Comments on: Don’t Equate “Moderate” with “Bland” http://www.frumforum.com/dont-equate-moderate-with-bland Building a conservatism that can win again Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:50:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Republicans United. » Centrists + Ideas= GOP Resurgence http://www.frumforum.com/dont-equate-moderate-with-bland/comment-page-1#comment-82390 Republicans United. » Centrists + Ideas= GOP Resurgence Wed, 10 Feb 2010 05:13:57 +0000 http://www.frumforum.com/?p=21822#comment-82390 [...] is a response to a post written by ED Kain at Frum Forum.  He was responding a post I wrote at Frum Forum as [...] [...] is a response to a post written by ED Kain at Frum Forum.  He was responding a post I wrote at Frum Forum as [...]

]]> By: 2-8-2010 The Day in Review | F i a t Lux http://www.frumforum.com/dont-equate-moderate-with-bland/comment-page-1#comment-82278 2-8-2010 The Day in Review | F i a t Lux Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:22:38 +0000 http://www.frumforum.com/?p=21822#comment-82278 [...] Sanders defends David Frum and says moderate Republicans are not boring–they totally know how to [...] [...] Sanders defends David Frum and says moderate Republicans are not boring–they totally know how to [...]

]]> By: balconesfault http://www.frumforum.com/dont-equate-moderate-with-bland/comment-page-1#comment-82175 balconesfault Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:31:23 +0000 http://www.frumforum.com/?p=21822#comment-82175 <b>The RLC has to tell Americans that the GOP has abandoned nation-building in Third World regimes as the way to confront terrorists and rogue states. That’s the 800 pound gorilla in the room that the GOP is averting their eyes from.</b> Well, it would be a bit easier if the GOP would actually acknolwedge that invading Iraq was a mistake. But there is no stomach for that. And without acknowledging that, there's no way to get to where you want the RLC to go. The RLC has to tell Americans that the GOP has abandoned nation-building in Third World regimes as the way to confront terrorists and rogue states. That’s the 800 pound gorilla in the room that the GOP is averting their eyes from.

Well, it would be a bit easier if the GOP would actually acknolwedge that invading Iraq was a mistake. But there is no stomach for that.

And without acknowledging that, there’s no way to get to where you want the RLC to go.

]]> By: sinz54 http://www.frumforum.com/dont-equate-moderate-with-bland/comment-page-1#comment-82174 sinz54 Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:51:27 +0000 http://www.frumforum.com/?p=21822#comment-82174 balconesfault: There's a historical parallel here: The reason the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) was formed in 1984, was so the Dem Party could finally, finally tell the American people that they were not going to follow in the footsteps of George McGovern and Jimmy Carter anymore. Men like Paul Tsongas and Bill Clinton and even Al Gore offered a different path from McGovern, Carter, and Mondale. We really do need a Republican Leadership Council (RLC) now, to offer the same thing for the Repub Party. And a fledgling RLC is just getting started: http://www.republican-leadership.com/ But so far at least, the RLC, unlike the DLC, is shying away from addressing foreign policy. And that's bad. Because it was the Iraq War, more than anything else, that wrecked the Bush Presidency and discredited the GOP. The DLC told Americans that the Dem Party isn't pacifistic anymore. The RLC has to tell Americans that the GOP has abandoned nation-building in Third World regimes as the way to confront terrorists and rogue states. That's the 800 pound gorilla in the room that the GOP is averting their eyes from. balconesfault:

There’s a historical parallel here:

The reason the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) was formed in 1984, was so the Dem Party could finally, finally tell the American people that they were not going to follow in the footsteps of George McGovern and Jimmy Carter anymore. Men like Paul Tsongas and Bill Clinton and even Al Gore offered a different path from McGovern, Carter, and Mondale.

We really do need a Republican Leadership Council (RLC) now, to offer the same thing for the Repub Party. And a fledgling RLC is just getting started:

http://www.republican-leadership.com/

But so far at least, the RLC, unlike the DLC, is shying away from addressing foreign policy. And that’s bad. Because it was the Iraq War, more than anything else, that wrecked the Bush Presidency and discredited the GOP.

The DLC told Americans that the Dem Party isn’t pacifistic anymore.

The RLC has to tell Americans that the GOP has abandoned nation-building in Third World regimes as the way to confront terrorists and rogue states. That’s the 800 pound gorilla in the room that the GOP is averting their eyes from.

]]> By: balconesfault http://www.frumforum.com/dont-equate-moderate-with-bland/comment-page-1#comment-82168 balconesfault Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:19:11 +0000 http://www.frumforum.com/?p=21822#comment-82168 Great post. I think the position to stake out for a "moderate Republicanism" is that there are things in our world besides fighting wars and arresting bad guys where the Federal Government can play an important role. As long as a controlling faction of the Republican Party is publicly at war with this concept, effective governance is going to be difficult. And as much as Republicans hate hearing things "being blamed on Bush", there is a legitimate question to be asked to any Republican Presidential Candidate in the future - <i>"how would you govern differently than the George W. Bush administration?"</i> Failure to be able to answer that question effectively ("less earmarks" just didn't cut it) was a critical factor in McCain losing in 2008. Great post.

I think the position to stake out for a “moderate Republicanism” is that there are things in our world besides fighting wars and arresting bad guys where the Federal Government can play an important role.

As long as a controlling faction of the Republican Party is publicly at war with this concept, effective governance is going to be difficult.

And as much as Republicans hate hearing things “being blamed on Bush”, there is a legitimate question to be asked to any Republican Presidential Candidate in the future – “how would you govern differently than the George W. Bush administration?” Failure to be able to answer that question effectively (“less earmarks” just didn’t cut it) was a critical factor in McCain losing in 2008.

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