| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Harry Hope" |
| Date: |
03 Mar 2007 02:32:06 PM |
| Object: |
Rudy McRomney fails to inspire true believers. |
From The St. Petersburg Times, 3/3/07:
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/03/03/Worldandnation/_Rudy_McRomney__fails.shtml
Rudy McRomney fails to inspire true believers
Republican candidates sell themselves at a conservative conference,
but find few buyers.
By BILL ADAIR
WASHINGTON -
The exhibit hall at the Omni Shoreham Hotel was bustling Friday as the
conventioneers bought conservative books, buttons and decks of playing
cards with the 52 Most Dangerous Liberals.
Hillary Clinton is the ace of spades.
But the buyers, who were attending the Conservative Political Action
Conference, were a little glum.
They're still sore that Republicans took a beating in the November
election and many of them aren't inspired by the Republican candidates
for president.
"There are no true conservatives in the race," groused Gregg Jackson,
who was peddling autographed copies of his book Conservative Comebacks
to Liberal Lies.
Jackson ticked off his complaints about each candidate:
Sen. John McCain passed a campaign finance bill that restricted free
speech;
former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani supports abortion rights;
and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has flip-flopped on abortion
and gay rights.
Jackson's complaints were echoed by many others at the conference and
beyond.
"I don't think there's much hope for conservatives in the Republican
Party," said Jim Quinn, a retired police officer from Sodus Point,
N.Y.
To illustrate his complaint, he wore a sticker that showed a circle
and a red slash over "Rudy McRomney," a shorthand way to express his
disdain for all three top-tier candidates.
Seeking inspiration
It has been years since conservatives were this divided on their
presidential candidate.
Many were early supporters of George W. Bush in 2000 and
enthusiastically backed his re-election in 2004.
But now, the conservatives - especially those who emphasize social
issues such as abortion and gay rights - are yearning for someone who
can inspire them.
Many of the 6,300 people at the conference said they want a "Ronald
Reagan conservative," someone who would cut taxes, take a strong stand
against abortion and make government smaller.
Indeed, one booth in the exhibit hall was giving away bumper stickers
that said "WWRD?" - What would Reagan do?
But many activists don't see any Reagans in the bunch.
"Of the front-runners, I don't think any of them are ringing a bell
for social conservatives across the board," Carrie Gordon Earll, a
spokeswoman for the conservative group Focus on the Family, said in a
telephone interview.
But "bear in mind in 1999, very few people had heard of George W. Bush
from Texas. I think it's still early in this campaign. There's still
time to see where these candidates are going to go," she said.
Things to dislike
McCain's voting record should satisfy this group - he has even said he
wants to overturn Roe vs. Wade - but many conservatives are wary of
him.
They're not only unhappy about his campaign finance law, they are
still bitter about his attacks on Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson in
2000.
"He's always been a rebel," said Virginia Langen, a retired office
manager from Diamondhead, Miss.
"I want something steadier."
Romney has the backing of many economic conservatives, but his
shifting positions on abortion and gay rights have alienated many
social conservatives.
"He's a flip-flopper," said H.W. "Budd" Schroeder, a retired park
supervisor from Lancaster, N.Y.
"Those people are dangerous."
Indeed, a man in a dolphin suit strolled around the conference wearing
a T-shirt that said "Flip Romney - Another Flip-Flopper from
Massachusetts."
Another challenge for Romney is that he is Mormon, which could make
some Christian conservatives uncomfortable.
"Some polls say there's a significant number of Americans who say they
wouldn't vote for a Mormon," said John C. Green, a senior follow at
the Pew Forum on Religion and American Life in Washington.
Giuliani gets high marks for his performance after Sept. 11, but his
three marriages and his support of abortion rights and gay rights
upsets many social conservatives.
Likewise, Newt Gingrich, a possible candidate, has raised eyebrows
among some conservatives because he has been married three times.
"Harry Truman once said, 'I would never knowingly hire a man to work
for me who cheated on his wife,' " said Richard Land, who heads a
commission on ethics and religious liberty for the 16.4-million strong
Southern Baptists.
"His reasoning was thus: If a man will break his oath of marriage,
he'll break his oath of office. ... I would say you could draw the
same conclusion that someone who's in his third marriage would not fit
that standard of integrity and character, be it Giuliani or Gingrich."
Other Republican candidates, both announced and just testing the
water, have mixed appeal.
Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas is a leader of the antiabortion movement
but gets criticized for supporting a guest worker program and not
supporting Bush's troop surge.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has a record that pleases social
conservatives - he's a Southern Baptist preacher, after all - but
worries economic conservatives because he has supported tax increases.
House members Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter have conservative
records, but don't have the money or visibility to launch much of a
campaign.
Former Govs. Jim Gilmore (Virginia) and Tommy Thompson (Wisconsin)
also haven't sparked much enthusiasm.
Many conservatives have urged Gingrich, a former House speaker, to
run, but he has said he won't decide until late summer.
'My 80 percent ally'
On Friday, Giuliani, Romney, Brownback, Tancredo and Huckabee spoke to
large crowds at the conservative conference and tried to stoke some
enthusiasm.
Romney praised "God-fearing, freedom-loving American people" and
emphasized conservative issues such as the war on terror, immigration,
big government and tax cuts.
Giuliani mentioned Reagan 15 times and cited the former president's
words to remind the conservatives they won't find a perfect candidate.
"Ronald Reagan used to say, 'My 80 percent ally is not my 20 percent
enemy,' " Giuliani said.
"What he meant by that is that we all don't see eye to eye on
everything. You and I have a lot of common beliefs that are the same,
and we have some that are different."
After the speech, many conventioneers said they were impressed by
Giuliani.
But they were still unsure.
"I was really disappointed that he didn't address more of the future
rather than the past," said Ann Hodges, a retired journalist from
Houston.
Many conservatives are still searching.
Dan Castella, an executive with a communications company, said he
liked Huckabee's speech but then asked, "Is Newt Gingrich running?"
_________________________________________________________
Yawn...
Harry
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| User: "Dan Kimmel" |
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| Title: Re: Rudy McRomney fails to inspire true believers. |
03 Mar 2007 03:12:28 PM |
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"Harry Hope" <rivrvu@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:3qmju2lar2rhv9hsrmn0oeqka9vlm2dmdh@4ax.com...
From The St. Petersburg Times, 3/3/07:
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/03/03/Worldandnation/_Rudy_McRomney__fails.shtml
Rudy McRomney fails to inspire true believers
Republican candidates sell themselves at a conservative conference,
but find few buyers.
<snip>
After the speech, many conventioneers said they were impressed by
Giuliani.
But they were still unsure.
"I was really disappointed that he didn't address more of the future
rather than the past," said Ann Hodges, a retired journalist from
Houston.
Why? The rightwingnuts are living in the past. And it's not even the real
past, it's an imaginary past where Reagan expanded the economy and provided
tax cuts for all without changing the US from the world's largest creditor
nation to the world's largest debtor, and where he "strongly opposed"
abortion by addressing the annual anti-Roe v. Wade rally by telephone.
Reagan was a dud who was already senile before leaving office, but given
that Ford was a caretaker, Nixon a crook, and Eisenhower left office warning
about the "military-industrial complex," the rightwingnuts have no one else.
Who were they going to haul out as a role model: Coolidge? Harding?
Hoover?
So they pretend Dr. Feelgood, the actor who played the president, was the
greatest American leader since FDR. And now they've built this fable into
such huge proportions, that none of the pygmies running for the Republic
nomination in 2008 meausre up.
The Republic Party is collapsing into a fringe, regional party, burdened by
the demands of extremists and Southerners (often the same) to take positions
at odds with the American people.
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