forum republicans...

[dazzleman]

I didn't really care whether Chafee won or lost.  That was for the Rhode Island primary voters to decide.  It certainly wouldn't affect whether I remained in the party or not.

[WalterMitty]

i actually supported toomey over specter.  for a variety of reasons....specter is mean, nasty and pretty much a media whore.  and due to his andvanced age, he is a bit senile these days.

people shouldnt compare laffey to toomey.  laffey is some mayor who proudly refers to himself as a 'populist'  toomey actually has a political future.  laffey should stick to dealing with parking ordinances and cutting ribbons at the new super k-mart in cranston.

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

[dazzleman]

i actually supported toomey over specter.  for a variety of reasons....specter is mean, nasty and pretty much a media whore.  and due to his andvanced age, he is a bit senile these days.

people shouldnt compare laffey to toomey.  laffey is some mayor who proudly refers to himself as a 'populist'  toomey actually has a political future.  laffey should stick to dealing with parking ordinances and cutting ribbons at the new super k-mart in cranston.

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

Which positions of Chaffee's do you like, Wally?

[WalterMitty]

i actually supported toomey over specter.  for a variety of reasons....specter is mean, nasty and pretty much a media whore.  and due to his andvanced age, he is a bit senile these days.

people shouldnt compare laffey to toomey.  laffey is some mayor who proudly refers to himself as a 'populist'  toomey actually has a political future.  laffey should stick to dealing with parking ordinances and cutting ribbons at the new super k-mart in cranston.

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

Which positions of Chaffee's do you like, Wally?

his social views.  he is also very pro-environment.  for the life of me i dont understand why the gop has become so hostile to environemntal  protection over the last20-30 years

im not in total agreement with chafee's tax policies, however

[dazzleman]

his social views.  he is also very pro-environment.  for the life of me i dont understand why the gop has become so hostile to environemntal  protection over the last20-30 years

im not in total agreement with chafee's tax policies, however

I don't know his social views in specifics, though I assume they're liberal.  Could you elaborate?

As far as the environment, I think it needs to be recognized that environmental protection comes at a price.  The Democrats like to pretend it doesn't, while the GOP is largely unwilling to pay the price in certain cases.

Example -- moratoriums on building new homes.  Some the same people who favor this for environmental reasons then complain about the lack of affordable housing.  This is a very salient issue in the northeast, with high housing costs and limited available land.  We need to connect the dots on these issues; there are no easy answers.

I have a theory about open spaces leading to more conservative politics, and closed-in spaces leading to more liberal politics.  I think the environment in which people operate in their daily lives affects their political views in ways both obvious and subtle.

[Virginian87]

for the life of me i dont understand why the gop has become so hostile to environemntal  protection over the last20-30 years

...because environmental concerns often run counter to business interests, which has historically been the GOP's base.

[dazzleman]

for the life of me i dont understand why the gop has become so hostile to environemntal  protection over the last20-30 years

...because environmental concerns often run counter to business interests, which has historically been the GOP's base.

Very true.  There has to be a balance.  Some environmental restrictions are foolish, and amount to a constructive taking of land, while others are excellent and necessary.

Population growth produces environmental issues.  There's no way around it.  If we cut our population in half, we'd have a lot more open land.  But that obviously impossible, and not desirable either at this point.

[WalterMitty]

d-man, chafee's social stances are quite liberal....pro-abortion rights, pro-gay rights, pro-gun control etc.

virginian87 am aware that the perception is that environmentally sound policies and pro-business policies run counter to each other.  i disagree.  i believe we can a pro-business environment and have environmentally sound policies.

[DownWithTheLeft]

Not a chance, although I guess it's after the fact

A Chafee victories make me think that maybe this country will never get the leadership it needs

[Conan]

im going to change my voter registration to independent if chafee loses.  itll be the last straw for me.

how many of you will do what i plan on doing if (god forbid) chafee loses the primary tonight?

Why? There isnt anyone left in the republican party who is a bit right of center and to the left. They are all far right now. Democrats encompass the far left to the just right of center. There is Bloomberg and Giuliani and thats about it now.

[DownWithTheLeft]

im going to change my voter registration to independent if chafee loses.  itll be the last straw for me.

how many of you will do what i plan on doing if (god forbid) chafee loses the primary tonight?

Why? There isnt anyone left in the republican party who is a bit right of center and to the left. They are all far right now. Democrats encompass the far left to the just right of center. There is Bloomberg and Giuliani and thats about it now.

Conan, you confirm your status as uninformed poster every day

Obviously you missed the RI primary last nite

[bullmoose88]

Not a chance, although I guess it's after the fact

A Chafee victories make me think that maybe this country will never get the leadership it needs

EIN VOLK! (Gutteral screaming follows)

[Conan]

im going to change my voter registration to independent if chafee loses.  itll be the last straw for me.

how many of you will do what i plan on doing if (god forbid) chafee loses the primary tonight?

Why? There isnt anyone left in the republican party who is a bit right of center and to the left. They are all far right now. Democrats encompass the far left to the just right of center. There is Bloomberg and Giuliani and thats about it now.

Conan, you confirm your status as uninformed poster every day

Obviously you missed the RI primary last nite

Actually I did, and hes the only national republican who is a liberal or to the just right of center and to the left of there. There is no incentive to be a republican unless you are far right. Theres only one national republican left and his name is Chafee.

[Virginian87]

virginian87 am aware that the perception is that environmentally sound policies and pro-business policies run counter to each other.  i disagree.  i believe we can a pro-business environment and have environmentally sound policies.

I didn't say that only option is to be anti-business and pro-environment, or vice versa.  But often heavy industrial expansion (think oil exploration) combined with the increased development of formerly rural areas often runs afoul of environmentalist movements, and I'm not just talking about Greenpeace. 

In fact, I agree with you.  I think it's entirely possible to control our pollution emissions and nurture a pro-business environment.  Unfortunately, the Bush Administration does not agree.  I think it's sad that there are so many people in the Republican Party who choose to ignore global warming.

[Colin]

Not a chance, although I guess it's after the fact

A Chafee victories make me think that maybe this country will never get the leadership it needs

EIN VOLK! (Gutteral screaming follows)

Yeah let's crack out the Rammstein.

What would DWDL's ideal leadership be? I'm thinking Francisco Franco though I may be wrong. I think DWDL is actually a Falangist deep down.

Thank God Chaffee won. A Laffey taffy candidacy would just be horrible. This would have been the stupidest decision for the GOP in a long time if Chaffee had lost.

I can see why moderates would want to leave the GOP in certain events. It's the same thing as why the GOP keeps pandering to evangelicals and the Religious Right because they're afraid that if they don't they just wont vote.

If you don't represent a persons ideology in a good way as a party than they are likely, unless they are like Don, to bolt from the party for some place where they are more catered to.

[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.

[riceowl]

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

[Smash255]

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.

I think their is a good chnce chafee would have backed Whitehouse ( Imade a post on this subject awhile back).  Though it has othing to do with Chafee being disloyal to the Republican Party or Chafee turning away from the GOP,, but rather the Republican party abandoning its roots and turning away from what brought Linc & his father into the GOP.   I think Chafee would have approached the General the same way he has approached other things in his Senate career, by putting his persoanl views on what is best ahead of party support.  I would have loved for Laffey to win the Primary because it meant an automatic pickup, but while I want Whitehouse to win the General I won't be too upset if Chafee prevails (as long as it doesn't cost the dems the majority).  Chafee is truly a dying breed in this country, a Republican who noot only isn''t consumbed by it, but turned off by the hard right turn in the National republican Party.

[Smash255]

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.

[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."

[Smash255]

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.

[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.