Gingrich tried and failed (Clinton stopped him cold).

Let us not forget Bush II and his Republican Congress, neither of which even tried.

I think that the Democrats should ditch the ultra partisan far Left and try to work with George Bush on Social Security reform….trying to shape in ways that are important to the Left.

Oh please. Have you been paying attention to what has happened to the Stock Market? Oh yes, priviatizing Social Security would have just worked out so very well.

By the way, if the American people really like the social safety net, that does tend to put the conservative party behind the eight ball.

Your point about what the public wants in terms of government size coincides with the analysis here in this essay, if you haven’t read it. It’s a point Bruce Bartlett has made often.

http://www.democracyjournal.org/article.php?ID=6698

One of Rauch’s best insights is this one:

“When tax cuts increase deficits (that is, when they are not balanced by spending cuts), they reduce government’s apparent cost. They put government on sale, so to speak. When something goes on sale, people want more of it, and government is no exception. Instead of reducing the supply of government, unbalanced tax-cutting has increased the demand for it.”

I remember how the Republicans won in 1980 and 1994. They ran as reformers with a whole laundry list of ideas and reforms.

You can’t fight something with nothing. It was not enough that the Dems had made mistakes. Because the Republicans were proposing a major policy shift, and they had to reassure the voters that they knew what they were doing.

But as I said, this is something you’re going to have to learn for yourself.

So go ahead, nominate Sarah Palin in 2012. And back her up with a hard-right Republican platform too. Have the dream ticket you’ve always wanted, without any interference from RINOs.

And good luck to you with it.

That is why its important to have true Conservatives on the ballots, and not this simpering RINOs. So that when government does change hands, we can actually get something done.

You see the Democrats struggling with the Blue Dogs, now. RINOs will hamper the GOP and Conservatives as well.

That’s the attitude that has been missing from the leadership of both political parties for a long, long time. If the Republicans will start leading (toward solutions) and not simply being contrary or obstructionist, we will gain the trust of a vast swath of voters.

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This is a recipe for continuous move towards the Left, as all compromise comes from Republicans and Conservatives and favors Democrats and Leftwingers.

I think that the Democrats should ditch the ultra partisan far Left and try to work with George Bush on Social Security reform….trying to shape in ways that are important to the Left.

However, that isnt what we got, because that would have been losing proposition for the Left, who favor more government social welfare programs, taxation, and centralized government control.

One of the reforms the Democratic Party instituted after their disastrous McGovern loss in 1972, was to create so-called “superdelegates”–convention delegates nominated by the party apparatus rather than winning in primaries. This was specifically aimed at diluting the power of the hard-left activists who had come to dominate the primaries and who had nominated a guy like McGovern. It took a lot of guts to stand up to these activists, since they believed the party belonged to them (sound familiar?).

Another reform, instituted after the disastrous Mondale loss in 1984, was the creation of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), which argued that the party had to move away from left-wing extremism, and back toward the ideological center. The DLC was composed of prominent Democratic officeholders of moderate persuasions. They set up the Progressive Policy Institute, a think-tank to articulate moderate Democratic solutions to national problems.

The GOP, now dominated by right-wing extremists who insist that you have to support every ounce of the GOP platform or else you’re a disgusting RINO who should be expelled from the party, needs similar reforms today. It needs the moderates to get together and form a fighting, aggressive “Republican Leadership Council,” with its own moderate-thinking think-tank. And there need to be reforms of the primary process to enable more thoughtful citizens to participate.

Right now, I see moderate Republicans and center-right Independents under incessant attack from the Right. New Majority, while well intentioned, is no substitute for actual moderate Republican officeholders coming together and fighting back against this.

Reagan tried and failed (Tip O’Neill stopped him cold).

Gingrich tried and failed (Clinton stopped him cold).

Americans really don’t want that social safety net dismantled. Gingrich’s Contract with America was more about reform than wholesale dismantling. But once Gingrich’s Republicans took over Congress and proposed $700 billion in cuts to domestic programs, the public sided with Clinton who said no.