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Ár nDraíocht Féin
Three Cranes
Chaos Matrix

October 19th, 2008

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10:34 am - The world has changed. . . And we are forced to change with it.
Most people who know me well know my own political leanings. I'm one of those idealistic Republicans of the old guard: less spending, laissez-faire attitudes toward business, strong military, and government that stays as far away from my personal life as possible.

I know I'm not the only one who can't seem to find a Grand Old Party to carry my standard.

The Chicago Trib's endorsement explains my own excitement for Obama rather well, I noticed today:

Chicago Tribune endorses their first Democrat ever.

The old GOP just isn't very grand anymore, is it? It's less that Obama is great, and more that he's an animal that some of us who have a fond remembrance of loyalty to the Republican machine can understand.

The government in recent years has started to strip my civil rights away from me, allowing more invasive searches, wire-tapping, and even torture. After inheriting a huge government surplus, the Republicans, of all people, were the ones who squandered it.

When the government entered my bedroom (despite the fact that I wasn't doing anything they found . . . untoward. . .), that was the last straw. By entering my bedroom, they entered my religion: any attempt to legally define a religious institution is strictly prohibited by the constitution.

How can we understand any of that? I'm not sure. But at least I understand a big-spendin' liberal. And, to be honest, I don't really care if his optimistic talk of change is empty or full. . . In the end, it is change. myrch made the point this morning that the GOP has become two parties, and he's right: they have.

I simply no longer identify with what the Grand Ol' Party has become, and there's no way I can continue to support what it is now.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: lonelylonely
Current Music: "The Captain and the Kid", -JB

(10 comments Leave a comment)


[User Picture]
Date:October 19th, 2008 03:43 pm (UTC)
My husband who is a traditional conservative and Republican feels the same way. He wonders where the party that he helped to build up in Virginia went.
[User Picture]
Date:October 19th, 2008 04:03 pm (UTC)
It appears that Colin Powell agrees with you.

Funny thing is that we liberals have been saying many of the same things about the Republican Party for the last four or five years.

I really liked what the Tribune said.
Date:October 19th, 2008 04:04 pm (UTC)

I was floored by the Trib's endorsement because I knew their history. I think Bush has slowly drained the free market coalition of the GOP. I'm not sure how large a percentage of the coalition it has ever been, but it is a coalition it needs to win elections, and Bush betrayed it in a big way after promising so much to us(Social Security Reform is an example). That's why the big free market western states that the GOP has ALWAYS won are slipping away this election, and that's why the Ron Paul candidacy had such an impact during the primaries because the free market GOPers desperately wanted someone they could look to for strong leadeship on the issue.

Now I understand parties need coalitions to win elections since there are only two parties, not like in Europe and many countries with mulitparty governments that need to seek new coalitions during each election, and maybe that is a preferable system. So the GOP in order to win elections I'm not sure can do it alone with a free market coalition otherwise the Libertarians would probably have a lot more support, but it is a big enough group that they have to listen to it at least some of the time. I'm even more frustrated because the democrats don't provide much for the free market conservative either leaving us exceptionally left out of the political process....

Anyway, sorry for the rant, it has been a frustrating election cycle by all means. However, not all GOP candidates are bad. In our governor's race we have a solid GOP candidate who has been a lot of fun to support who campaigns on issues that are really important to the state, such as taxes and transportation and is a really strong fiscal conservative, one that has a record and I admire. The opponent incumbent has tried to tear him apart unsuccessfully on social issues, but since he doesn't push those issues on the electorate those attacks don't resonate and even in our deep blue state the race is running as a tie in ever poll. Maybe that is the best way for the GOP to succeed again, but they need a leader to articulate these things.

[User Picture]
Date:October 19th, 2008 06:03 pm (UTC)
I've got news for you. The Democratic party is now the party of fiscal sanity. The free-market conservatives just delivered the death blow to the Republican party in the past few weeks with the financial services implosion. If they had actually been regulated properly (which Phil Gramm prevented back in 1999), all those banks wouldn't have started failing.

Oh, as far as which party is better for the people who deal with money:
Republicans increase the budget deficit, Democrats decrease it.
Investments are amazingly better under Democrats.
Taxes are better under Obama than under McCain.
[User Picture]
Date:October 19th, 2008 04:26 pm (UTC)
Years ago when it was taboo to talk about anything that wasn't straight married sex and christian faiths, the majority of the small minded fundies in this country were fine with the law staying out of their personal lives.

But when it became clear to them that people were actually doing things they disapproved of, then it wasn't important anymore. Stay out of the bedrooms of nice normal folk, but wiretap and jail the queers.

I honestly think that gay people killed the republican party. The fear and intolerance of the extreme right let the warmongers and big business republicans take over, because all they had to do was make the sign of the cross and say they hated teh gays. Done deal.

Meanwhile, real small government republicans got left by the wayside because they don't care who you worship or sleep with or marry. To them, government is about facilitating lives, not controlling them. I respected those republicans and I remember them fondly.

In the end, I predict that the political parties are going to either split on moral grounds, with social liberals going to the democrtats and social conservatives going to the republicans, or someone will have the bright idea to just remove morality from government alltogether and it just might save what we've got going.
[User Picture]
Date:October 20th, 2008 02:44 pm (UTC)
Maybe a third party, resembling the GOP of old, will spring up out of all of this polarization?? I hope so.
[User Picture]
Date:October 19th, 2008 06:24 pm (UTC)
Beautifully stated. What scares the heck out of me is that I personally know intelligent, compassionate people who still don't understand any of this. Even when one tries to have an intelligent discussion with them, they give no room to try to see things differently. That scares the me, really scares me. :(
[User Picture]
Date:October 20th, 2008 01:32 am (UTC)
NOW has also endorsed Obama/Biden. They historically have rarely endorsed presidential candidates...


Edited at 2008-10-20 01:34 am (UTC)
[User Picture]
Date:October 20th, 2008 01:47 pm (UTC)
I for one am hoping that Democrats will by and large drop their gun issues, join with these poor homeless Republicans and form a new Centrist party under Obama. I'm sick of this partisan political BS. Washington didn't even want us to have parties. I think 225+ years later, we might be up for his challenge.
[User Picture]
Date:October 20th, 2008 03:01 pm (UTC)
The Dems pretty much already have given up on the gun issues in most places. That's why there are now Democrats in the governor's office in many rural western states.

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