With the Republican’s defeat last fall, the party as an organization has since been leaderless. Unlike most people, I do not necessarily think it is a bad thing for them and possibly for the entire nation in the long term. The public’s complete reversal over Bush’s policies and the neo-conservative ideals has forced the Republican Party to look inward to understand what it might mean to be republican without being a neo-conservative.
The GOP has found that it has a choice to make, one of two directions: become more ideologically entrenched by purging the moderates in their ranks or try to increase their base by embracing moderate people and ideas. For anyone reading the news, it’s obvious which road they have started down. A group known, rather ironically, as the “Tea Baggers” has taken over as the voice of the base of the Republican Party. These people are in large part no longer influenced by the ideas of Goldwater or Reagan. Instead they are influenced by the demagoguery of Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh. And it’s not just the GOP supporters who have taken this view; it is also the party, the politicians. In both the upcoming congressional elections and the most recent elections, we find a plethora of candidates who not only embrace these people’s ideas, but also advertise their allegiance to them as a main part of their political platform.
It would be unfair of me to define the Republican Party only by its right wing, so we should ask ourselves what of the moderates of the party? If we look to last week’s elections, we find a very interesting development in the special election for New York’s 23rd District. In NY-23, the Republican candidate, Scozzafava, was forced out of the race by the conservative independent candidate, Hoffman. The Republicans, instead of standing up for one of their own, spent as much time as the Democrats trying to talk down their own candidate in favor of another, more conservative, candidate. When Scozzafava finally bowed out of the race, she was so disillusioned with her own party that she endorsed the Democrat over Hoffman.
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The dream of a fiscally conservative and socially moderate Republican Party is dead for now. It is a regional party with a southern sensiblity.
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After reading this drivel, I have come to one conclusion: not only is this trash, but so is the CT as a whole. Has there ever been one article with a non-liberal leaning ever published? For this being an "unbiased" publication, it is evident which side the paper leans.
And Mr. Butler, don't worry about your Dems. They're bringing themselves down. They don't need the help of anyone. Every word out of Obama, Pelosi and Reid's mouth is just another leak occuring in your sinking ship.
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As I am also a columnist for the CT, I would like to clarify how the paper works for you. The opinions editor, Debra Houchins, did not recruit me (and I presume the same is true for others), nor are we paid, nor did we have to go through any kind of hiring; anyone who would like to write for opinions is accepted.
As for whether the CT is slanted, you do realize Mr. Butler's comments reflect his opinion alone, and not those of the staff. Read an editorial from the Ed. Board to see the *CT's* stance on the issues.
If you're simply looking for someone to reinforce the views you already hold (conservative, I assume), Ken Stanton has written a few columns on gun rights that you may be interested in.
I encourage you to do something about what you see as a problem and sign up to write. The CT office is on the third floor of Squires, you can walk right in and talk to someone and they'll get you on your way.
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Before somebody misunderstands me, my reference to Ken is in no way expressive of my opinion of him or his views. He is an skilled writer and an *excellent* teacher.
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Wow, this is just complete BS. Mr. Butler needs to get his info from a better source than John Stewart or CNBC.
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I think you mean MSNBC aka the Church of Obama. CNBC is a business channel.
And to what the author was saying, its more than just the Republicans tearing themselves apart. Democrats are doing their own self-bashing. The party certainly looked unfavorably on the termed "Blue Dogs" and often accuse many of the party members of "not being liberal enough". And whether Rep. Cao will be "outcasted", the Dems also have their own "outcast", Joe Lieberman who has been the target of many attacks from his own/former party.
But this is mostly trivial. The real issue here is country's infatuation with Red or Blue politics. It's one or the other. No in between and that spells disaster for this country and future generations. Look no further than the Healthcare bills. 1000s page bills that no one knows what's in them but both sides will blindly support/not support on strict party lines.
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Republicans with their tax cuts/spending or Democrats with their health plan/spending. It simply selling their version of the same PONZI scheme: BORROW your way out of DEBT! No, it doesn't work with credit cards either...with the Chinese and Japanese being VISA and Mastercard. $12 trillion in national debt & growing fast. If we don't control our spending, the dollar will be worthless....
"I'm a politician which means I'm a liar and a cheat. It means when I'm not kissing babies, I'm stealing their lollipops" (Hunt for Red October)
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