Conservative? Then you must go read this.

A crying Reagan on the cover of time magazine, and the story within is a must read:

These are gloomy and uncertain days for conservatives, who — except for the eight-year Clinton interregnum — have dominated political power and thought in this country since Reagan rode in from the West. Their tradition goes back even further, to Founding Fathers who believed that people should do things for themselves and who shook off a monarchy in their conviction that Big Government is more to be feared than encouraged. The Boston Tea Party, as Reagan used to point out, was an antitax initiative.

and...

Giuliani's lead in the early polls doesn't necessarily mean the Republican race is getting any closer to the kind of early coronation the party usually manages to engineer. A New York Times/CBS News poll out this week found that nearly 6 out of 10 Republican primary voters who responded said they were unsatisfied with the choice of candidates running for the party's nomination; by comparison, nearly 6 in 10 Democrats pronounced themselves happy with their field.

go read this article here, and take heed.

The more I look at this presidential contest, the more I'm holding out for a conservative. Fred Thompson's flirtations with the race are the only thing that has my interest at this point. With anyone else, I just can't get excited.

What are your thoughts on all of this? Has the GOP abandoned Reagan for self-indulgence?

Comments

Anonymous said…
I've been reading on NH blogs that Huckabee is making headway there. He or Fred Thompson seem like the best bet.

I read an article the other day that argues the problem with Bush isn't that he's not conservative - it is that his adminstration has been incompetent in carrying out the conservative agenda. And that's true. All they've gotten in tax cuts and Alito and Roberts. Faith-based initiatives, tax reform, Social Security reform, health care reform, social issues - its all been a flop.

A good, competent sensible conservative like Huckabee or Fred Thompson could be just the trick.

Remember - in the 1986 midterms, Democrats won big, only to get creamed in the presidential race in 1988. And Dukakis led Bush by 14 points over the summer of 1988.

In the 1994 midterms, GOP retook Congress - but Bill Clinton cruised to reelection in 1996.

DO NOT ASSUME that the current political climate means that the GOP cannot win in 2008 - history shows that it is too early to say. Once the parties have their nominees, the focus will shift away from the incomptetence of Bush and toward the future.
James said…
From what I have seen so far I am definitely in favor of Thompson. He has a strong voice and is a great communicator. Being an actor will pay off well in front of a camera as he is already comfortable to be in front of millions of viewers. Here is one of the interviews I found online.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Snw7_6mJf5c

There are two parts to this click so make sure you watch both.
Anonymous said…
I’m going to wholeheartedly agree with Time on this that the current administration has abandoned the core conservative principles of smaller government, the rule of law, and personal responsibility. Some of it has been incompetence; some of it has been the rise of the neoconservative need to win at all costs. To keep power, the current administration did everything it could to win power for power’s own sake, even if it meant abandoning core conservative principles. To me, this is unacceptable. If I wanted to vote for someone who would do or say anything just to win, I could be a Democrat.

The article is surprisingly insightful, and should be mandatory reading for anyone who is worried about the fate of the party on a national or local level. And anyone who is not worried about 2008 isn’t paying attention. The majority of the country is absolutely fed up with politics as usual under the Bush Administration. This is a man who swore on the Bible that he would end corruption in the White House and restore dignity to the office of the President. He has proven that he is no better in that regard than Clinton. For a Republican to win, he will need to be beyond clean ethically and not overly associated with the President. Even then it will be an uphill battle.
Anonymous said…
please oh please oh please oh please... run someone like George Bush.
Anonymous said…
George Bush has been a good president. Yes, maybe the Iraq situation could have been handled better, but the bottom line is that Sadam was exporting terrorism. The war has been isolated to the middle eastern front.

I have not agreed with Bush's immigration policy or the domestic spending, but when you consider Clinton's real White House agenda and his head in the sand approach to foreign policy, Bush certainly doesn't look that bad.

I don't know much about Thompson, but one Governor who would be excellent is Haley Barbour. He was the chairman of the GOP leading to the 1994 GOP takeover of both houses of congress. He is who we conservatives need to be drafting!
Bob Newland said…
Well, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) has entered the race. So far, he is the ONLY real Republican to announce. But since neither Bill O'Reilly nor Rush Limbaugh has mentioned his candidacy, it's probably that PP (who is not a REAL Republican) doesn't even know of it.
Douglas said…
Haley Barbour might be able to raise some more campaign money from the Chinese again. Somebody thinks there are limousine liberals, well there are Yacht Republicans.

Reagan screwed up everything he touched. The glorification of Reagan is an indicator of the depths of Republican emptiness in past and present leadership. The whole conservative GOP stands on the shoulders of Herbert Hoover not Ronald Reagan.

Small frogs in small ponds think Republican business and tax policy will make them rich. The Republican party isn't even "trickle down" anymore. It is all suck up to spread the gap between the rich and the poor and destroy the middle class which has a few of the resources to combat or soften the edges of raw corporate red in tooth and fang business Republicanism.

All the blather about rights and respect for the constitution has been shown by Bush and Reagan administrations to be smoke and mirrors for the theft of Joe Average's billfold.

So, a really good actor is just what the national Republican party needs for leadership. Somebody who can read the lines without screwing up and really fake sincerity well.

The GOP is not a big tent, it is a big empty bag.
Bob Newland said…
Amen, Douglas.

Well, first I must add (to a post that really said everything) that Douglas's characterization of Reagan doesn't cast quite enough scorn on this pathetic excuse for a leader.

Then, Amen, Douglas.
Anonymous said…
So Bob and Dave do you both think Clinton was a great leader?I happen to think Regan was a great leader Bush is another story.
Bob Newland said…
Typical statist supposition, oldguy. Because I gore your ox, you think I love someone else's lox.

Clinton was a self-indulgent, spoiled little prick, whose rapaciousness only looks good in the reflection of Dubya's idiocy.
Douglas said…
Bob,
Pretty good example of damning with faint praise there.

Your comments on Clinton might be a bit harsh however.
Anonymous said…
I know I always look to BOB NEWLAND to determine who is a real Republican.
Anonymous said…
Well, now we know Flamingo Bob doesn't listen to Rush Limbaugh. Rush has talked about Rep. Paul entering several times. Man, why don't you bitch slap yo self and quit smokin the dope and help us draft Walter E. Williams, instead of just puffin and bitchen and carryin on with the pink birds n such.
Anonymous said…
Douglas needs medication. Soon.
Anonymous said…
Ya, lets give Doug some of the kool-aide the republican party gives its members, that will fix him!
Anonymous said…
Time is fluff magazine.

For the real debate on the future of American Conservatism:

National Review, the American Conservative and Commentary Magazine.
Bob Newland said…
A REAL Libertarian could not stand to listen to the fat pumpkin-headed drug-addict Limbaugh for more than two seconds, flamingo-addled or not.

Don't be so mean. Hurts my sensibilities.
Anonymous said…
Boy this topic went to Hell fast.
Anonymous said…
Bob Newland can have that effect on an otherwise rational conversation.
Bob Newland said…
Yes, I was noticing the rationality before I posted.
Anonymous said…
Hey Bob, do you have a job? Or a life? :-)
Anonymous said…
The only thing George W. Bush has in common with Ronald Reagan is that his father was RR's vice president.

Bush does not understand Reagan conservatism. He understands political opportunism, crisis management, and regional wars to avenge his father / promote oil.

Reagan was a principled leader. Bush is not.

Democrats, likewise, have failed to put forward a principled candidate. Stuffed shirts are apparently much more palatable as "Republicans" than as "Democrats".
Bob Newland said…
Hey, anonymous, do you have a name? Or a testicle (or ovary, as the case may be)?
Anonymous said…
So, here we have it. In his own words it is revealed to all. Flamingo Bob is NOT a Libertarian, he is a Liberal. Nothing more, but probably somthing less.
Anonymous said…
Newt. No? Newt's ideas, at least. I'm sick of almost everything.
Anonymous said…
Life has become more oppressive nanny state under the Republicans than I could have ever imagined under even the most far left liberals.

Free market has turned into some unholy alliance of the government making laws that allow private corporations to screw people even worse than they could on their own.

They have wasted billions on useless programs that would make any Democrat blush. Faith based nonsense. How much of our taxpayer money has been wasted on religious programs encouraging people to get married? Or abstinence programs. Talk about government waste.

Big goverment.
Wasted tax payer money.
Corrupt goverment.

I will never vote for another Republican for anything ever again.
Anonymous said…
I agree with 9:36. Go Haley!

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