“Establishment” Republicans

The Republican Party: Fiscal Discipline And National Security–Foreign Policy Expertise Reputation Replaced By Incompetency And Ignorance!

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The Republican Party used to be the party of Fiscal Discipline, until George W. Bush and the Republican Congress spent wildly on the War on Terror and a Prescription Drug Plan without raising taxes, and in fact, cut them dramatically on the wealthy, causing the economic crisis of the Great Recession as a result!

The Republican Party used to be the party of National Security–Foreign Policy Expertise, the party of Richard Nixon and George H. W. Bush, until Sarah Palin came along as a Vice Presidential choice in 2008, and then Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain came along, all three of them displaying total ignorance of the subject, and Rick Perry not much better!

To believe that the Republican Party could have serious challengers for the Presidency who have no clue on foreign policy or economic matters is something that promotes speechlessness!

Sarah Palin showed plenty enough ignorance, and there was a great sigh of relief when she decided finally not to run for President.

But instead, we have Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain, who seem in many ways, even worse than Sarah Palin.

We also have Rick Perry, who seems even worse than George W. Bush.

What has happened to the party that used to be respectable and knowledgeable, the party of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Bob Dole, George H. W. Bush, John McCain, and yes, even Ronald Reagan?

The Republican Party is in mourning for itself among its Establishment, and the nation should be in mourning as to how far downhill the party has gone!

A major political party with a glorious history in many ways has become an embarrassment to itself, and the nation suffers as a result!

The Chris Christie Endorsement Of Mitt Romney: An Attempt To Outflank The Tea Party Movement In The Republican Party!

Ronald 1 Comment

The decision of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, fresh off a choice NOT to run for the GOP Presidential nomination, to endorse former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney for President is a major victory for Romney in his battle with Rick Perry and other conservatives in the party.

Christie adds legitimacy to Romney as someone who can appeal across the political spectrum within the party, and certainly puts Christie on a short list of potential Vice Presidential choices for Romney, if he ends up the nominee, even though it seems likely that Christie would not wish to be a “second fiddle”, when he is the powerful Governor of a state which makes that office very consequential in the state constitution.

However, it can also be seen as the “Establishment” Northeastern Republicans trying to co-opt the Tea Party Movement, which is the extreme right wing within the party, and secretly terrifies many in the party.

Since so many Wall Street types and Establishment people were pushing Christie to run, it is assumed that they are now switching to Romney, even if with some reluctance and doubt, in order to stop Perry and other conservatives from taking over the party apparatus.

The question still is there: Will the Tea Party Movement be willing to back Romney, with his changing views on social issues, on health care, and with his Mormon faith? If not, it means a threat of a third party movement which could defeat Romney. So will Romney move to the right further, or ignore the Tea Party Movement and attempt to run as a centrist candidate to win independents, moderates, and conservative Democrats?

It will be interesting to watch tonight’s debate in New Hampshire, sponsored by Bloomberg Television and the Washington Post, as to how Romney answers questions, and deals with attacks by Perry, Herman Cain, and others, including Jon Huntsman, who wants very much to start to be a real moderate alternative to Romney!

The Flaws Of A Mitt Romney Presidential Candidacy

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Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has many virtues, many positives, that should make him a model candidate for the White House, including:

1. Strong business background with Bain Capital and as head of the Salt Lake City Olympics Committee for 2002.
2. Promoted a health care plan in Massachusetts which is seen as a major success by many.
3. Bright, intelligent, photogenic candidate, with great family image, including his wife and five sons.
4. Knowledgeable about economic matters, and seen as Presidential caliber in many people’s minds.
5. Has presented good body language in debates and has greater potential to appeal to moderates, Independents, and conservative Democrats.

Despite all of the above, there are a long list of flaws that will make it difficult for Romney to win the GOP nomination for President, and if he does, to win the election over President Barack Obama. Among them are :

1. Romney comes across as a chameleon, a person who is constantly over the years changing his views on many issues, seen as originally a moderate and trying to paint himself as a conservative–therefore perceived as a phony candidate, and a “flip flopper”!
2. Romney was not well liked personally by his opponents in the 2008 Presidential race, particularly John McCain and Mike Huckabee, and is not even now well liked by the Bush clan and other Establishment Republicans.
3. Romney is not well regarded by evangelical Christians, a large group in primaries and caucuses, because of his Mormon faith, and one wonders could he win the “Bible Belt” South and Great Plains, areas usually Republican. but seeing Mormons as a cult, and not Christian!
4. All through the race for the GOP nomination, despite Romney showing the best ability in polls to compete with President Obama, there has been a constant search for an alternative, whether Donald Trump, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Jon Huntsman, and now Chris Christie, not a sign of much feeling of emotion or passionate feelings of love for Romney.
5. Romney has shown insensitivity toward average people, by joking that he is unemployed; by talking about his Cadillacs collection; and by having a project to increase the size of his home to a mansion at a time when many are losing their own homes. Being the richest candidate in the race may give him a money edge, but he comes across as not understanding the problems of the middle class!
6. Despite his recent improved debate performances, Romney still has an image of being stiff, uncomfortable in his own skin, not totally relaxed, and not truly knowing how to deal with irate questioners at rallies, and with strong criticism. It makes one wonder would he be able to work well with Congress, whether his own party or the opposition, with so little political experience, only one term as Governor, and thinking his lack of a career in politics is a plus, which it really is not!
7. Romney’s ability to get people out to vote for him is doubtful, since he does not evoke strong feelings of support, and his poll numbers are still seen as very soft.
8. Romney’s attempt to steer clear of the Tea Party Movement makes one wonder if he could ever work well with fellow Republicans, who in many cases would be much further to the right politically than he would feel comfortable being himself, once in office.
9. Can a candidate from the Northeast, the stronghold of Barack Obama, have any opportunity to defeat him in any scenario that would add up to 270 electoral votes? That seems highly doubtful, as in many ways, Romney comes across as somewhat distant in the same way as two past Massachusetts Democrats who ran for President had trouble overcoming–Michael Dukakis in 1988 and John Kerry in 2004. Those two who lost to father and son Bush did not face a man with the charisma and emotional feelings of support that Barack Obama has had, and even in bad times, still has to some extent today!
10. By coming out hard line against immigration reform that allows illegal immigrants and their children a path to citizenship, Romney, like other Republicans, is losing the future, as Hispanic population and voter participation is growing in the Southwest and across the nation, and they are not likely to throw support to a candidate who demeans them and treats them as not deserving of respect and empathy for their futures in America!

There are probably other points that could be made, but it is clear that Mitt Romney has major flaws in so many ways that his candidacy for President is going to require a lot of luck and good fortune for him to end up in the Oval Office!

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie: Being Wooed As The Savior Of The Republican Party

Ronald 1 Comment

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, in office less than two years, is being wooed by Wall Street Republicans and conservatives on talk radio and Fox News Channel as the savior of the Republican party, and being pressured to get into the Presidential race.

There has not been such a draft movement in the GOP since Dwight D. Eisenhower was successfully brought into the Presidential race in 1952.

But is Chris Christie another Dwight D. Eisenhower? Is he the “knight in shining armor”, or is he just the flavor of the month, a desperate attempt by Republicans to find a winning candidate who can unite the Tea Party Movement and Establishment Republicans, which no one else seems to be able to do?

After all the glamor is stripped from the excitement around Christie, is he the answer for the beleaguered GOP? The answer is NO, as despite what many might think, the odds on Christie winning the White House are extremely low!

What makes people in the party so excited about Christie?

1. He is very blunt and forceful in his language, but some would say overly confrontational and crude.

2. He attacks labor unions, which make Wall Street and big business thrilled.

3. He is the original “Bully” Governor, a model for Scott Walker in Wisconsin, John Kasich in Ohio, Rick Snyder in Michigan, Rick Scott in Florida, and Paul LePage in Maine.

4. He attacks public education in favor of charter schools, which pleases many conservatives.

5. He promotes budget cuts, which ultimately means the promoting of cuts in state support of social services, a popular move with the right wing nationally.

But why is he a horrible choice for President?

1. His “in your face” personality is precisely what we do NOT need in the White House!

2. His anti education, anti teacher, anti union agenda would solidify the right wing agenda in other states and harm the nation’s future.

3. His personality would undermine American foreign policy, as he would antagonize even friendly nations with his pompous, aggressive manner.

4. While a federal prosecutor in his past, he has only been Governor of New Jersey for less than two years, giving him very little elected experience, far less than Barack Obama, who had been in elected office for twelve years in Illinois state government and the US Senate.

5. He would be a terrible choice on the basis of physical fitness and health, has obvious health issues including a recent asthmatic attack, and while it could be said that we had William Howard Taft and Grover Cleveland in the past, it would not be a positive to have a person of his girth in the White House.

While many would see Christie as the ideal choice, he would be a bad model for the nation’s future in so many ways, and might even flop, as Rick Perry seemingly has, once we and the party and the nation had a better look at him!

Christie is more realistic than most when he says he is not ready for the Presidency, so let’s take him at his word and stop wooing him to enter the race!

The Ongoing Civil War In The Republican Party: Similar To 1964 Goldwater-Rockefeller Race?

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A recent CNN poll demonstrates the chasm that exists in the Republican Party, as the 2012 Presidential campaign comes on the scene more every day.

The demographics, ideology, and temperament of the two warring groups creates a real problem for their future. By 51-49, the majority do NOT support the Tea Party Movement, and can be seen as “Establishment” Republicans.

The Tea Party Republicans are older, more educated, and more male, while the Establishment Republicans are more likely female, less educated, younger, and less likely to be evangelical Christians.

The Tea Party Republicans are more angry about how things are working out in the country. And they are more concerned about the deficit; more likely not to believe science in regards to global warming and evolution; more likely to believe in the abolition of the Department of Education; more skeptical about abortion and gay marriage; more critical of the Federal Reserve Board; and more likely to think social security needs to be changed.

The Establishment Republicans want a candidate who can defeat President Obama, and less concerned about purity in principles.

Realistically, the Tea Party Republicans favor Rick Perry or Michele Bachmann, although some like Rick Santorum, Ron Paul or Herman Cain.

The Establishment Republicans strongly support Mitt Romney, or possibly Jon Huntsman, as legitimate candidates

So the present Perry-Romney frontrunner battle in many ways represents a similar battle to that of Barry Goldwater and Nelson Rockefeller in 1964!

Rick Perry: Dangerous For The Republican Party And America’s Future! He Must Be Stopped!

Ronald 1 Comment

Texas Governor Rick Perry may have flubbed a bit in his debate performance in Tampa on Monday, but he remains the front runner for the Republican Presidential nomination as of today, and it is looking more likely that he really could end up as the nominee of the party of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and Reagan!

This is dangerous for the party and the nation, as Perry has many shortcomings, as well as dangerous aspects in his background and viewpoints!

For the party, Perry represents a threat to the Establishment Republicans, the middle, the mainstream of the party in the past, and gives power to the extremists of the Tea Party Movement!

With Jon Huntsman apparently floundering, even though the author feels he came across very well in the past two debates, the only hope in the field of candidates is Mitt Romney, with all of his shortcomings and faults, but it will not be easy to overcome the Tea Party takeover of the party!

One could say that if the party nominates Perry, they will lose, and that will be, therefore, only their problem as to how to recover from a disastrous defeat in 2012.

But with the economy so bad right now, the idea is starting to develop that maybe, just maybe, Barack Obama COULD lose in 2012, giving us President Perry, and possibly a Tea Party Congress, enough to make one hysterical and give one nightmares, and the purpose here is NOT to joke, but be very serious!

Were Perry to win, we would face the following, with and without a Tea Party majority in Congress:

1. We would have a President who is not very smart, not very curious to learn, not open to new ideas, very rigid in his right wing beliefs, unwilling to compromise, arrogant, cocky, with a swagger about him, and not willing to be transparent in his activities in the White House!

2. We would have a complete takeover of right wing conservatism, leading to total deregulation, cutting of taxes even further on the rich, attempts to destroy several government agencies or make them ineffective in their work, and resulting in widespread corruption due to “cronyism”!

3. We would have a President who would be arrogant toward the outside world, create crises and possible interventions in other countries, and boast about “American exceptionalism”, undermining relations even with our allies and friends around the world.! The neoconservative view of foreign policy would dominate.

4. Civil Liberties would be violated worse than any President in modern times, and civil rights enforcement for Latinos, African Americans, women and gays would end!

5. We would see a theocracy develop, as Rick Perry would constantly invoke Jesus Christ, talk about God and religion more than any President, including Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter, and George W. Bush, and promote as much combination of church and state as one can imagine might happen.

6. The economy would NOT get better, and instead we would have more poverty, deprivation, and human suffering, similar to the reality in Texas under Governor Perry.

7. War would be declared on environmentalists, and scientists, in the name of industry and religion, undermining our education system nationally, as well as our health care programs.

8. Justice and fairness in the law would be undermined, as capital punishment would become a virtue, and the courts, including the Supreme Court, would become the most right wing in American history since the Gilded Age of the late 19th century.

9. The goal of a Perry Administration would be the destruction of Social Security, Medicare, and all other social safety net programs, and basically the repeal of the Progressive Era of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson, and the other reforms under Richard Nixon in the early 1970s.

10. Fundamentally, America would go back a full century to the Gilded Age, with the total or near total repeal of the 20th century, which made America the envy of the free world!

This is serious stuff here, no joking, and all efforts must be made in the Republican Party to defeat Rick Perry, and if that fails, and even if it succeeds, do everything necessary to reelect Barack Obama as the only hope for moving forward in the second decade of the 21st century!

Sarah Palin On Third Anniversary Of VP Nomination: Don’t Forget Me As I Exploit My Celebrity And Gain Attention!

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Former Vice Presidential nominee and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin showed up in Indianola, Iowa, on Saturday, on the third anniversary of her becoming a national figure.

Reading from a text, she issued attacks on Barack Obama, saying he had not been fully vetted, an interesting statement, since she herself had not been fully vetted, and had John McCain done so, he would have chosen someone who was qualified in an emergency to become President of the United States.

Palin has exploited her brief moment on the national stage for all it is worth, demonstrating she is a good capitalist, while at the same attacking “crony capitalism”, implying her criticism of Republican front runner Governor Rick Perry of Texas. It seems as if she is jealous of Perry having a lead, when every poll shows only a very small percentage, including the adoring fans who showed up at the political rally, interested in her running for President!

The odds of her running are slim, as she well knows she has no chance to be our President, but she seems unwilling to drop the idea altogether, so kept the crowd wondering if she would announce for President by the end of September, which is really the deadline if one is to build a campaign organization, which she has taken no steps toward creating.

Palin gave her own prescription for economic recovery, showing she has no clue to the reality of our economy. She called for the following:

1. Repeal the Obama Health Care plan.
2. Cut back federal regulations.
3. Increase domestic energy production.
4. Give more spending authority to state governments.
5.Eliminate all corporate income taxes.

Palin also criticized Establishment Republicans who attack the Tea Party as a group of “hobbits”, which meant she was attacking her former running mate, Senator John McCain, without mentioning his name!

She also attacked the “permanent political class”, referring to those who have held public office a long time, including Rick Perry, and by implication, John McCain.

Apparently, the fact that she had LESS political experience than Barack Obama in public office, and quit as Alaska Governor in the middle of her one term, even evoking surprise this week from former Vice President Dick Cheney, is seen by her as a plus, but by no one else who has any brains in their head!

So Sarah is basically just saying she does not want to be forgotten, and is exploiting her celebrity, and gaining attention from those who have no clue as to how to run a government and take responsibility for serious problems and issues!

Karl Rove’s Warning To The Republicans: The Bushes Speaking Out Against Rick Perry!

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Karl Rove, the mastermind behind the election successes of George W. Bush, has issued a warning against the right wing extremism emerging in the Republican Party. The danger, he warns, is that the party will be seen as extremist, and lose the opportunity to win the White House away from Barack Obama.

What does this warning really indicate? It is that the Bush Family, father George Number 41 , as well as son George Number 43, and likely Jeb Bush and everyone else in the extended family, is terrified at Rick Perry, and to a lesser extent, Michele Bachmann, as being destructive of party success!

Already, Jeb Bush, Jr, second son of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, has announced his support of Jon Huntsman, a minor issue, but a sign of the concern within the Bush family and among Establishment Republicans at the threat of Tea Party activists destroying the party for 2012!

It is not outside the realm of possibility that Jeb Bush MIGHT enter the race, if it seems that Mitt Romney or Jon Huntsman cannot stop Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann, in order to save the party’s future.

So behind the scenes, much is going on that we will be learning about over time, depending on events!

President Vs. Congress: Three Times As Popular!

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Opponents have made a big deal over the fact that President Barack Obama had fallen down to 39 percent in public opinion ratings over the last week, after the stock market gyrations and the Standard and Poor’s downgrading of US debt after the Debt Ceiling Crisis.

But now, Obama has gone back up to 41 percent in new polls, while the Congress, with a Republican House majority, has slipped from 14 percent positive rating to 13 percent, an all time low!

And this comes upon the earlier poll that shows that the Democrats have a seven point edge on the Republicans in a generic matchup for the 2012 Congressional elections.

So the GOP has actually lost public support at a crucial time, and it is involved in a internal struggle between Mainstream Republicans such as Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman, and the Tea Party Republicans such as Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann for the soul of the party.

This is only good for President Obama, as columnist Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post points out today in his column!

Republican Presidential Candidates And The Outside World: Who Is Legitimate?

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In the midst of all the tumult and drama surrounding the Debt Ceiling Crisis, the lowering of the US credit rating by Standard and Poor’s, and the Stock Market gyrations this past week, it would seem as if only the economy matters to most Americans, an understandable viewpoint, but a dangerous one!

We must remember that the President of the United States is not just the leader of this country, but the number one world leader, and therefore, his or her credibility on an international scale really is significant and crucial!

So when one looks at the four finalists in the Republican Presidential contest, as the author earlier today assessed it, one must see the dramatic differences between the so called Establishment Republican Mormon candidates (Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman), and the Tea Party Republican evangelical Christian candidates (Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann).

Romney has the record of having operated the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, requiring diplomatic skills to make it the success it was.

Even more so, Huntsman has been the Ambassador to Singapore in the time of President George H. W. Bush, Deputy US Trade Representative under George W. Bush, and Ambassador to China under Barack Obama, therefore having tremendous foreign policy training and experience.

Rick Perry has NO foreign policy experience, and comes across as a bully type who would throw his weight around in foreign affairs with his swagger and arrogant manner, in a way that would make George W. Bush, often called a “cowboy” in foreign affairs, look civil and diplomatic by comparison!

And Michele Bachmann also has ZERO foreign policy experience, and a loose, no holds barred way of speaking, that would totally antagonize the outside world!

Both Perry and Bachmann would be a danger in world affairs through their lack of experience and judgment, and with their Christian evangelical roots, would promote a war on Islam, that would make the nightmare of Iraq and Afghanistan in the past ten years look like a minor blip in international affairs! They would conduct themselves as Christian crusaders, something we do NOT need if there is to be peace and diplomacy with an outside world which Is not going to accept American imperialism and dominance!

So the foreign policy issue may seem minor now, but in a campaign of Barack Obama against either Perry or Bachmann, it would be a tremendously important issue, and a blessing to Obama!

With Huntsman in particular, and Romney lesser so, Obama would have more difficulty on this issue, as well as generally all matters, including the economic difficulties we now face.

So for Barack Obama, a dream fulfilled would be Perry or Bachmann as his opponent, while Huntsman or Romney could be his greatest nightmare!