The Republican Path Back to Power: Lose Big Government Conservatism, Take a Stand

Reader Comments
Back to blog

Republicans needing to get rid of big-government conservatism is right-on. We aren't winning independents that way, and the base won't stand for it.
There will be a backlash against this massive government expansion in power, spending and debt; but the Republicans will only be the beneficiaries if they get back to being fiscally responsible. The base wants a return to something resembling our Constitution, and they'll stay at home if the Republicans remain the slightly less leftist big-government party.

Aaron of MN 5:54AM April 16, 2009

As of today excluding interest for every man, woman and child in the US. With interest the figure is just too scary for public consuption. Oh yes, this doesn't count what you're paying tomorrow. These figures aren't from some "Right Wing" website, they come from the US Treasury website and the Congressional Budget Office. Our Government is broken and "broke". The Democrats sure won't fix it and the Republicans in their current state can't fix it and the American public is too stupid to DEMAND BOTH PARTIES fix it.
Obama said of the economy, "We need to get it right".
Try AGAIN!
The American public needs to wake up and behave like "adults" and DEMAND our government does the same.

Chris Petty of GA 9:16PM April 14, 2009

I presume they wish to stay in the minority, with such right wing fanatics as Limbaugh and Hannity and the other talking heads on Fox so-called fair and balanced news reporting which is a big joke. I have no knowledge were this despise of the major news sources came from. Fox news is the provda of the Republican Party selected only get one news source and listen to people who are not credible news man and only had their personal opinions and you listen only because you agree with them and be prepared to be the minority party for many years to come. I have noticed most of the Gucci Warriors who never served in the military are always the one who want to fight when they had a chance to fight they declined.

Rusty Lawson of KS 3:20PM April 13, 2009

Some thoughtful comments on here and a few crazy rantings from the increasingly rabid Republican base. It amazes me that Barry Goldwater would be considered a RINO by the standards of the nut case Republican base.
As for the moaning about Obama: Get over it! Obama has only been in office for 10 weeks and he has been more productive and responsive than the entire term of the former Commander in Cheif. The rest of us -- and the world-- endured 8 years of Bush and 6 years of Republican congressional theocracy. In that time, we spent more time delving into people's personal lives (i.e. Terri Schiavo, anti-gay marriage) than monitoring the crooks who were stealing us blind on Wall Street and in the former administration. Angry about the results of the last two elections? You (Mary from MI and your ilk) have only yourselves to blame. To see a new administration that practices the politics of inclusion rather than exclusion-- and a POTUS who can pronounce 'nuclear', to boot!--is almost salvages the past 8 years of pure hell. Almost.
Please keep putting the likes of Palin, Bacchus and Bachmann and others in the spotlight. It makes your party become less relevant by the moment.

Greg of GA 5:15PM April 10, 2009

TmH, aside from making idiotic personal attacks, says that Lisa makes no objective remarks. This is incorrect. Here's what Lisa said: "Drop the mantle of religious fanatacism, lose the crazy so-called leaders of the party (Palin, Limbaugh) and get back to all those things you pretended to inhabit before: fiscal conservatism and hawkish foreign policy. "
Palin is an absolute joke. A public policy polling center poll has Palin trailing Obama 55-35 in a hypothetical contest between Obama and Palin. If you can't see Palin's obvious flaws, then you just don't have the objectivity necessary to understand a candidate's strengths and weaknesses.
Also, Lisa is on target for saying that GOP is not fiscally conservative. This is a widely repeated meme among Republicans, so denying this shows a complete disregard for facts.

Smooth Jazz of NY 12:36PM April 09, 2009

Obviously Lisa of OR is typical of the libnut left and likely a closet Democrat certainly not an independent - she fools herself. There isn't a nonbiased statement in here ientire rant. In reality the Republican Party needs to maintain its conservative base to follow its charter. Along with that base comes a certain number of people who go through life following religous faith based values. They are no different (only to a different value set) than Lisa who most likely judging by her comments is a no God, pro abortion, libnut whose faith is her ego and narcissism. The liberal left has been successful by pandering to the immature and immoral - those who only care about themselves. They judge life by what they see on television and believe liberal media on face value without determining facts. I would take Palin, Limbaugh, and other conservative party leaders over Maddow, Moore, and the lying crooks in Congress like Franks, Dodd, etc. No Lisa the Republican Party will likely be in good condition in 2012 judging by Obama's performance in his first 80 days of office...

TmH of TX 12:14PM April 09, 2009

The true Republican party was for meeting the responsibilities of Government and not dictating judgements on how an individual chooses to live. Far right, Far left...BOTH WRONG.
Politically conservative, Socially liberal.

Chris Petty of GA 9:36AM April 09, 2009

I agree totally with Lisa of OR. The GOP must have 2 wings that stay out of each others way on the social issues. On a mo[re divisive issue (civil rights) the Dems maintained 2 parties for decades and stayed in power. Social conservatives must realize their immense unpopularity in the Northeast, West Coast and much of the industrialized Midwest -- especially among women and young voters. So, back off on the social issues and let moderates win back Suburbia where we have taken such a bath in the last decade and more. These moderates will vote "conservative" on issues that matter and a center-right coalition can return to power. It's the only way it can happen.

Ron Jensen of DC 9:19AM April 09, 2009

As an independent, I can tell the Republicans exactly what they need to do to get back on the path to power: change everything currently about yourselves. Drop the mantle of religious fanatacism, lose the crazy so-called leaders of the party (Palin, Limbaugh) and get back to all those things you pretended to inhabit before: fiscal conservatism and hawkish foreign policy. Just steer clear of the emotional social stuff, cos I gotta tell you: you really suck at it.

lisa of OR 7:29PM April 08, 2009

The economic imbalance in this country is the widest its ever been in US history. You have extremely vast amounts of the country's wealth and income tied up among a handful of people. Meanwhile the middle class is disappearing and being replaced by minimum wage jobs. For those facts alone, we will never be able to go back to the small government days with no social safety net. We could have afforded it before, but with $10 an hour jobs for families, we simply cannot afford it anymore. We need re-distribution of income (which is what we've been doing since the income tax was passed in 1913, taxing the rich and essentially giving the money to the poor. That's what the social safety net is: a re-distribution of income from the rich to the working class. As long as vast swathes of the American economy are based on $10 an hour jobs there is nothing in the world you can do to stop re-distribution of income.

Smooth Jazz of NY 4:45PM April 08, 2009