LBJ was denied a second term because his anti-war Democratic base protested the Vietnam War. In his memoirs he writes "a second term is impossible because I've lost my party."
Bush, despite being embroiled in an unpopular war and spending more than any president prior to him, never lost his base.
Sitting GOP Presidents never have to worry about losing the loyalty of their base because Conservatives tend to support their presidents. Remember Reagan's Commandment: "Thou Shalt Never Criticize A Fellow Conservative". [How could a party which defines itself as against government adopt such uncritical loyalty? Doesn't Reagan get it? Citizens should remain loyal to principals, not Leaders] Any way you slice it, the GOP loyalists has always had far more trust in government than other voters. You would never see an uprising against a sitting Rightwing president similar to what the radical student Left did to LBJ.
Prediction: the Tea Party will turn from anti-government critics to Government protectors under Newt. They will be his fiercest watch dogs as Newt uses the War on Terrorism to move the jobs crisis off the front page. The Tea Party will protect their Big Government Leader just as the Right protected Bush. The Rightwing is extremely loyal to their Presidents. Posters on this board will be here every day defending Gingrich. They defend Washington Leaders over Conservative principals (this is why they are currently overlooking Gingrich's anti-family adultery and his deep attachment to Fannie/Freddie. They GOP voter has always trusted their leaders no matter what)
This can have dangerous consequences because a party's base is the most effective "oversight mechanism". In many cases, only the base, by withdrawing electoral support, can reign in a president who does not follow the party's principals. The reason Bush was so un-conservative and wasteful was because the GOP base never truly disciplined him (until he was a lame duck).
The Left on the other hand, as idolatrous and stupid as they are, will stay home if their leader abandons core principals. This is why many of the students who supported Obama in 2008 are not going to turn out in 2012. This is why college students turned on LBJ and dropped out of politics altogether.
The Right tends to trust their Washington leaders more than any other group of voters. They trusted and protected Bush when it counted, even when he broke core principals. The Rightwing voter enabled the Big Government Conservatism of the Bush years, that is, they enabled the largest expansion of Medicare in the program's history ("Medicare Part D"). We didn't hear one word from Talk Radio when the GOP was spending more on entitlements than Obama could ever dream. We didn't hear one word from the Right when Bush advanced the utopian Liberal Dream of saving the entire planet from evil doers, and re-building the greater middle east.
Washington can't run a laundromat, yet the Rightwing voter gave them the budget and power to re-build whole Arab nations. Yes, I know the Left did too, but the left admits that it trusts government.
So the real question is: wow is it possible that the Right trusts Big Government this much? We didn't see one Tea Party rally when Bush spent more than any Conservative or Liberal president to date. Not one word. Indeed, the 2003 Drug Bill was one of the largest acts of Government spending in this country's history, yet we hear nothing from the Right about this. This is partly because the Right has such an effective message system (in all areas of the media, including radio, TV, press, & internet). Meaning: very often the base simply does not know how much their leaders spend, or the ways in which they violate core principals. This is why the base is still in the dark about things like Reagan's Amnesty Bill, the largest gift to illegal immigrants in this nation's history.
So here is my question: why is the GOP voter so much more loyal to his Washington Leaders than any other segment of the population? Secondly, what kind of price will the country pay for the Right's inability to question President Gingrich?
Why is the Right so loyal to their government leaders, especially their presidents? Why do they trust government so much?
Bush, despite being embroiled in an unpopular war and spending more than any president prior to him, never lost his base.
Sitting GOP Presidents never have to worry about losing the loyalty of their base because Conservatives tend to support their presidents. Remember Reagan's Commandment: "Thou Shalt Never Criticize A Fellow Conservative". [How could a party which defines itself as against government adopt such uncritical loyalty? Doesn't Reagan get it? Citizens should remain loyal to principals, not Leaders] Any way you slice it, the GOP loyalists has always had far more trust in government than other voters. You would never see an uprising against a sitting Rightwing president similar to what the radical student Left did to LBJ.
Prediction: the Tea Party will turn from anti-government critics to Government protectors under Newt. They will be his fiercest watch dogs as Newt uses the War on Terrorism to move the jobs crisis off the front page. The Tea Party will protect their Big Government Leader just as the Right protected Bush. The Rightwing is extremely loyal to their Presidents. Posters on this board will be here every day defending Gingrich. They defend Washington Leaders over Conservative principals (this is why they are currently overlooking Gingrich's anti-family adultery and his deep attachment to Fannie/Freddie. They GOP voter has always trusted their leaders no matter what)
This can have dangerous consequences because a party's base is the most effective "oversight mechanism". In many cases, only the base, by withdrawing electoral support, can reign in a president who does not follow the party's principals. The reason Bush was so un-conservative and wasteful was because the GOP base never truly disciplined him (until he was a lame duck).
The Left on the other hand, as idolatrous and stupid as they are, will stay home if their leader abandons core principals. This is why many of the students who supported Obama in 2008 are not going to turn out in 2012. This is why college students turned on LBJ and dropped out of politics altogether.
The Right tends to trust their Washington leaders more than any other group of voters. They trusted and protected Bush when it counted, even when he broke core principals. The Rightwing voter enabled the Big Government Conservatism of the Bush years, that is, they enabled the largest expansion of Medicare in the program's history ("Medicare Part D"). We didn't hear one word from Talk Radio when the GOP was spending more on entitlements than Obama could ever dream. We didn't hear one word from the Right when Bush advanced the utopian Liberal Dream of saving the entire planet from evil doers, and re-building the greater middle east.
Washington can't run a laundromat, yet the Rightwing voter gave them the budget and power to re-build whole Arab nations. Yes, I know the Left did too, but the left admits that it trusts government.
So the real question is: wow is it possible that the Right trusts Big Government this much? We didn't see one Tea Party rally when Bush spent more than any Conservative or Liberal president to date. Not one word. Indeed, the 2003 Drug Bill was one of the largest acts of Government spending in this country's history, yet we hear nothing from the Right about this. This is partly because the Right has such an effective message system (in all areas of the media, including radio, TV, press, & internet). Meaning: very often the base simply does not know how much their leaders spend, or the ways in which they violate core principals. This is why the base is still in the dark about things like Reagan's Amnesty Bill, the largest gift to illegal immigrants in this nation's history.
So here is my question: why is the GOP voter so much more loyal to his Washington Leaders than any other segment of the population? Secondly, what kind of price will the country pay for the Right's inability to question President Gingrich?
Why is the Right so loyal to their government leaders, especially their presidents? Why do they trust government so much?
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