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Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (31485)	1/14/2009 4:03:11 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

Re: "Here is another example of the principle you don't want acknowledge:" LOL! What 'principle', Peter?????????????? Remember... I'm the guy who said that corruption is everywhere in politics, that power corrupts equally, and that BOTH sides of the 'Republi-crat' duopoly provide ample historical evidence for that. While... YOU are the guy who seems to be 'blind in one eye'. <g>

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (31485)	1/14/2009 4:05:36 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 71588

Republicans' Navel Gazing and Why It Matters The Fix by Chris Cillizza voices.washingtonpost.com Losing 54 House seats, 13 (or 14) Senate seats and the presidency over the past four years has effectively pushed Republicans into the political wilderness with no obvious guideposts to help find their way back. As expected, the collapse of the Republican brand in the 2006 and 2008 elections has brought out any number of theorists from the woodwork -- offering their take on the proper prescription to heal what ails the GOP. For the most part, we tend to ignore these amateur (and even some professional) analysts as they usually are pushing either a decidedly transparent personal or ideological agenda. Not so, Tom Davis who left his northern Virginia seat in 2008 after weighing and ultimately deciding against a run for the seat being vacated by Sen. John Warner (R). Davis is, without question, a fiscal conservative and socially moderate, but he is, also, one of the brightest strategic minds in the GOP. Need proof? When Davis chaired the National Republican Congressional Committee in 2000 and 2002, House Republicans netted six seats. Given Davis's reputation -- and the current morass in which the GOP finds itself -- we were intrigued to come across an essay penned by the former Virginia member titled "The Way Back." In it, Davis convincingly make the case that the alleged takeover of the party by social conservatives has worked to its electoral detriment. Writes Davis: "We talked to ourselves and not to voters. We became more concerned with stem cell policy than economic policy, and with prayer in schools rather than balance in our public budgets and priorities. Not so long ago, it was easy to paint the Democrats as the party of extremists. Now, they say we're extremists, and voters agree." While Davis may be overstating the case slightly, he makes a compelling argument that voter perceptions of the two parties have shifted in a negative way for Republicans as a result of the focus by some of the most vocal elements of the party on gay rights, abortion and other social issues. With Republicans regarded as "far out" on social issues, President-elect Barack Obama was able to co-opt the vast middle with a message of moderation on social issues and, with that hurdle cleared, speak to that critical voting bloc on the economic issues on which the election pivoted. Davis's other major indictment of the GOP? The wholesale rejection of attempts to court black and Hispanic voters. "We've long-since given up on the African-American vote," he writes. "We're forfeiting the Hispanic vote with unwarranted and unsavory vitriol against immigrants." Davis has a high-profile supporter in this point -- President George W. Bush. At a press conference on Monday, Bush said that for the GOP to make a comeback its "message has got to be that different points of view are included in the party. ... If the image is we don't like immigrants, then there's probably somebody else out there saying, well, if they don't like the immigrants, they probably don't like me, as well." As for those who insist that the Republican party has to return to its conservative roots, Davis argues that such a statement ignores electoral reality. "I've heard much talk of going back to our conservative roots, to the issues that helped us win in 1980 and 1994," writes Davis. "That issue matrix has changed so much as to be nearly unrecognizable now." Why does Davis -- and his argument for what ails the GOP -- matter now? Because Republicans are two weeks to the day away from selecting the next face of their party. When the Republican National Committee's 168 members convene in Washington on Jan. 28 to choose their next chairman they will be making a significant statement to their own party -- and to the country at large -- about where the party should go from here. While all six of the serious candidates for the chairmanship insist they are blue-blooded conservatives, there are clearly differences of emphasis among the group. The "pragmatic" wing of the party is represented by Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis and former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. Anuzis' message is built on the necessity of reaching out to voters -- particularly in the suburban Midwest -- who have abandoned the party since Ronald Reagan left office; Steele, an African American, talks constantly about the need to find policies that speak to minority groups and, in doing so, grow the party. The "ideological" wing is represented most prominently by former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell and, to a lesser extent, by current chair Mike Duncan, South Carolina party chairman Katon Dawson and former Tennessee party chair Chip Saltsman. All four men proudly tout their personal gun collections and all but Blackwell hail from the south -- the lone remaining geographic stronghold for the party. None of the six candidates -- with the sort-of exception of Steele -- are known to a national audience. But, the pick still carries huge importance for a party that is currently lost. A direction will be chosen in two weeks times. But will it be the right one to restore Republicans -- eventually -- back to majority status? By Chris Cillizza \| January 14, 2009; 10:30 AM ET