Does this signal that Republicans as a whole are trending toward o social conservative to be their banner carrier? Both Huckabee and Palin seem solidly in that camp. Is this a good idea for the party or not? Can the traditional 3 legged stool stand with a socon as the driving force behind the ticket?
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.
Huckabee 2012 Good Idea or Bad?
Does this signal that Republicans as a whole are trending toward o social conservative to be their banner carrier? Both Huckabee and Palin seem solidly in that camp. Is this a good idea for the party or not? Can the traditional 3 legged stool stand with a socon as the driving force behind the ticket?
4 comments:
If "Compassionate" Conservatism is your bag (and admission even Huckabee himself touted) and you'd like to see more of what Bush gave us then yeah it's fabulous.
Mike Huckabee is a Pro-Life liberal plain and simple. Unfortunately for Huckabee and his brand of Republicanism, being Pro-Life and in support of traditional marriage isn't alone going to cut it. His fiscal record as governor of AK was a disaster. He's a panderer (clearly evident during the primaries when, in Florida, he pandered to the crowd by supporting a NASA mission to Mars. You'll recall Florida gets mega bucks from the government for NASA) while Tom Tancredo pointed out that that was precisely what was wrong (irresponsible spending). He supported a nationwide smoking ban (even on privately owned businesses). He believes we have a biblical duty to be good stewards of the environment et al. He supported the DREAM act (in-state tuition for children of illegal immigrants).
What is more distressing is that the Republican voters still aren't getting it if they think Huckabee is a sure fire strategy for 2012 and beyond.
I am with you on this one. While he is not perfect, I have been a Romney guy from the beginning.
However, with a huge loss in party identification over the past few years I fear that the majority of the Republicans left are more like Huckabee. Does this, combined with what is going on in NY herald a third party, one that is conservative at its core?
Don't lump Palin in with Huckabee, she is a more solid conservative. Here is hoping he opts out to keep his TV gig and his vote goes to her.
Don't be fooled by Romney either. Romney is a RINO too. Even Human Events nailed him as #8 on their RINO list some years back. Harpers had a great article too titled something along the lines of Fabricating a Conservative. His health insurance mandate has proven a demonstrable failure and one that makes it virtually impossible to maintain even a shred of credibility when criticizing the Democrats current healthcare plans. He too is a panderer (Michigan during primaries ring a bell??).
"Does this, combined with what is going on in NY herald a third party, one that is conservative at its core?"
One can surely hope. However the voters maintain the status quo by continuing to tell themselves that "a third party can't win" which (not only historically false: Lincoln and Ventura) subsequently results in a self fulfilling prophecy.
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