I'm a Republican and...

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 12:55pm

Best quote: "White House and congressional Republicans seem to have adopted a one-word strategy: bribery."

snippet:

===

Sixty-five months into Bush's presidency, conservatives feel betrayed. After the "Bridge to Nowhere" transportation bill, the Harriet Miers Supreme Court nomination and the Dubai Ports World deal, the immigration crisis was the tipping point for us. Indeed, a Washington Post-ABC News poll found last week that Republican disapproval of Bush's presidency had increased from 16 percent to 30 percent in one month. It is largely the defection of conservatives that is driving the president's poll numbers to new lows.

Emboldened and interconnected as never before by alternative media, such as talk radio and Internet blogs, many conservatives have concluded that the benefits of unwavering support for the GOP simply do not, and will not, outweigh the costs.

The main cause of conservatives' anger with Bush is this: He talked like a conservative to win our votes but never governed like a conservative.

For all of conservatives' patience, we've been rewarded with the botched Hurricane Katrina response, headed by an unqualified director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which proved that the government isn't ready for the next disaster. We've been rewarded with an amnesty plan for illegal immigrants. We've been rewarded with a war in Iraq that drags on because of the failure to provide adequate resources at the beginning, and with exactly the sort of "nation-building" that Candidate Bush said he opposed....



As long as Democrats controlled Congress or the White House, Republicans could tell conservatives they deserved support because of what they would do, someday. Now we know what they do when they have control. Their agenda comes from Big Business, not from grass-roots conservatives.

But unhappy conservatives should be taken seriously. When conservatives are unhappy, bad things happen to the Republican Party.

In 1948, conservatives were unhappy with Thomas E. Dewey's liberal Republican "me too" campaign, and enough of them stayed home to give the election to Harry S. Truman. In 1960, conservatives were unhappy with Richard M. Nixon's negotiations with Nelson A. Rockefeller to divide the spoils of victory before victory was even achieved, and John F. Kennedy won.

In 1974, conservatives were unhappy with the corruption and Big Government policies of Nixon's White House and with President Gerald R. Ford's selection of Rockefeller as his vice president, and this led to major Republican losses in the congressional races that year. By 1976, conservatives were fed up with Ford's adoption of Rockefeller's agenda, and Jimmy Carter was elected with the backing of Christian conservatives.

In 1992, conservatives were so unhappy with President George H.W. Bush's open disdain for them that they staged an open rebellion, first with the candidacy of Patrick J. Buchanan and then with Ross Perot. The result was an incumbent president receiving a paltry 37 percent of the vote. In 1998, conservatives were demoralized by congressional Republicans' wild spending and their backing away from conservative ideas. The result was an unexpected loss of seats in the House and the resignation of Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).

The current record of Washington Republicans is so bad that, without a drastic change in direction, millions of conservatives will again stay home this November.

Washington Post: Bush's Base Betrayal

Updated On: 5/21/06 at 12:55 PM

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 3:03pm

the guy in the photo's a republican, eh?
if it walks like a democrat

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 3:26pm

So, what about the author of the article?

The fact that the guy holding the poster may in fact be a Democrat does not minimize the discontent within the Republican Party with Bush and many Republicans in Congress.

The photo itself is from September of last year.

The article, though, is from today.

I have had friends, a good number, who now tell me that they are ashamed that they voted for Bush.

While the person holding the poster may not be a Republican, he seems to speak the truth for others.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 3:32pm

My step father is a Republican. We disagree on everything but in 2004 he stayed home and did not vote. He hates what Bush and his policies are doing to America.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 3:34pm

I knew I should have checked the archives of freerepublic.com before posting that picture, but clicking on freerepublic.com always makes me projectile-vomit all over my screen, and i hate cleaning up Republican-induced vomit.

We'll have a LOT of that to do after the 2006 and 2008 elections.

Updated On: 5/21/06 at 03:34 PM

[beav]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 3:47pm

"While the person holding the poster may not be a Republican, he seems to speak the truth for others."


So in other words, you're saying this guy and his sign are "fake, but accurate."

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 3:59pm

Did you read the article, JMc?

It's about millions of disaffected Republicans.

Millions.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 4:15pm

No, what I am saying is that the focus should not be on the picture, but what the content of the article states.

And, what I am saying is that while the guy may be "fake", the sign itself, and what it states, may be accurate.

[soapguy17]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 5:13pm

I can raise my hand to that. I am plenty ashamed to be republican. I'm not old enough to vote so I doubt that counts for anything.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 5:18pm

It counts for a LOT, soapguy. A LOT.