Originally Posted By Mr X ***Obama started drawing buzz after his Convention speech in 2000 (I believe).*** The speech was in 2004, actually. But he was drawing buzz from left winger sites before that, I assure you (even some outside of Chicago, believe it or not). But many, but definitely some. Sorry but I can't agree with you on the Reagan thing, he was influential in the party long before 1976, having been on the national stage as a politician for a whole decade prior as the governor of California circa 1966...and even before that he was already a household name due to his acting career. I appreciate your other comments as to the religion/race thing but to me the Mormon angle is a dealbreaker. No way a non-Christian gets to be President anytime soon. No way, no how (I sure hope I'm wrong, I'd love to see an atheist take the reigns of power for a while).
Originally Posted By Mr X ***Reagan wasn't a serious blip on anyone's radar until his convention speech in '76*** Here's R.R. addressing the Republican National Convention in 1964, before he even became a governor! <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt1fYSAChxs" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...fYSAChxs</a> I believe it was a pretty well known speech. (by the way, isn't it amazing how small and quaint and civilized that convention was?? everything these days has become over the top showmanship and stagecraft to the nth degree hasn't it? and I'm including President Obama and his Roman Columns at the Denver colosseum in that category for sure!)
Originally Posted By Mr X ***An athiest, or at least agnostic president would be awesome!*** Why don't you and I go ahead and preserve our decrepit bodies on ice and arrange to be thawed out in the year 2700...at that point we'll all be dead OR, if we're lucky, we might just witness the first agnostic Presidency (assuming America lasts that long). But before that there will be a) a latino b) a woman c) a jew d) an asian e) a homosexual f) an arab (NON ISLAMIC!) g) a lesbian h) a muslim, and i) Santa Claus
Originally Posted By wahooskipper There is a pretty strong contingent of folks in Tallahassee who believes Charlie Crist to be homosexual...his wedding last year notwithstanding. That would be one for you: A gay, Republican President.
Originally Posted By Mr X What do you mean, "one for you"? If anything, that sounds more like GOP hypocrisy than anything the left wing is advocating. No?
Originally Posted By ecdc >>The GOP has major egg on their face after this whole non-controversial controversy began.<< In order to have egg on your face, don't you have to have a modicum of shame? That's the amazing thing about these people, they're like the Energizer Bunny. Who cares if this turned out to be nothing? Now they're moving right along to the next act of insanity. Of course, those conservatives who have to fill three hours of airtime with their blabbering are talking about it. One of the popular responses is, "Well we don't know how terrible it would have been if we hadn't raised our voices!" Even when they're wrong, they're right. How convenient.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo I do feel sorry for the reasonable conservatives out there. And we know from our own community, we have some here. But the whack jobs are ruining it for everyone, especially them. I do wonder if the GOP could become like the Whigs and a new party emerges (though for someone who wants to see the US go more left wing, that could be scary to me as that competition would be popular).
Originally Posted By DVC_Pongo There are some real winners in the GOP today. The wheels began to fall off when McCain won the primary. The GOP really bites right now and I don't see much of an end in sight. It seems that Conservatives and Liberals who are not necessarily GOP and Dem, almost are stuck in the middle, watching tennis balls fly overhead. "It's a madhouse!" (Planet of the Apes)
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Too true DVC, and with McCain, there was actually a Rep candidate I did not hate (however the choice of running mate lost a lot of credibility). Also may I say, I had some respect for Bush Snr too. Heck even some of Bush Jnr's cabinet were ok. But let's face it, they are in trouble. And I do feel for those stuck in the middle.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>In order to have egg on your face, don't you have to have a modicum of shame?<< Not really. I'm sure amongst the base, they'll believe the ridiculous Hannity/Beck/Limbaugh spin that it was their outrage that resulted in Obama's speech being moderate. But I believe that enough of these things add up, and for more moderate Republicans, the hoo-haw over this speech looks plain silly. And even for the dimmest bulbs, eventually you have to produce some actual smoke if you keep screaming "FIRE!" every three minutes. It really is pretty funny when they show clips of the desk-pounding, wide-eyed hard right talkers with their breathless, dire warnings of indoctrination, corruption of our youth, socialist manifestos juxtaposed against Obama talking about staying in school, not giving up, and frequent hand washing to avoid the spread of germs. You can't make that stuff up.
Originally Posted By DAR <<I think Romney has charisma as does Crist of Florida, Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in South Florida. But again, I suspect the next leader will emerge not unlike Obama did. Assuming Obama is a lock for 8 years then the 2012 Republican Convention will likely be the launching pad for someone we know very little about right now.>> Paul Ryan from Wisconsin. He's about 38 or 39. I think he can appeal to the both moderates and the hard line conservtives.
Originally Posted By DVC_Pongo <<<<Not really. I'm sure amongst the base, they'll believe the ridiculous Hannity/Beck/Limbaugh spin that it was their outrage that resulted in Obama's speech being moderate.>>>> No, in fact that is partly why Obama is in office. The base didn't buy the hype, still don't, and didn't vote at all. IMHO "enough" Conservatives will NOT vote if they don't like the candidate, and they won't just jump on board with the Talk Radio rhetoric "just because it isn't liberal." "The base" is a lot more educated and informed than you guys want to believe. It is still very much a two party country. We had all of this same discussion the other way when W won.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>"The base" is a lot more educated and informed than you guys want to believe.<< Well, no. The base of the party used to be the William F. Buckleys. Now it is the Sarah Palins. It's the teabaggers and town hall screechers, that's the base of the party unfortunately. I know there are plenty of educated and informed members of the Republican party, but at the moment, their voices are being drowned out by the tabloid-style freak show. It would be nice if they were once again the base and moral center of the party. But they're just not right now. The hysterics over Obama's speech to school children is the perfect illustration of it.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper They aren't the base 2oony. They are the ones getting attention becuase they are the only ones seeking attention, but they aren't the base of the party.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>They are the ones getting attention becuase they are the only ones seeking attention, but they aren't the base of the party.<< But they are. They're the ones who are energized, vocal, giving money to the GOP. And the GOP is catering to them from top to bottom. How do I know? I am a resistered Republican. I get the fund-raising calls, with those leading questions -- "Do you think president Obama's policies are a threat to America's future?" They go downhill from there. It would be easier to believe they are not the base if any Republican who dares say something less than fawning about Rush Limbaugh didn't have to immediately retract their statements, stutter and stammer "Rush is a great guy!" every time. The base is the foundation, the starting point of a party, upon which everything else is built. And while it didn't used to be the case, the base is now the folks calling Obama Hitler, socialist, all the rest. The only way that changes is if people within the party start to push back against that stuff. I haven't seen it happening very much. 8 months into this presidency, and the rhetoric from the far right is non-stop, 24/7. Though, to their credit, Laura Bush and Newt Gingrich (and hopefully some others) DID make a stand for sanity by saying there was nothing to get in a frenzy about with Obama's speech.
