DavidS
Anti-Tea Party Member
The idea of returning this country to the way it was back in the 1940s and 1950s when men were men and women were women and moral values mattered is dead... at least on a government level.
The social conservative movement is defined by three main areas:
1. Make abortion illegal
2. Do not fund embryonic stem cell research
3. Gay people should not be allowed to be married
Thus two out of three is government interference in our personal lives and the last limits federal funding of scientific research that can save millions of lives. The reason why Bush won and Gore didn't was because of the outlandish things Bill Clinton did in office during the 1990s. Many Americans, even left-wing ones, were disgusted by this and wanted a clean break from all of these investigations and sexual harassment cases, etc. And Bush ran on a moral platform. If Clinton had not had sexual relations with Monica or Bush had not run on a social conservative platform, Gore would've been president. This country is not center-right, it is center-left and drifting to the left every year.
Fiscal conservatism is defined as:
1. Reducing the size of the government
2. Cutting taxes for the rich and raising them on the lower and middle class
3. Limited government regulation
Americans overall are OK with increasing the size of the government, are angry at the rich for causing all of these problems and want more government regulation to ensure something like this never happens again.
Now, when the economy recovers again, and we're beginning to see some signs of life, I do see people's opinions of fiscal conservatism changing and liking some of the ideas. Tax cuts for EVERYONE, smaller government and less regulation, though not as extreme as some would believe.
Social conservatism belongs in people's homes and Churches. It does not belong in the federal government. Thus social conservatism is DEAD. Fiscal conservatives have to re-think the extremes in their policies and modify them.
If you had a socially moderate and fiscally conservative Republican run in 2012, he might give Obama a run for his money. BUT - right now, let me tell ya'... there is very little chance of anyone getting within 10 points of Obama if the economy is recovering nicely in 2012. People will remember how bad this recession is and like they did with Dubyah in 2004, they will not want to risk someone different.
The social conservative movement is defined by three main areas:
1. Make abortion illegal
2. Do not fund embryonic stem cell research
3. Gay people should not be allowed to be married
Thus two out of three is government interference in our personal lives and the last limits federal funding of scientific research that can save millions of lives. The reason why Bush won and Gore didn't was because of the outlandish things Bill Clinton did in office during the 1990s. Many Americans, even left-wing ones, were disgusted by this and wanted a clean break from all of these investigations and sexual harassment cases, etc. And Bush ran on a moral platform. If Clinton had not had sexual relations with Monica or Bush had not run on a social conservative platform, Gore would've been president. This country is not center-right, it is center-left and drifting to the left every year.
Fiscal conservatism is defined as:
1. Reducing the size of the government
2. Cutting taxes for the rich and raising them on the lower and middle class
3. Limited government regulation
Americans overall are OK with increasing the size of the government, are angry at the rich for causing all of these problems and want more government regulation to ensure something like this never happens again.
Now, when the economy recovers again, and we're beginning to see some signs of life, I do see people's opinions of fiscal conservatism changing and liking some of the ideas. Tax cuts for EVERYONE, smaller government and less regulation, though not as extreme as some would believe.
Social conservatism belongs in people's homes and Churches. It does not belong in the federal government. Thus social conservatism is DEAD. Fiscal conservatives have to re-think the extremes in their policies and modify them.
If you had a socially moderate and fiscally conservative Republican run in 2012, he might give Obama a run for his money. BUT - right now, let me tell ya'... there is very little chance of anyone getting within 10 points of Obama if the economy is recovering nicely in 2012. People will remember how bad this recession is and like they did with Dubyah in 2004, they will not want to risk someone different.