Friday, July 28

CONSERVATIVE ICON RAILS AGAINST CURRENT REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP

Wow. I've heard direct-mail king conservative political consultant Richard Viguerie (called by some "the author of Ronald Reagan's victories") lash out on Hardball against Bush and what he calls "big government Republicans," but here it is without Tweety's overtalking in all its glory. Hooray, he's disgusted with Bush, DeLay, Giuliani? Ha! He still wants Republicans to prevail, and he has some very Rovian instincts. But there's something to be learned about the opposition from his remarks -- if only Democrats could exploit those learnings!

Republicans never win national elections unless the elections are nationalized, when the country is focused on a national agenda. Tip O’Neill famously said, ‘All elections are local.’ That’s a Democrat saying. Democrats like elections to be local. Democrats are a deliverer of services. They pave the roads, they make sure that your social security checks arrive on time. Not so Republicans.

Can we get a big Amen! to that? Isn't he just making the point that Democrats are better at GOVERNING than Republicans?

Partisanship is fine. I would hope that as long as we have disagreements we should be disagreeing, we should talk about it. It’s the demonization of people that is a problem, but partisanship is very healthy, that’s America.... We weren’t partisan in the 50s, 60s, and 70s and that’s when Democrats controlled everything.

So in other words, if Dems would unite and BE partisan and call out the Rethugs on every stupid appointment, every vile self-serving law, every piece of pork-barrel-padding legislation, every bit of pandering to Big Business, every step to diminish our civil liberties and subvert the Constitution, we'd win more elections.

The idea that Giuliani is a serious candidate for a Republican nomination is not a serious idea. It would destroy the Republican Party. He’s a serial adulterer, he doesn’t agree with Republicans on virtually anything... He doesn’t agree with the Republicans on the second amendment.

Giuliani is NOT a serious candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. But the very fact that he's the vaunted darling of the Sean Hannitys who purport to be champions of "moral/family values" issues and excoriate Bill Clinton for his sexual misadventures, should be heralded by Dems as prima facie evidence of conservative/Rethuglican hypocrisy.

McCain is interesting. He’s a serious candidate. McCain is like a political broken clock. He’s right a couple of times now and then. Right on spending primarily, and right on other issues. But he has a real problem with conservatives because conservatives don’t see him as a conservative.

McCain's appeal to independents and some conservative-leaning Democrats is more dangerous than his appeal to Republicans. If he CAN win the Republican nomination, he could be a dangerous opponent. We have to make sure that never happens. Kevin Drum reminds us of Mr. Straight Talk's vulnerabilities. Let's use them NOW to defuse that "maverick" image that has so much appeal to the media and fenceline voters.

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