The Moderate Republican: So much for the Blue Dogs

What the Moderate Republican Stands For

Republicans came to power as the party of big ideas, and without returning to that model they could be looking at a long winter. Additionally, those big ideas need to focus on Middle America. Three issues that could work are conservation, reform and localism.

Conservation- a return to the Teddy Roosevelt model of conservation. One doesn’t necessarily have to buy into global warming to appreciate the need to protect the natural resources we have.

Reform- the federal government is bigger than ever, and won’t be getting any smaller over the next four years. Republicans need to fashion themselves as national reformers. Much of Middle America wants the government as safety net, but bloated bureaucracies breed corruption that needs to be dealt with.

Localism- this is the lynchpin that brings it all together. If we bought our food locally, shopped locally, governed locally, many of the issue we now have to deal with would go away, or at the least become manageable.

Below is a collection of writers who speak about the things that matter. Some are Right, some Left and some Center, but all intelligent and rational voices.

So much for fiscal responsibility. I wrote earlier on how conservatives best bet in this new Democratically controlled congress might be to rely on moderate Dems like the Blue Dogs to help rein in Obama's spending. However, only 11 Blue Dogs voted “Nay” on the budget- and they are in the minority of their caucus. In fact, it appears that around 80 percent of the “fiscally conservative” Blue Dogs voted for the budget bill, including all of the caucus leaders listed below.

Blue Dog Co-Chair for Administration: Rep. Allen Boyd (FL-2)

Blue Dog Co-Chair for Policy: Rep. Dennis Moore (KS-3)

Blue Dog Co-Chair for Communications: Rep. Mike Ross (AR-4)

Blue Dog Whip: Rep. Stephanie Herseth (SD-AL)

Oh well...I should have know better.

The Moderate Republican

What the Moderate Republican Stands For

The American Conservative » Rod Dreher

Via Meadia

Front Porch Republic

David Brooks

The Soap Box

So much for the Blue Dogs

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