Michael Steele tells the truth.
We have lost sight of the historic, integral link between the [Republican] party and African-Americans...For the last 40-plus years we had a 'Southern Strategy' that alienated many minority voters by focusing on the white male vote in the South.
Could be a real positive for the GOP. Interesting to see how people react.
Good for Steele for being honest enough to even admit a Southern Strategy did, and does, exist.
Posted by: justcorbly | Apr 22, 2010 at 02:58 PM
As long as some GOPers keep fighting the "Culture Wars," I expect that the party will continue to die the slow death. I know the HLP (Hannity, Limbaugh, & Palin) braintrust begs to differ, but I'm pretty sure I'm right. The GOP faithful should stop worrying about homosexuals, the birth canal, and The Bible and focus on issues that really matter. It's been a trainwreck for a while now, but it's not so ammusing anymore.
Posted by: A. Bulluck | Apr 22, 2010 at 03:31 PM
"....but I'm pretty sure I'm right."
Care to provide some analysis that supports your opinion?
Posted by: bubba | Apr 22, 2010 at 03:44 PM
I am a long time moderate to con, voting Rep and I am in agreement with Bullock. Not exactly analysis or evidence but .....
Less emphasis on "litmus test" type issues and more on just plain ol governing would be fine with me.
Posted by: Mick | Apr 22, 2010 at 03:59 PM
Analysis? Sure. The past twenty-five years. Sorry I didn't provide it earlier!
Posted by: A. Bulluck | Apr 22, 2010 at 04:01 PM
When there is a stagnation in voter registration for Republicans in their "Dominion," that should serve as a wake up call that maybe they should "rethink" their electoral strategy. Maybe, just maybe, Arlen Spector and Lincoln Chaffee aren't such bad men after all. Maybe, just maybe, THEY are the faces of the ORIGINAL Republican Party, the one that existed before the Bible-thumpers hijacked it back in the 70s.
Posted by: A. Bulluck | Apr 22, 2010 at 04:06 PM
I think what I'm hearing is back off on social/moral conservatism, and dig your heals in firm on fiscal and economic conservatism. If I may add preservation of the sanctity of individual, as opposed to group or class, justice, rights, and responsibility, and equality of opportunity over outcome,then I'm down with that.
Posted by: cheripickr | Apr 22, 2010 at 04:19 PM
"The past twenty-five years."
It's been longer than 25 years that "progressives" have played the "Culture Wars" meme to perfection against conservatives.
Jonah Goldberg had some very choice points recently to describe their little game:
"1. The Left, since the 1960s, has been the aggressor in the culture war. Liberals often object when conservatives point this out, but they brag about it amongst themselves. They are, after all, the 'agents of change,' 'forces of progress,' 'enemies of the status quo,' etc. And when they meet resistance to the wheel of history or efforts to roll it back, they scream 'culture war!'"
By getting people like you and Mick to talk about "litmus test type issues" and label it a "cultural war" plays right into their strategy.
Posted by: Bubba | Apr 22, 2010 at 04:26 PM
Make sure it's real fiscal/economic conservatism -- not borrow-and-spend, Markets R Magic!, corporations-writing-legislation phony conservatism -- and we're getting somewhere.
Posted by: Ed Cone | Apr 22, 2010 at 04:30 PM
Bubba, you old dinosaur you.
"Little game" or not, hopefully even bold face type won't shout down the dialogue that Steele is trying to get started in the GOP. It is needed and wanted, at least by me.
I've hung around this long with an "R" on my registration waiting for my Party to come back to me, so I can certainly suffer through a few more "...but Maaamaa!, he started it...", obfuscations.
I'm with you, Mick.
Posted by: David Hoggard | Apr 22, 2010 at 06:14 PM
I think Republican/conservative economic policies are wrongheaded, at least to the extent that one can discern actual policies coming from them these days. Their chest-thumping approach to defense and foreign policy, and all the American exceptionalism stuff, are recipes for screwing up. One cannot defend the nation's interests if you have a bogus undestanding of the world.
But, those are disagreements over matters of policy and competence. It is the conservative stance on social and ethical issues, the issues that drive the culture wars, that are anathema to me. A chasm exists between my thinking, and that of many others, and their positions on women's rights, church-state relations, education, etc. I don't see any way to bridge the chasm. I believe the energy in the right these days comes from people who are perfectly willing and ready to imprison women, impose religious tests, benignly neglect private militias, etc. That would destroy our country and cannot be permitted to happen.
Posted by: justcorbly | Apr 22, 2010 at 08:05 PM
"I'm with you, Mick."
Do you want to continue to talk about "culture wars", revisiting the past, while losing focus on the present? That sounds like a Democrat Dream Sequence regarding the continual marginalization by misdirection of "moderate" Republicans, and neutralizing their political voice.
It's worked effectively for quite some time now, as we saw most recently in the nomination and defeat of McCain in the 08 election cycle. Some of the "moderate" Republicans have yet to figure it out.
The Democrats will continue to work this type of strategy all year in an attempt to distract attention away from all the negative things for which they are responsible.
Why do you think the "tea party=racism" meme got so much play on lefty blogs and Tank Team Media/Democrat PR affinity partners' various outlets?
Posted by: Bubba | Apr 22, 2010 at 08:22 PM
".....people who are perfectly willing and ready to imprison women, impose religious tests, benignly neglect private militias, etc."
On the other hand, Dems/Lefties/"Progressives" who are more politically astute than others cringe whenever words like the above pop their ugly head above ground level.
Posted by: Bubba | Apr 22, 2010 at 08:26 PM
Moderates cannot exist w/o the Corbs and Bubbas of the world. As moderate as I am (in some things) I have pulled very VERY VERY few Dem levers over the past 32 years of voting. The R stays. There is little chance of me voting D. Not voting is a more likely scenario but I really dont see that either. Give me someone to vote for.
Posted by: Mick | Apr 22, 2010 at 09:40 PM
"I believe the energy in the right these days comes from people who are perfectly willing and ready to imprison women, impose religious tests, benignly neglect private militias, etc. That would destroy our country and cannot be permitted to happen."
Well, duh! I mean who in their right mind would argue against that? Let's at least choose something debatable to talk about.
Posted by: cheripickr | Apr 22, 2010 at 09:56 PM
>>As moderate as I am (in some things) I have pulled very VERY VERY few Dem levers over the past 32 years of voting. The R stays.
Then, you aren't a moderate, Mick. You're a Republican. Being a legitimate moderate doesn't mean artificially positioning yourself halfway between the positions of the two parties. Being a real political moderate means thinking on your own and reaching your own conclusions that just happen to be or or less in the middle on a range of issues. You seem to have thought about it and come down on the GOP side.
Posted by: justcorbly | Apr 23, 2010 at 08:50 AM
CP, as I impled, I think there is plenty of room for debate on economic, defense, foreign policies, etc. But, debating with people who believe God has chosen them to impose his will on everyone else is a waste of time.
Posted by: justcorbly | Apr 23, 2010 at 08:56 AM
"people who believe God has chosen them to impose his will on everyone else"
..which of course , is the core of "the energy on the right", natch. Again, who could argue such a moderate, reasonable statement?
Posted by: cheripickr | Apr 23, 2010 at 09:13 AM
Do you understand what you are now, Mick, now that it's been defined for you?
You know, there was a time when I didn't even know I was a racist.
Posted by: cheripickr | Apr 23, 2010 at 09:42 AM
CP, how can someone be a moderate if they always vote for one party?
And do you really think the Palin-Bachmann-doctor killing wing of conservatives do not believe they are doing God's will?
If you want to debate, why don't you? Perhaps you'd rather lob insults and attempt cute rejoinders in response to non-existent remarks?
Posted by: justcorbly | Apr 23, 2010 at 10:10 AM
"non-existent remarks?"
One thing I used to admire about you was that there was a time when you wouldn't deny your own words simply quoted back to you.
Sometimes I just repeat them to make sure you really meant them.
Posted by: cheripickr | Apr 23, 2010 at 10:26 AM
Cheri, I had no idea that I could be a bible-thumping, rich-boy, privileged and racist Republican-Tea Partier (that must be destroyed at all costs) even though I've mostly voted Democrat throughout my short voting career, am an atheist and I don't protest (oddly enough because of negative interactions with left wing extremists who destroy property and assault police officers in the name of economic equality and immigration reform). Corbly set me straight. Pelosi told Corbly all about folks like us. Corbly knows the truth: that when a person votes conservative, they are closed-minded bigots who have the entire population of America sorted into neat little boxes, oh wait...who am I talking about?
The fact is, Corbly is so immersed in their ideology, like a rabid sports fan, they can't conceive of anyone different from them having a good idea. The overt bigotry that Corbly wont admit exists is what prevents me from voting from any Democrat that does not address that. I recall Mccain telling a crowd of people that "Obama is an American and he is not a socialist". I don't recall any Democrats coming out and saying "No, these tea-partiers are not racists, they have legitimate beefs". Of course, in your view, they can have no legitimate beefs. Your team can do no wrong, right?
Posted by: Brandon Burgess | Apr 23, 2010 at 10:34 AM
Not to mention that prominent local ministers on the left consider health care reform god's work and they consider questioning the effectiveness of reform ungodly.
Posted by: Brandon Burgess | Apr 23, 2010 at 10:35 AM
I am pretty sure I stand by my moderate R status. At least I think I do, sometimes .......... maybe.
Posted by: Mick | Apr 23, 2010 at 10:50 AM
Thanks BB. I'm at work and don't have time for the long stuff. Also, I've been told that short posts are preferred. I am generally of the more long-winded variety, but that's more likely to occur in the evening.
Posted by: cheripickr | Apr 23, 2010 at 10:51 AM
JC, just curious. Do you ever venture to other blogs to comment where the home team is less likely to be in your camp? It can be both fun and educational.
Posted by: cheripickr | Apr 23, 2010 at 10:56 AM
"...short posts are preferred."
From folks like us, I think no posts are preferred. I find it interesting that the more conservative bloggers seem to be more tolerant of opposing views when "historically" the R is the party of intolerance. Food for thought. Though Guarino and I share opposing views with regard to religion and moral issues, even abortion, I don't worry about him calling me names or otherwise insulting me like I get here from folks who I tend to be in agreement with on a variety of issues. The today's left is turning into the intolerant right.
Posted by: Brandon Burgess | Apr 23, 2010 at 11:14 AM
CP, I'm pretty certain I've never called any individual here a racist. I have said that the GOP and conservatism, via the Southern Strategy, leverages and stokes white resentment against civil rights gains to secure votes. I consider that racist, both the resentment and the leveraging.
Consider what Lee Atwater said about the Southern Strategy here Skip down to "Atwater on the Southern Strategy". Be warned that Atwater uses the n-word.
And, CP, this is Ed's site. You and your other right-wing friends are no more the "home team" than I am. There is no "home team".
Posted by: justcorbly | Apr 23, 2010 at 11:54 AM
BB, if some ministers think health reform is the will of God, they're making the same mistake as people who think God wants them to stop abortions. The mistake is being certain they know what God wants.
Posted by: justcorbly | Apr 23, 2010 at 12:00 PM
Brandon, there are many equal opportunity bashers that hang out at Gaurino's place. Go against the tide once or twice and watch what happens. You dont think DeSean takes heat at Gaurino's place? Joe tends to be polite I agree.
In my opinion, many on the Left particularly the far Left are indeed intolerant. Just as the far Right tends to be. That is kinda the definition.
Posted by: Mick | Apr 23, 2010 at 12:22 PM
"In my opinion, many on the Left particularly the far Left are indeed intolerant. Just as the far Right tends to be. That is kinda the definition. "
In my opinion , your perception of and disdain for similar degrees of extremism and intolerance on both sides indeed defines you as a moderate. The fact that you come down on the Republican side on issues that matter more often than not doesn't change that. In fact it is quite consistent with the fact that 40% of American voters identify themselves as conservatives while only 20% describe themselves as liberals. Heck, you're probably sitting perfectly astraddle the peak of the bell curve. Such realities are inconvenient truths for the World According to Corbly.
Posted by: cheripickr | Apr 23, 2010 at 12:56 PM
CP, I don't accept the premise that "both sides" exhibit "similar degrees of extremism and intolerance". Some positions are wrong and some positions are right. I think people ought to stake out their own positions based on their own study and research and beliefs. I think deciding that both sides are, by defintion, extreme and, hence, a moderate position can be found somewhere in the middle is a bogus approach. It's a lazy approach often used by people who don't want to be bothered to make the effort to figure things out on their own. The important thing is to take what you think is the correct position, wherever others may think that falls on the political spectrum, and to know why you take that position. If people want to call you names and slander you because of it, that's their problem.
No comment on Lee Atwater?
Posted by: justcorbly | Apr 23, 2010 at 01:14 PM
"CP, I don't accept the premise that "both sides" exhibit "similar degrees of extremism and intolerance".
I thought it clear I was referring to Mick’s perception, not yours.
I'm sorry that you find approaches to issues that differ from your own bogus and lazy. Some people are wired differently and just can't help it.
The Atwater stuff from '81 is pretty vile. I’m glad he’s no longer around (politically). Isn’t it great that that attitude has no place in any political platform 30 years later? One of the few things we can agree on for sure.
No comment on how verbatim quotes
from you represent "nonexistent remarks"?
No comment on whether you partake in discussions at other blogs?
As far as the name-calling goes, I agree that Hoggard should apologize for calling Bubba an “Old Dinosaur”. Or were you referring to some non-existent remark that I just couldn’t find?
Posted by: cheripickr | Apr 23, 2010 at 01:59 PM