Just call me part of the demoralized base. With spending out of control, good conservative judges waiting to be confirmed, the border mess, the timid responses to Democrat attacks, even this doesn't really excite me.
As Hugh Hewitt says:
Win the war.
Confirm the judges.
Cut the taxes.
Control the spending.
Secure the border.
That will get me excited.

This time before the midterm elections is a winter of discontent for both parties. Both parties seem perilously close to a fatal split. I hope that it's the democrats who fatally slice themselves into a "mainstream" candidate and an ideological one. A third party candidate may well determine the outcome of the next presidental race. Hilary's campaign manager is savey enough to not go the independent route if the "moderates" in her party decide that she has too many enemies to pull in the middle vote. Kerry is dumb enough to delude himself into anything, but will the "big bucks" go along with him? Probably not. It seems worthwhile to me to tap off a bit of the devisive energy amongst us who call the republican party "home" and use it to to encourage the dems to go ideological. They are a mixed bag of folks ranging from "democrat by accidental birth" to "marxists in search of a base". We are no less diverse. It is a miracle that nearly 300 million people are able, at electon time, to almost entirely separate themselves into three groups, Dems, Reps and dropouts. The dropouts will probably decide the 08 election.

Republicans won't lose Congress in 2006. The president will once again confound liberal activists by maintaining control of the House; the liberals will be so white hot angry they'll be beside themselves. This is a war for the culture of America's soul and the snarling, smarmy left doesn't have the arguments to win. They're on the wrong side...AGAIN.

I'm not sure if they will dismantle the prescription drug benefit. Nearly 80% of seniors like the current program - Part D. This is stupid on the Demorats part.

I also think a good fight in September/October over a Supreme Court Justice will tip it for the Repubblicans. A lot of anger exists out there over emminent domain, pedophiles/rapists walking free without sentences, etc. thanks to liberal activist judges

Notice not a word on the war on terror? Are we to assume they would just flat out surrender?

God forbid we know how our leadership comes/came to decisions on our country's energy and defense policy (both are just a tad relevant right now)

Just for the record...

"Independent Counsel Ken Starr's office spent $6.2 million during the six months last year when wrapping up its case against President Bill Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky matter. With that additional spending, Starr's probe is about to become the most expensive independent counsel inquiry ever."

If investigating whether the president had an affair is worth $6 million, surely we can spare some time and money on whether we were misled into war. Certainly we should be privy to the decision making process in how we formed our energy policy.

Or are Republicans only interested in how Slick Willy's dick got wet as opposed finding out things that actually matter.

I never thought the Democrats had a chance this year. If they keep acting like this, not only will we be keeping control of Congress, we'll significantly add to our strength at least in the House if not the Senate as well.

I want the best for our country. It is not Hillary.
It is not Kerry. It is not McCain. It is not whatever Repub you guys put out there. For our Country's sake, we need a statesman with razor sharp skills. I can think of one, (along with another who should run as his mate)that will lead us out of this absolute mess your boy wonder has gotten us into. A statesman who will bring back the honor of America. Who puts all Americans first regardless of party affiliation. A statesman who understands that global warming is real. A statesman who will advance progress in science and not hinder it. A statesman who will actually do something to curb our use of foreign oil. A statesman who will be cheered when he goes to another country. A statesman who earns our respect. There is one out there. We know who he is. Will we draft him? I pray we will, for all our sake.

To get the Republican base to vote Rove will use his bag of tricks filled with phoney issues like abortion,gay marriage and tax cuts for the rich he claims will actually help the poor. Hopefully, the Democrats will give us real issues like keeping all Americans healthy with an affordable, universal, single-payer, health care system and an increase in the minimum wage. Peace

Pelosi recent plastic surgery has affected her thinking - that old bag does not have a plan for America but only a plan for herself as Speaker of the House!

I will certainly work to see they are nominated, raker13.

How come you are so afraid of an investigation??

If you have nothing to hide you should welcome it, unless, you feel/know that the results of the invetigation would embarrass or get yourself indicted.

Investigate away and let the chips fall where they will.

-Joe

Pelosi, the wicked witch of the west, has now backtracked on this issue. I guess she is trying to take foot from out of her mouth. Anyway, its probably negative internal polling on this that has here now saying this. Its the fact that they are not doing so well as they were doing months ago on the useless generic congressional ballot of "all adults."

I don't know where the Demorats can go. I see a big fight in October on another Supreme Court Justice They can't touch the economy even the un-MSM will have to report the stock markets rise and the strong stock market,

Piglosi was on MTP with Russert; she talks a good game. "Talks" being the opertive word. The country, on a bipartisan basis, is very displeased with Congress. They aren't buying Piglosi's and Dingy Harry's "this is a Republican Congress" line. The country deserves better, but the answer is not a Piglosi-led House, nor is it a Dingy-led Senate. That's why the base needs to be energized; we need to kook-proof our country, and win the war on terror. A DemocRAT majority will lead to at least a cease-fire, if not a total defeat, in the war on terror. Think about it hard, before you sit on your hands on election day.

Ash-breath, raper13, you go boys! We are shaking in our chairs at the thought of you two morons "working" to nominate your DemocRATic statesman. Just who is this mystery saviour? Clinton? Gore? Dean? Franken? Moore? Who is it, boys?

"Who is it, boys?"

Obama, but he's not going to run in '08.

Democrats win if Republicans don't show up at the polls on Election Day. They're trying to arrange that now by pushing the, "It's in the BAG!" story, just like they do every election cycle about this time. Go back and look at spring 2004, 2002, and 2000 and you see pretty much the same stories being published and the party activists online saying the same thing: "This time we're going to CLEAN YOUR CLOCK!" Tnen around September voters start really thinking about the upcoming elections, look at the field of challengers, and say, "No WAY am I throwing the GOP out and putting those lunatics into power again!" The polls reverse, the GOP wins, and Democrats resume ranting about rigged elections again.

Only a handful of districts are in play in any given election and those usually settle in about the partisan split, which is tending Republican. Red states are becoming redder, blue states a little less blue. Democrats would realize this and start shifting toward their voters except that they are in thrall to the leftwing moneybags funding the party. More: they know it and really don't care because as long as they promise the moon said crazy leftist rich guys keep writing those checks.

At this point, although I am unhappy with the GOP, the Dem's still don't present a good alternative. Until they dial down the socialism, race baiting, and the a$$ kissing of illegals, I know where my vote is going.

Deleted - Vulgar rumor-mongering

Absolutely, Barrack. But you are right, Tom, it may be '12 or '16 before we have our first African American president.

Okay, I'll say it for you- what was up with Nancy Pelosi's eyelash?

There boys, feed.

War, War, War,War. Attack! Kill! Kill them all before they kill us. Kill! Wait, I just got back from church. Nevermind.

*Shrugs*

With neither party seeming to be very effective right now this might be the perfect time for the third parties to start fighting hard for votes. Get those who are disenchanted on both sides.

Ash,

The first black man to be President of the United States will be a Republican (Blackwell, Steele, Powell, Rice, eg) - there's just no chance the American people will ever elect a man as socialistic as Obama to the Presidency.

raker,

Too bad for you, you're going to be stuck with Al Gore...and you'll have no one to thank but those who, for instance, think that Bush lied to get us into Iraq...

I firmly believe that we can do better than the commander in cheif we have now. (One of the things I love about Bush is how he refers to himself as the "commander in chief" more often than he does as "your President")Just gotta love the "war president". Yes, I believe that Al Gore can, and will do a better job. He's incredibly more qualified than the C.I.C. we have now. (cripes, he can speak in real sentences) You know, I meant what I said about getting a real person in the job that will represent us as one country. I am looking for a repub that can fill those shoes. Frist? Please...McCain? Please... Romney? Ya gotta do better than that fellas. Come on, throw me a bone.
Some repub that's unequivically a true statesman. I'm lookin...(by the way, I would not consider myself "stuck" with A.G.) and I do thank you if it does happen. I will jump with glee. I'm sure the world will too.

"Notice not a word on the war on terror? Are we to assume they would just flat out surrender?"

Yes. It is what the Defeatocrats live for.

"How come you are so afraid of an investigation??

If you have nothing to hide you should welcome it, unless, you feel/know that the results of the invetigation would embarrass or get yourself indicted.

Investigate away and let the chips fall where they will.

-Joe"

I wasn't expecting the Salem Witch Trials to resurface.

Mark,

Obama is not a socialist. Please stop misusing a word with as rich an intellectual and historical background. If you are going to use it use it appropriately.

Blackwell is the bufoon that said he wouldn't even allow abortion if the mothers life was at stake. How many Americans would vote for him? Steele I don't know. I could live with Powell. He showed a lot of common sense and isn't near the fascism that is expressed by Blackwell. Condi? Please. Let's at least pretend there is some reality here.

"War, War, War,War. Attack! Kill! Kill them all before they kill us. Kill! Wait, I just got back from church." -raker13

Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war.....

We investigate a Pres over a BJ!

Why can't we investigate a Pres for lying to the
American people that, sadly speaking, has and will
continue to take the lives of our boys/girls over a contrived War

raker,

The problem is that your definition of the ideal statesman is a misnomer and relies on many assumptions. First is that the ideal statesmen is there to represent to public, but to appease the world's population. Unless you are implying that most of the population of the US cares more about global opinion than actual issues, you are making a very broad assumption. Second is that your ideal statesman panders to your ideals, so it's not a universally ideal, or even worth voting for.

Ash,

Gah, well the way that you stereotype Christians, don't expect to win any support for your ideological candidate.

What ideological candidate might that be Omega? I am not aware that Obama is religous or not. I just support him as a man of decency and common sense.

Well, Ash, I suppose what I was trying to say was that he is closer to your ideals than others. And if people that constantly make derogatory remarks about the religion of over half the base, that person will be associated with that anti-religion stigma, and won't receive votes.

Sorry that should be "of over half the base surround him".

Ash,

I didn't say "socialist", I said "socialistic"...and Obama is that; he's your typical modern liberal, which means he's 80% of what an European socialist is...if he ever got the Democratic nomination, we'd have him for lunch just based upon his positions.

Ash,

And, by the way, as regards Blackwell's abortion position, he's just acknowledging that modern medical science makes it an exceptional rarity that there is a choice between the life of the mother and the life of the unborn child...this is 2006, Ash, not 1906.

Osama isn't "socialistic" either, he is a Rightwing reactionary Fascist, much like bush and the other Zionists, Armageddonists and neo-cons. Peace

I think the republicans will be completely swept in Nov. I mean how could anyone vote for such a woefully inept party? They can't run the country when they control the entirety of the government and then still point to democrats even though they have NO power! You really can't respect Frist or any of the other leading Republicans, they flat out aren't conservative and don't care about the values we covet. If anything, we conservatives should not vote in protest, to let our party know where we stand.

Uh, Mark? I'm being spoofed; look at the 8:55pm post in this thread, and an 8:52pm post in your gun control thread.

Just thought you'd like to know. Whoever's spoofing me is using a capital "K" for the first letter of their name. I think it may be raper13...

Keefer,

Personally refusing to take part in elections or voting for your candidate won't help. After all, many democrats have taken that oath, and look at what it's brought to their party. Not voting will not change the way the game works, it will only decrease the number of cards in play. The party will adapt to its shortages, and seek to even out the odds by pandering to the more conservative elements of the democratic party.

It's a shame that politics can be perceived this way, but right now the whole purpose of voting is to choose the lesser of two evils. When faced with two choices that you do not want, you would rather take the one that hurts you the least. This is why conservatives vote Republican instead of Democrat. Although the Republican party may not appear to be very conservative, it is more conservative than the Democratic party.

Unfortunately, there is no easy solution for party reform. The parties will not change on their own, and it's unlikely that a large enough influx of voters will stop voting to instigate a change. The only way I can see to remedy the issue is to...exterminate the current parties, and from their ashes birth new parties that will try once more to live up to the standards of their people. But time will eventually corrupt these parties as well, eventually forcing us to repeat the process once more, and then once more after that, and so on and so forth. History may have to repeat itself indefinitely in order for a true solution to be obtained.

But perhaps that is not the problem at all. Perhaps it is the way that people think today that is the problem, not the parties. Perhaps politics has always been this crooked, this vile, this unwholesome, but only now can we see the truth. Or perhaps it is not the truth, but an attack of melancholly set on from weariness of politics that makes us see things in a pessimistic manner.

Who knows what the truth is? Who knows the right choice to make? I may not know, but I can tell you that I'm not going to stop voting. I'm going to continue with my activities. I'm going to vote for whatever candidate best fits my ideals. Even if the candidates are exactly the same from all parties, I'll still vote for mine just to show to my political enemies that I am not ready to throw in the towel, I am not ready to concede victory to others, and that no matter how hard others may try to put me down and break my spirit, I still have the strength to rise above them no matter how hard they try.

That's what I'm going to do, but what you want to do is up to you.

"if he ever got the Democratic nomination, we'd have him for lunch just based upon his positions."

Ah, I was thinking along those lines of Mr. Blackwell or Ms Rice.... bet they taste better too.

"this is 2006, Ash, not 1906."

But Mark this is the best argument of all why we need Roe. We don't want to return to 1906 with back alley abortions. Thanks for that perfectly good argument!