GOP hopefuls try to redefine their party..(poor widdle babies)

[SoCalDem]

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=50ca3fdc-8a80-4065-9230-6b17488b88c2

GOP hopefuls try to redefine their party
Republicans more divided than they have been since Watergate forced Richard Nixon to resign

Sheldon Alberts
CanWest News Service

Saturday, May 19, 2007



COLUMBIA, S.C. - It is approaching midnight in a cramped and stuffy "spin room" on the campus of the University of South Carolina, where 10 Republicans who want to be the next president of the United States are scrambling to find the nearest microphone.

With harried press aides acting as human shields, the three early favourites -- Senator John McCain, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney -- push through a gauntlet of reporters and head straight for the live cameras of Fox News Channel.

"We'd better be honest with Americans about the failures of the past," says Mike Huckabee, a Baptist preacher and former governor of Arkansas. With his crooked grin and aw-shucks demeanour, Huckabee evokes more Gomer Pyle than Ronald Reagan.

But like the nine other White House hopefuls here for an early debate among GOP candidates, Huckabee believes he's best suited to a task no less daunting than the one Reagan pulled off in 1980 -- saving the soul of the Republican party. Six months removed from their worst electoral defeat in 15 years, and five years into a war that has claimed the lives of 3,400 American troops, U.S. Republicans are more divided than they have been since Richard Nixon was forced from office over the Watergate scandal back in 1974.

What the party is enduring is not so much an existentialist struggle as an identity crisis.


snip..



and the freepies' take on it all
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1836355/posts
To: Ultra Sonic 007

Giuliani, beloved in the party for his leadership in New York after 9/11, is leading the pack in early polls....
:::
Well, just goes to prove that the “party” has gone socialist. Guliani is NOT a conservative, he is very much a liberal. And “most” Repubs are polling for him??? Or, maybe these pollsters are only interviewing LIBERAL DEMOCRATS??

The party, by logical deduction, is not conservative in the majority....(make sense)??

4 posted on 05/19/2007 10:40:32 AM PDT by EagleUSA
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To: Ultra Sonic 007
"...the three TWO early favourites -- Senator John McCain, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney."

I think we can scratch Ted Kennedy's amnesty buddy.
5 posted on 05/19/2007 10:41:18 AM PDT by Baynative (Don't shake hands with Sheryl Crow.)
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To: Ultra Sonic 007

Just something to keep in mind: The Edmonton Journal is Edmonton’s liberal/Liberal paper.

6 posted on 05/19/2007 10:42:34 AM PDT by Albertafriend
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To: Ultra Sonic 007
But some political analysts doubt Thompson is the answer to current Republican troubles. While he has strong appeal to the Republican base, particularly in the U.S. South and Great Plains, he could struggle to appeal to moderates in the Midwest and Northeast, regions key to the White House in 2008.

LMAO!!!
Yep, a Canadian's point of view. What a weak attempt to try to paint a downside to Thompson.
7 posted on 05/19/2007 10:51:50 AM PDT by Lancey Howard
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To: Albertafriend; Lancey Howard

I figured. Maybe I should have added “A Canadian’s Perspective” to the title.

8 posted on 05/19/2007 10:58:22 AM PDT by Ultra Sonic 007 (Why vote for Duncan Hunter in 2008? Look at my profile.)
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To: Ultra Sonic 007

Could someone please explain to me what wonderful, heroic things Guiliani did after 911, other than his job?

10 posted on 05/19/2007 12:14:01 PM PDT by almcbean
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To: Baynative

Good point. We have 3 now, perhaps if The Huck gets up to speed, 4. I am concerned that the Senate GOPers are killing themselves with this Kennedy Immigration Bill. And the House, well they need 17 seats to regain control of the House and many more to actually legislate. This is a tough road to hoe since so many nutters are willing to leave the GOP and join some worthless Third Party which only gets Hil and the Dems elected ala Perot.

11 posted on 05/19/2007 12:22:46 PM PDT by phillyfanatic
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To: phillyfanatic
Good point. We have 3 now, perhaps if The Huck gets up to speed, 4. I am concerned that the Senate GOPers are killing themselves with this Kennedy Immigration Bill.

Do you mean Huckabee? If your worried about immigration, he's the last one you need. He took Tax $ and built a Mexican consulate in Little rock, plus gave in state tuition to illegals, and more!
12 posted on 05/19/2007 1:01:12 PM PDT by AuntB (" It takes more than walking across the border to be an American." Duncan Hunter)

[napi21]

1. My, my, he Pubbies sure aren't happy with their choices are they!

Can't say that I blaame them. I don't like any of them either! Maybe crazy Pat Robertson will jump in to save them?

[Bluestar]

2. I say that's tough

May this collection of re-thugs who have tried to destroy our country go down in flames. We should have finished them off after Nixon because now they're here again, doing the same things only far worse. Anyone who is still supporting this party deserves to see nothing but liberals as far as the eye can see for the next 20 years or so.

[rasputin1952]

3. RW'ers are just so damn ignorant it is pathetic...

They don't even know what a "conservative" is. These people seem to think that what they've been told conservative is, is what they have now in the WH and in many seats in Congress.

The truth of the matter is that NEO-conservatives have hijacked their party, and they believe that they are conservative...it is all bullshit. The neo-cons are little more than thieves, they have drained the treasury, they have increased the debt to amounts we can't even comprehend, they lied us into a war...which they profit from, while our people shed their blood so their pockets can be dilled, they have expanded the government to unheard of size and they have taken an ideology that was the GOP, and turned it into little more than a machine to keep power at any cost.

Yes, the GOP presidential hopefuls need to seek redefinition for their party, but it won't happen for a while. They are too beholden to copious amounts of cash, and support from whatever the Christian Right is. At a minimum, they need to shed the mantle of overt religion in the government if they ever hope to bring new ideas to the table.

But the real kicker is that bush and his cronies have beaten the GOP into pieces with their incompetence. This will hurt the GOP for decades to come. They might take power once again in the future, but if D's can get some things done for the people of this nation, they will retain power for a generation. The most important thing is to get us out of this damned war, w/o looking like we're just taking off. If the powers in the ME think we're taking off simply because we can't take the pressure, just like when Reagan left Beirut, they will see this as a sign of weakness and all kinds of nasty things can happen. Reagan stated this whole thing after the USMC barracks incident, we need to put a stop to intervening in ME affairs on a physical level unless we are provoked beyond the scope of complete and total war; something I find unlikely if we do this right.

[opihimoimoi]

11. Them Bushies have revealed the dire consequences of Poor Inept Leadership

With Bush...its been LOSERSHIP...the art of Counter Production 101.01

He has reduced the Respect of the GOP to Levels not seen since Nixon.

A simple brain...Bush cannot comprehend the Big Picture...his limited intellect prevents Vision beyond his nose...The GOP is guilty of shoving this dude into our faces and now they are paying the price...GROUP REJECTION....

GOP PsyOps have planted many DUFUS Seeds amongst us.....now we see the results....Unable to cope with info overload, we plod off into the Future Reactively

Come, we go surf Waimea.....

[rasputin1952]

12. Losership indeed...Failure is the key to everything these

bug-eyed bastards have done. I have never seen such incompetence, it is indeed remarkable.

Wow are things in The Great State of Hawaii?


:hi:

[opihimoimoi]

14. The Great State is sinking due to rising sea levels...in 50 years the sea level will rise 5 to 15 ft

Other than that ...its been fair to middlin

You still in Buckeye territory?

Bush has singlehandedly restored the DEM Party....somehow, he has been the best thing to happen to us...in his 6 years ....he has lost it all due to his laziness/ineptness/arrogance....add his myopia....

Come, we go eat, drink, laugh...its our turn these days thanks to BUSH

[rasputin1952]

15. Pretty damn sad about hte Global Warming and sea rise...

:(

Even if we could stop CO2 emmisions today, it might take a millenium to get back to what is "normal"...:(

I'm still here in the Midwest, might have beachfront property in a few years...:evilfrown: Got to finish up this nursing degree, then I think the kid and I will head to the East, maybe PA or MD.

IF I ever see what cash looks like again, I'll be out of here realtively quickly. At my age, finding a FT job is a bit troublesome, but w/the nursing degree upcoming, things will get better in the future..:D

on edit...Come, we go corn husking...:rofl:

[Wheezy]

4. Quote: "This is a tough road to hoe"

Woo hoo, and we get another new catch phrase, too.

(Though I'm not one to cast asparagus at anyone)

[rasputin1952]

13. "Tough road to hoe", did he really say that...LOL...what an

idiot.

That's what happens when you've never had a hand tool in one's hands. I know that anyone who ever used a shovel, rake, posthole digger or hoe, knows that tools are "designed for a purpose", hoeing a "road" is not one of them.

What an imbecile...and those who try to cover up his stupidity by saying he's actually smart and his "stupidity is an act", are dumber than he is...:eyes:

[gatorboy]

5. I love that their personal pick, Fred Thompson, is an ACTOR.

Straight from "Lefty Hollywood" no less.


It just proves that Freeps care nothing about the substance of their candidates. All they want is someone to stand on their "X", say their lines and sucker these folks for another four years.

[moondust]

6. They could try

"The Endless Wars, Tax Cuts for the Filthy Rich, and Sea of Red Ink Party of the Lily White Jeebus" or something.

[Swamp Rat]

7. They are welcome to vote for a Democratic candidate instead,

since all their candidates suck "Schwetty Balls." :*

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

8. They are awaiting their Great Savior Fred Thompson to come & Smite Their Enemies.

[Swamp Rat]

10. They'll call him the "Law & Order Candidate," or some other drivel.

I would love to see him debate Al Gore. :D

[Lasher]

9. The Elephant in the Room