that they converse and transact in the preferred euphemisms and tautologies of Democrat-run media.  The policies and philosophies they've championed throughout their careers are decidedly more conservative than anything offered by Trump or Trumpism.  

I’m talking about the actual RINOs. Those people should absolutely stay as Republicans.

[darklordoftech]

No. The GOP isn’t moderate. A moderate would support Obamacare and Clinton-era tax rates, would acknowledge global warming, would want more moderate judges, would accept same-sex marriage, would acknowledge that Trump commited an act of treason, etc.

[Ferguson97]

of course, one can be a “moderate” Republican if they want to, but does it make sense in our current political landscape?

What does this mean? Are you asking whether the Republican party consists only of extremists/strong right-wingers/strong conservatives?

No? I’m simply asking if it’s possible for someone who doesn’t support Trump to be a member of a party in which Trump is very popular.

Depends. Are you voting for Trump or people who enable him?

[TML]

Just think about whether or not Dwight D. Eisenhower would fit into today’s Republican Party and you’ll get your answer.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Just think about whether or not Dwight D. Eisenhower would fit into today’s Republican Party and you’ll get your answer.

Eisenhower was much more conservative than his presidency was and I could easily see him being a Mitt Romney style Republican today .

[buritobr]

What about the republican governors of blue states?

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

What about the republican governors of blue states?

Hogan is absolutely a fake moderate.

[PSOL]

You can be a moderate of anything. For the Republicans; stanners of people like Mitt Romney and Ben Sasse, like all modern governors of Utah and Wyoming, and MT Republican exist.

[Oregon Eagle Politics]

You can be anything if you put your mind to it

No, you can't be a tomato, even if you put your mind to it.

[FT-02 Senator A.F.E. 🇵🇸🤝🇺🇸🤝🇺🇦]

You can be anything if you put your mind to it

No, you can't be a tomato, even if you put your mind to it.

[Obama-Biden Democrat]

People like to call Paul Ryan or Jeff Flake moderates. On fiscal issues they are Reaganites obsessed with privatizing Social Security, cutting taxes and slashing regulations. Jeff Flake was a libertarian Tea Party superstar, before the MAGA cult took over the Tea Party.

They are not moderates just because they are soft spoken and don't support a violent insurrection.

[Property Representative of the Harold Holt Swimming Centre]

Moderation ought to be defined within the scope of the party or organisation in question. So of course there are moderate Republicans. Is the party overall "moderate"? Probably not.

[At-Large Senator LouisvilleThunder]

It is funny how the alignment these days lends people to presume that the more anti-Trump you are, the more moderate you are. It's like wanting to move away from the religious right and free market fundamentalism drives the left even crazier than they were pre Trump.

[VAR]

It is funny how the alignment these days lends people to presume that the more anti-Trump you are, the more moderate you are. It's like wanting to move away from the religious right and free market fundamentalism drives the left even crazier than they were pre Trump.

Just to be clear, this question is not about people who are solely anti-Trump i.e. Mitt Romney, Liz Cheney, Ben Sasse, etc. I’m talking about the Charlie Dent types, basically.

[RINO Tom]

No. The only true moderate Republicans left are Independents or Democrats. It was possible to be one before Trump, but seeing how the last 4 years have gone and thinking that the Republican Party can be “saved” or pulled back to the middle is absolutely silly.

This could literally be 110% true, but you guys’ credibility is kind of shot on the subject, lol ... Democrats have been saying that every two years for literally decades.

[darklordoftech]

No. The only true moderate Republicans left are Independents or Democrats. It was possible to be one before Trump, but seeing how the last 4 years have gone and thinking that the Republican Party can be “saved” or pulled back to the middle is absolutely silly.

This could literally be 110% true, but you guys’ credibility is kind of shot on the subject, lol ... Democrats have been saying that every two years for literally decades.

It’s been true for decades. How many Republicans voted not to shut down the government in 1995 or voted not to impeach Bill Clinton?

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

You can be anything if you put your mind to it

No, you can't be a tomato, even if you put your mind to it.

Well thanks for shattering my plans for this weekend. Do you enjoy hurting people this way?

[SevenEleven]

You can be anything if you put your mind to it

No, you can't be a tomato, even if you put your mind to it.

Well thanks for shattering my plans for this weekend. Do you enjoy hurting people this way?

You're human. You could never be a dinosaur.