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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (7421)	12/19/2005 7:44:34 AM
From: Dale Baker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541941

Another danger of being a partisan who wants to see his/her agenda dominate the public domain - once you back a candidate, he can file you away under "reliable supporter" then tack away from your position, safe in the knowledge that you have nowhere else to go except fracturing your party and lessening your chances of remaining the dominant party in public life. Of course, when your victories are razor-thin and you haven't built a true 60%+ durable majority, alienating the base means your odds of repeating 51% victories poll after poll go way down. 2006 will be the litmus test for the Republican party - I suspect some candidates will move away from him toward the center, while others will go back to the pro-ideology crowd. The result is likely to be a muddle. A muddle versus a (Democratic) mess - welcome to American politics today.

To: Lane3 who wrote (7421)	12/19/2005 9:22:41 AM
From: JohnM	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541941

Another simple criterion is supporting one's team when that team betrays the party platform. I don't decide to vote on the basis of party platforms or, at least singularly, on the basis of the candidate. I'm concerned which policies will be pursued and how effectively. For the former, I look to see which political interests are most tightly tied to which party/candidate. Who funds the political campaigns, who gets out the vote, who will mobilize troops to back legislation, etc. In my own case, that's almost overwhelming the Democratic party. On the other hand, I look for the candidate among the set available who is likely to pursue policies closest to the ones I think critical and most able to actually bring them to fruition. In my lifetime, there has only been one moment in which the Republicans put forth candidates for which I could vote and that was in 68 when some of them opposed the Vietnam War. Specifically, I voted for Chuck Percy against Paul Douglas for the Illinois Senate seat. Tough vote because I thought Douglas epitomized the best in the Senate. Save for his support for that war and the need to send a signal.