When did the conservative right go wrong?

[The Big Cat]

I agree with this completely. The GOP was always a tenuous coalition of neo-cons, social conservatives and libertarian fiscal conservatives. This coalition has broken down. The neo-cons ran the show, the social conservatives lost the fight they really wanted to win (US Supreme Court) and the libertarian fiscal conservatives have been abused due to spending and the erosion of personal liberties.

 

What could bring it back? Not sure if it will ever come back, it was always an unholy alliance. Personally, I'd love to see a 3rd party made up of the libertarian fiscal conservatives and center-LEFT Dems. Leave everyone else in the dust. Not sure that will happen though.

 

And the Third Party you describe here is one I would surely endrose. Have we decided if that's allowed yet, what with me being a registered Dem and all?

 

I've been doing a lot of Democrat soul-searching as of late, and as I can reason, the decision to go blue was actually a decision to not go red. The 2004 election was the first time I was old enough to vote for a president, and while we were at war and while our dollar was plummeting, the repubs were railing on "moral" issues like abortion and gay marriage.

 

Since I support a person's rights on both issues, I was immediately turned off by the Republican Party without even taking into account their so-called history of fiscal conservatism.

 

I'm all for fiscal conservatism, but they lost this voter by placing so much emphasis on Bible politics.

 

EDIT: Initially I thought you were talking about a reformation of the Republican party, but the rest of my post stands true.

[molson_golden2002]

Some Conservatives think Palin is the answer!

 

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_stump/a...in-12-camp.aspx

 

Here's the Times:

 

“She’s dynamite,” said Morton C. Blackwell, who was President Ronald Reagan’s liaison to the conservative movement. Mr. Blackwell described vying to get close to Ms. Palin at a fund-raiser in Virginia, lamenting that he could get only within four feet.

 

“I made a major effort to position myself at this reception,” he said, adding that he is eager to sit down with her after the election to discuss the future. Asked if the weeks of unflattering revelations and damaging interviews had tarnished her among conservatives, he replied, “Not a bit.”

 

Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center, a conservative group, called it a “top order of business” to determine Ms. Palin’s future role. “Conservatives have been looking for leadership, and she has proven that she can electrify the grass roots like few people have in the last 20 years,” Mr. Bozell said. “No matter what she decides to do, there will be a small mother lode of financial support behind her.”

 

 

In other good news for Democrats, the Politico piece also includes this tidbit:

 

"There's a sense that the Republican Party is broken, but the conservative movement is not," said this source, suggesting that it was the betrayal of some conservative principles by Bush and congressional leaders that led to the party's decline. ...

 

Few believe that the Republican party will respond to another brutal election by following a path of moderation, but conservatives are deeply dispirited and anxious to reassert the core values they believe have not always been followed by Bush, congressional leaders and their party’s presidential nominee. Many on the right, both elites and the rank-and-file, see a rudderless party that is in dire need of new blood and old principles: small government, a robust national security and unapologetic social conservatism.

[Ramius]

I'm all for fiscal conservatism, but they lost this voter by placing so much emphasis on Bible politics.

 

dead on.

[bills_fan]

Many on the right, both elites and the rank-and-file, see a rudderless party that is in dire need of new blood and old principles: small government, a robust national security and unapologetic social conservatism.

 

They had me at the first two, but the social conservatism is what will eventually destroy the party. The libertarian-wing doesn't want to hear about it and many blatantly disregard it.

 

Give me small government, states rights, yes, national security (but intelligently, not buy every new shiny toy) and social liberalism....sign me up.

[The Big Cat]

They had me at the first two, but the social conservatism is what will eventually destroy the party. The libertarian-wing doesn't want to hear about it and many blatantly disregard it.

 

Give me small government, states rights, yes, national security (but intelligently, not buy every new shiny toy) and social liberalism....sign me up.

 

I can't for the life of me determine why social conservatism is in a state's best interest. Sure, it'd be nice to have everyone following the same moral compass, but from what I can tell, a state'll exhaust itself trying to ENFORCE morality.