Vindication
Lowman Henry wrote a piece today on his blog which mirrors what I’ve been saying -
“Proving my point that Republicans lost because they acted like Democrats, so voters decided to go with the real thing.”
I encourage you to read Lowman’s article - it is right on target and a good warning for elected Republicans. Here’s my quick version of his piece - get your head out of your ass and start acting like Republicans again. Of course he says it much more eloquently than do I.
As for Perzel. I won’t be surprised if Mr. Perzel is somehow able to maintain being the Speaker when the House votes in January. He’ll pull out all of the stops to save his own skin. The voters of PA will need to hold their breath to see if the House Dems are full of weenies to.
On a last note - Bill DeWeese. I’m not crazy about the guy, but you have to give him credit for something. He sees the gambling situation is a mess, so he has the idea of having full, no holds bar, gambling - meaning blackjack and other card games. I don’t agree with the idea of expanding gambling like that, but hey, he’s right in one sense, if you are going to allow gambling, atleast do it right and allow as many forms of gambling as you possibly can. Why do it half-ass and only allow the same amount of gambling as the other states that surround PA.
November 30th, 2006 at 4:45 pm
This is a bit simplistic. Yes, we lost some votes cause we weren’t principled enough. These mostly went right into the Libertarian column. We MUST win back the Libertarian voter to the GOP through stronger fiscal conservatism
But we lost even more votes in the Center, particularly with female voters who care little for public policy.
We have to be more appealing to the superficial voter as well; the one who votes on looks, Hollywood connections, celebrity and such.
Eric at www.mainstreamlibertarian.com
December 1st, 2006 at 12:51 am
I think its a little unfair and certainly inaccurate to generalize a group of “female voters who care little for public policy.” Thats a slippery slope because one could use the same argument for any demographic. Seniors don’t care for public policy - they care about Social Security benefits. Veterans don’t care about public policy - they care about veterans health coverage. Urban voters don’t care about public policy - they care about receiving taxes from rural areas. And so on. The key to awakening apathetic groups of voters is finding that one pressure point - that one issue that affects them so deeply that they are enflamed to take action.
And as much as I hate to admit it, I agree with the other comment about Big Tent politics. Its almost laughable when I hear “Republicans” who chastize Democrats for being selfish egoists and then in the same breath, complain about Republican candidates who don’t fit the mold 100%. This site spends a lot of time taking jabs at party loyalty, but perhaps if we had a little more party loyalty we’d have a little more Rick Santorum and a lot less Chris Carney.
December 1st, 2006 at 8:01 am
Publius, I agree with your assessment - especially about the Party loyalty thing. I’ve seen lots of hypocritical comments - people happy when Sen. Lieberman publically supports the war, and then turns around and chastises R’s for supporting something that the D’s support. I know I’m guilty in having lapses in judgement to that effect.
Your also right that I do take shots at party loyalty. Because I have found that most of the time it’s an arguement used against conservatives to keep them in line when a liberal Republican is running. It seems to me that when conservatives use the same logic, they are told to quiet down. Either is applies to both, or it doesn’t apply at all - since I’m tired of being told that I just “have to” support people like Perzel and Specter because they have an R after their name, without any other legitimate reasons, I’m not buying it anymore - which, understandably makes me a poor Party member. I’m too independent-minded and don’t like to be told what to do.
Your comment is a welcome reminder though to help me be consistant in my thinking - what’s good for the goose is good for the gander - either I support people being independent-minded and not always fitting the mold, or I support people falling in line. Ultimately, being labeled in a party carries with it expectations. I think people get upset when people with a party don’t follow those expectations, i.e. when Republicans pass legislation that most people would associate with Democrats, like larger budgets, tax increases, etc. It doesn’t fit the expectations on a consistant basis.