[Skell]

Our big tent hasn't gotten smaller because we've moved to the right. It's gotten smaller because we haven't been able to explain why our positions are good for main street. Once it is explained in a way that the man on the street can understand, they generally end up inside the big tent. That was Reagan's great gift... he was the Great Communicator.

The positions themselves are fine. It's the lack of decent message-carriers that is hurting us.

Elliot

Psst, Elliot.. Isn't that what your doing here? You do a great job spruiking the republican message but it isn't winning anyone over here. Maybe, just maybe it's the wrong message?

[galveston]

Psst, Elliot.. Isnt that what your doing here? You do a great job spruiking the republican message but it isnt winning anyone over here. Maybe, just maybe its the wrong message??

It's not the Republican message that needs to be spread, it is the conservative message. There is a difference.

What message do you think conservatives should spread? Like the Democrats spread? Then we can have tweedle dumb or tweedle dumber.

When enough people wake up to how badly they have been deceived, they will wish they had not got all the change they voted for. Like Obama's recent lie about cutting th budget. Everything that was in the original is in the current one.

[N0help4u]

I would have voted for Ron Paul if he ran for Pres.
Homeland security and the Obama lovers say you have to be suspecious of anybody with a Ron Paul sticker. So I wonder why they feel so threatened by him?

[galveston]

I would have voted for Ron Paul if he ran for Pres.
Homeland security and the Obama lovers say you have to be suspecious of anybody with a Ron Paul sticker. So I wonder why they feel so threatened by him?

If we can judge by the unending vicious attacks, Sarah Palin is their biggest fear.

[N0help4u]

I say Sara Palin is to politics
What Paula Dean is to cooking.

[ETWolverine]

Psst, Elliot.. Isnt that what your doing here? You do a great job spruiking the republican message but it isnt winning anyone over here. Maybe, just maybe its the wrong message??

First of all, why the "psst"? Are you a broken steam pipe?

Secondly, it would seem that the message IS getting out quite nicely, thank you. Because while Obama has a 65%+ approval rating, his POLICIES have an approval rating in the 30% range and the most recent polls all show that 50%+ of those polled believe that the country is on the wrong track.

Here's the latest polls (Since April):
Poll Date Right Direction Wrong Track Spread
Ipsos/McClatchy 04/30 - 05/03 55 38 +17
Daily Kos/R2000 04/27 - 04/30 46 49 -3
Quinnipiac 04/21 - 04/27 36 63 -27
Diageo/Hotline 04/23 - 04/26 42 47 -5
NBC /WallSt.Jrnl 04/23 - 04/26 43 43 Tie
Democracy Corps(D) 04/22 - 04/26 43 46 -3
CBS News/NY Times 04/22 - 04/26 41 50 -9
ABC /Wash Post 04/21 - 04/24 50 48 +2
Daily Kos/R2000 04/20 - 04/23 43 53 -10
POS (R) 04/19 - 04/21 40 56 -16
Associated Press 04/16 - 04/20 48 44 +4
Rasmussen Reports 04/13 - 04/19 37 57 -20
Ayres McHenry (R) 04/13 - 04/16 40 50 -10
National Journal/FD 04/08 - 04/14 47 41 +6
Daily Kos/R2000 04/05 - 04/09 43 55 -12
Ipsos/McClatchy 04/02 - 04/06 45 48 -3
Pew Research 03/31 - 04/06 23 70 -47
CBS News/NYTimes 04/01 - 04/05 39 53 -14
Newsweek 04/01 - 04/02 22 69 -47
Daily Kos/R2000 03/30 - 04/02 42 56 -14


Seems to me that word is getting out just fine.

[Dare81]

Hello Republicans:

You're in trouble. Lemme see if I can help. You're looking for a solidly conservative message, and a solidly conservative messenger. But, you don't have to be a Democrat to get the love. You've got Ron Paul!!

In 1989, I fell in love with Rush Limbaugh. I thought he was the greatest thing since sliced bread. As long as he was talking libertarian stuff, he had me...

Then he started on his lock 'em up, and bomb 'em hate talk, and it hasn't stopped. Being a libertarian, I couldn't wait till he to around to some of the social issues I was concerned about. I absolutely KNEW Rush would be for an end to the drug war.... I was wrong. I absolutely KNEW that he'd change his tune when he, himself got popped for drugs.... But, nooooo.

On the other hand, you've got this guy who DOES exhibit solid compassionate conservative values.... He just doesn't believe in bombing people or putting 'em in jail if they smoke pot.

His message resonates. Wassa matter you?

excon

I Agree, the conservative message appeals to me (a muslim immigrant ), but it's the extreme right wingers on the republican side that scares me.Ron paul if he would have ran for president would have had my vote.I am though still a little waery on his stance on immigration

[ETWolverine]

i Agree, the conservative message appeals to me (a muslim immigrant ), but its the extreme right wingers on the republican side that scares me.Ron paul if he would have ran for president would have had my vote.I am though still a lil waery on his stance on immigration

What part of his message appeals to you, Dare?

[excon]

I say Sara Palin is to politics
what Paula Dean is to cooking.

Hello N0:

You're right. Paula Dean is not classically trained in the culinary delights. So, she smiles and winks and uses a lot of butter to cover it up.

Sarah Palin is not classically trained in world affairs. So, she smiles and winks and uses a lot of butter to cover it up.

excon

[ETWolverine]

And what is Ron Paul's "classical training" in? And he isn't even good at adding butter to the mix to make his ideas taste good.

[excon]

Hello Elliot:

Ron Paul was not really the focus of my post. I was just trying to help you guys rebuild your party. But, you ain't having it. You just want to get purer and purer, and you are. All of you, to a man, believe the same stuff.

All I was suggesting, was that even though Ron Paul doesn't think exactly like you do, much of what he says is the MAIN Republican mantra - lower taxes and limited government. He's just not a bomber and a jailer... I was thinking that there must be some YOUNG Republican who is about smaller government & isn't about bullying the world...

But, I guess if there was, you'd hound him out of the party too... You'd rather have Rush Limprod in the fold than a war hero ex secretary of state..

I can't help you any more... You're beyond it... You actually believe that you don't have to CHANGE your message. You just have to SELL it better... As, though you really think we're going to forget about the last eight stinking years...

excon

[ETWolverine]

I find it interesting that you refer to "bullying the world" in your post.

Who is it that the world calls when some country attacks another without cause?

Who is it that the world calls when some terrorist group kills a few hundred people with a car bomb and they want it stopped?

Who is it that the world looks to every time there is a crisis of any kind anywhere in the world?

YOU call in bullying... and when it is the other guy who we are lending assistance to, yeah, the rest of the world calls it bullying too. But when it is their butts we're saving from some rogue dictator, terrorists, or earthquake, suddenly we're the heroes... until they feel like they don't need us anymore (even if they actually do).

YOU refer to this as bullying.

I think of it as our responsibility as the last superpower.

Obama is starting to learn that lesson. The world is starting to see Obama's interest in coming to some sort of "agreement" with Iran regarding their nuclear program as a failure of foreign policy. They are starting to see that the only ones they have to rely on are themselves, and the result is going to be open hostilities between Iran and its neighbors... because the USA is not "bullying" (as you put it) Iran into dropping its nuclear program. And I'm not just talking about Israel. Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and a whole bunch of other countries have expressed their worry over Obama's "nice guy" approach. They want the USA to have a strong presence... though BULLY Iran into dropping its nuclear program.

So what you call "bullying" they call "helping".

As to Rush Limbaugh, yes, I would rather follow him than Ron Paul, because as Thomas Jefferson said, the most important responsibility of any citizen is the survival of the nation... and Ron Paul doesn't get that. Rush does.

Finally, on the topic of the last 8 "stinking years"... let's see:

No terrorist attacks since 9/11/01. That's 2,799 days.

The freeing of 50 million Muslims from oppressive rogue regimes.

More money spent on AIDS research than ever in history.

More medical and food assistance to foreign countries than ever in history.

More land donated to wildlife preservation than ever in history.

The running of two wars with, despite what the left would like us to believe, minimal US casualties, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of the number of troops involved.

Whatever you might think, the last 8 years were NOT bad. They were rather good years, with quite a bit of financial growth (until the real estate crisis hit... and Bush WARNED about it years before it occurred but the Dems ignored him). You just don't want to see it.

That's fine. If you don't see the Bush years in their own light, you will see them in comparison to what we get now.

Regarding the message of the Republican party, the same message was the one the founders used, the same one Lincoln used, the same one Reagan used. The only difference is that the people putting out the message lack the elloquence of the Founders, Lincoln, and Reagan. The message hasn't changed, just the messangers. Reagan was able to take a "brand" (I hate that term) that had been hurting for years, and that everyone thought was "done" after Goldwater lost, and COMMUNICATE the message in a way that touched the general public. It also helped that Carter was such a friggin' tool that he made Reagan's job easier.

The stage is set. We have our Carter in office, and he's already wrecking the economy for decades to come. And it's taken less than 4 months to accomplish it. All we need is someone to step forward and put out the message.

Now... who do you think that should be? The guy who can't even get enough votes to beat the probability of error in the polls? Or guys who have 50 million+ regular listeners or watchers every day, like Rush, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, etc. Who do you think is the right person to carry the message?

If Rush were to run against Paul for any office in the land today, who do you think would win? Why? Be honest.

It's the fact that the message and the messenger are BOTH attractive to the people that makes elections winable. Rush has that over Paul any day. He has that over just about anyone in either party right now. HE is the Great Communicator right now, and he's got a huge built-in voting block who will listen to what he says.

So, which do I want to be my message carrier?

It ought to be a simple answer, even for you, Excon.

Elliot

[spitvenom]

Don't worry Gary "Lt. Dan" Sinise is being touted as the savior of the republican party in 2012 according to Nicole Wallace of the daily beast. And they called Obama the Hollywood type. I guess Stupid is as stupid does.

[tomder55]

I'll take Gary "Lt. Dan" Sinise


You can have Al 'Stuart Smalley' Franken

[tomder55]

Yes the Dems. Won elections by inviting into the tent a bunch of Trojan horse candidates . That coalition will not last long because the moderate Dems have absolutely zero influence on policy. The only thing the blue dogs can do is work with the Republican to construct road blocks at the Pelosi Reid Obama agenda .

Meanwhile the base of the Dem. Party is braying at the moon threatening to primary anyone who doesn't fall in line.


The Dems were down for the count in 2004... the Republicans were down for the count in 1992 . These zombies always find a way to come back from the dead because the fickle moderates prefer the flavor of the month.

[Skell]

First of all, why the "psst"? Are you a broken steam pipe?

Secondly, it would seem that the message IS getting out quite nicely, thank you. Because while Obama has a 65%+ approval rating, his POLICIES have an approval rating in the 30% range and the most recent polls all show that 50%+ of those polled believe that the country is on the wrong track.

Here's the latest polls (Since April):
Poll Date Right Direction Wrong Track Spread
Ipsos/McClatchy 04/30 - 05/03 55 38 +17
Daily Kos/R2000 04/27 - 04/30 46 49 -3
Quinnipiac 04/21 - 04/27 36 63 -27
Diageo/Hotline 04/23 - 04/26 42 47 -5
NBC /WallSt.Jrnl 04/23 - 04/26 43 43 Tie
Democracy Corps(D) 04/22 - 04/26 43 46 -3
CBS News/NY Times 04/22 - 04/26 41 50 -9
ABC /Wash Post 04/21 - 04/24 50 48 +2
Daily Kos/R2000 04/20 - 04/23 43 53 -10
POS (R) 04/19 - 04/21 40 56 -16
Associated Press 04/16 - 04/20 48 44 +4
Rasmussen Reports 04/13 - 04/19 37 57 -20
Ayres McHenry (R) 04/13 - 04/16 40 50 -10
National Journal/FD 04/08 - 04/14 47 41 +6
Daily Kos/R2000 04/05 - 04/09 43 55 -12
Ipsos/McClatchy 04/02 - 04/06 45 48 -3
Pew Research 03/31 - 04/06 23 70 -47
CBS News/NYTimes 04/01 - 04/05 39 53 -14
Newsweek 04/01 - 04/02 22 69 -47
Daily Kos/R2000 03/30 - 04/02 42 56 -14


Seems to me that word is getting out just fine.

We make a good pair then. I'm a broken steam pipe and you're a broken record!!

[Dare81]

I find it interesting that you refer to "bullying the world" in your post.

Who is it that the world calls when some country attacks another without cause?

Who is it that the world calls when some terrorist group kills a few hundred people with a car bomb and they want it stopped?

Who is it that the world looks to every time there is a crisis of any kind anywhere in the world?

YOU call in bullying... and when it is the other guy who we are lending assistance to, yeah, the rest of the world calls it bullying too. But when it is their butts we're saving from some rogue dictator, terrorists, or earthquake, suddenly we're the heros... until they feel like they don't need us anymore (even if they actually do).

YOU refer to this as bullying.

I think of it as our responsibility as the last superpower.
Elliot

Was it not our responsibility as the last super power to not deal with the dictator in Pakistan, who is worse than saddam? Why did the bush administration support a dictator in Pakistan who was killing thousand of people while liberating the people in iraq from a dictator who was doing the same thing in Iraq.That seems a little strange

Obama is starting to learn that lesson. The world is starting to see Obama's interest in coming to some sort of "agreement" with Iran regarding their nuclear program as a failure of foreign policy. They are starting to see that the only ones they have to rely on are themselves, and the result is going to be open hostilities between Iran and its neighbors... because the USA is not "bullying" (as you put it) Iran into dropping its nuclear program. And I'm not just talking about Israel. Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and a whole bunch of other countries have expressed their worry over Obama's "nice guy" approach. They want the USA to have a strong presence... tho BULLY Iran into dropping its nuclear program.

So what you call "bullying" they call "helping".
Elliot

The Bush administration did try bullying Iran into stopping its nuclear program, they tried the same thing in Korea.What did that achieve?

Regarding the message of the Republican party, the same message was the one the founders used, the same one Lincoln used, the same one Reagan used. The only difference is that the people putting out the message lack the elloquence of the Founders, Lincoln, and Reagan. The message hasn't changed, just the messangers. Reagan was able to take a "brand" (I hate that term) that had been hurting for years, and that everyone thought was "done" after Goldwater lost, and COMMUNICATE the message in a way that touched the general public. It also helped that Carter was such a friggin' tool that he made Reagan's job easier.

The stage is set. We have our Carter in office, and he's already wrecking the economy for decades to come. And it's taken less than 4 months to accomplish it. All we need is someone to step forward and put out the message.

Now... who do you think that should be? The guy who can't even get enough votes to beat the probability of error in the polls? Or guys who have 50 million+ regular listeners or watchers every day, like Rush, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, etc.? Who do you think is the right person to carry the message?

If Rush were to run against Paul for any office in the land today, who do you think would win? Why? Be honest.

It's the fact that the message and the messenger are BOTH attractive to the people that makes elections winable. Rush has that over Paul any day. He has that over just about anyone in either party right now. HE is the Great Communicator right now, and he's got a huge built-in voting block who will listen to what he says.

So, which do I want to be my message carrier?

It ought to be a simple answer, even for you, Excon.

Elliot

Last time I checked obama won the election , so sadly you have to deal with that probably for the next 8 years, I know that kills you inside but as long you have rush representing your party you can forget about winning any elections

[tomder55]

Dare81

It's working out so well with the current civilian government in Pakistan ? It won't be long before General Ashfaq Kayani is President Kayani.

For years the Dems demanded that we stop supporting Musharraf .So Pakistan finally gets their civilian government and the Dems are doing everything they can to undermine President Asif Ali Zardari who is weak, has questionable control of the military ,and seemingly does not have the ability to control the country.

He came to Washington with his hands out ,and met with members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. They came out of the meeting threatening to defund the efforts in Pakistan. Rep. Howard Berman ; chairman of the committee, remarked that Zardari "did not present a coherent strategy for the defeat of this insurgency."

So soon it will do Pakistan a lot of good to say they had a democracy but now they have jihadists Taliban with hundreds of nukes in their hands.

Musharraf wasn't great, and in many ways it was a deal with the devil to support him .But he was on the right side in the fight against jihadistan and the Taliban wasn't contesting the suburbs of Islamibad under his leadership .

[Dare81]

Dare81

it's working out so well with the current civilian government in Pakistan ? It won't be long before General Ashfaq Kayani is President Kayani.

Democracy takes time, especially in a country like Pakistan.What we have now is Pakistan is called progress, it will take time but they will get there.

[tomder55]

I do not believe the civilian government will last the year. However ;I'm willing to reserve final opinion on the matter until this new offensive into Taliban controlled Swat and other Taliban strong-holds plays out.

Also if the civilian gvt is to survive ;it is my bet that Nawaz Sharif will be heading it.