Sep 21 2007
GOP Hemorrhaging Bush Supporters To Dems
What happens when some far right hot heads go off half cocked against the leader of their party and call him a traitor, or give him names like El Presidente Jorge Bush? The moderate middle, which determines who wins elections, dumps the GOP as too unstable and untrustworthy to be an ally:
Dozens of corporate executives who backed President George W. Bush for re-election in 2004, including some of his top fund-raisers, are now helping Democrats running for president.
…
While the vast majority of business leaders still back Republicans for 2008, the stature of some of those donating to Democrats suggests that support may be eroding, seven years into the Bush presidency. Some executives expressed concern over Republican positions on issues ranging from the war in Iraq and stem-cell research to global warming and the fiscal deficit.
Business is not on the GOP’s side on immigration either – that is a fact. And the vocal rightwing has been on a tear beating up Bush, who is now primarily supported by the middle. Who do people think are the only ones supporting Bush right now? It ain’t the far left or the far right. Well, it looks like the Dems are imploding on national security and the GOP is imploding on immigration. Perfect time to shake up both parties and get some adult supervision in them.
Most of the hard right doesn’t realize, or care 1st) how important business support has been to the Republican coalition for the last 25 years, 2) that people with business interests tend to be economic conservatives, but not necessarily social conservatives, and 3) how much damage they’ve done to this relationship with the rhetoric on the immigration issue.
While the bill was being debated, many with practical business interests made points such as a) we’re at a 50 year low for unemployment, therefore the claim that immigrants are “stealing jobs” is hollow, b) many important industries, such as farming and meatpacking, have no other reliable source of labor, and c) pushing these people out is going to depress our economy at home because those making it here are generally productive people, and the labor shortage will only add to the inflationary pressure already building due to oil pricing and the dollar exchange rate problems.
Every time these issues were pointed out, someone on the hard right would be quick to scream “you’re selling out the country for a dollar! you’re traitors! you don’t care about anything but profit!” Well, being practical people (and I admit I’m one) the obvious rejoinder is not to argue fruitlessly with idealogues about it but simply to switch your support and money to someone who’s willing to listen respectfully to your views and take actions which support your interests. And remember, business interests have provided the vast majority of Republican campaign money for 25 years now.
Of course, like all dedicated idealogues, the hard right will claim that they don’t need all that dirty money and they’re better off with the rino’s out of the party anyways. Riiiiight – ideology with no financial support always works out on election day.
November 2008. Get ready for a landslide. Yeah, sure, Congress’s ratings are in the dumpster . . . but that’s primarily because Democrats are totally pi**ed off at a Democratic controlled Congress not impeaching Bush and ending the war. As a result, there may be more aggressive Democrats running in primaries, but it is not going to lower the total number of votes the Dems garner in ’08.
The bad news for Republicans is that every moderate and independent has leftthe Republicans to wallow in their ethnocentric, prejudice-driven, quasi-religious stinkhole, while rational folks move on . . . and elect moderates and progressives.
Of which there are virtually none of the Republican persuasion.
Rudy G? Mitt? Guess again.
Oh sure, that’s a good bet. What’s the democrat congress’ approval rating again? That’s hardly the stuff landslides are made of; a landslide kind of presupposes some kind of minimal popularity, which the dem’s lack. For every negative the rep’s have, the dem’s have hillary and move-on which is just as fatal to their national hopes as the rep’s miscues. It is quite amusing to watch so many starting to convince themselves Hillary can win the presidency when for years now they’ve known that she can’t. The problem for dem’s in the Presidential race is that the rep candidates have mostly distanced themselves from the hard core partisans, which the dem candidates are embracing their extremists as tightly as possible. Bad move.
Best bet is that the dems will hold the house, although with a slightly smaller margin (2006 was a perfect storm) and take the senate with a slightly larger margin, although not filibuster proof. Right now Giuliani looks likely to be the next Pres, although that race is still pretty fluid.
8 more years of stalemate, with no one able to implement anything more than window dressing. Maybe by 2016 something other than the two defunct parties will be available, but it could be later than that.
For every negativ
The only thing the Republicans have going for them in 08 is the sheer stupidity of the Democrats.
But the far right has tainted the atmosphere so much that it is difficult to even have a rational discussion about certain issues.
Last night I had to go through the same tiresome crap about how unfair I was to call all hardliners bigots. For one thing I never called all of them bigots, for another if the people who are so offended by that sort of thing would tell their compadres to cool it with the name calling and hysterical claims maybe they would not have to worry about what people called them.
But no, both parties seem to be bound and determined to turn into fringe groups.
The upcoming election will force many to vote for the lesser of two weasels…
Ownership of the Democrat party by the looney left and MoveOn will not create a change to the left…
Unless the Republicans find someone to offer much more than the present slate of candidate, no big surge to their side. However, I think there will be less defections.
What will happen is that the majority of the American electorate will be so damned tired of the 24/7/365 campaign, they will stay home and watch Simpson re-runs.
The 2008 will be decided by which party can actually get voters to participate and hinge on the number of illegals that can be registered.
1. Dems to gain 10-20 Congressional seats.
2. Dems to pick up 5-7 seats in Senate. Flirting with filibuster proof
3. Giuliani is unelectable; his candidacy is DOA. The more one knows about the unethical weasel and his hideous wife the less there is to like about him.
“3. Giuliani is unelectable; his candidacy is DOA. The more one knows about the unethical weasel and his hideous wife the less there is to like about him. ”
But Hillary is?
Lets see–she is married to a rapist, a mysogynist, a person who solicits BJ’s from interns and then lies about it under oath, disbarred and can’t practice before the Supreme court to name just a few of his shortcomings. We won’t even mention his serial adultery enabled by his wife and the constant humiliation of his daughter.
So who’s spouse is hideous?
We have not even discussed Hillary the Marxist yet.
As to corporate supporters abandoning the Bush/GOP and supporting dems. Thats the historical record when one party is preceived to be in such a commanding lead as the dems are now. The business sector knows where their bread is buttered. Don’t forget that the disgraced Abramoff gave one third of his money to dems.
sooth:
I do not think Giulliani is unelectable, as far as that is concerned the only Republicans I think are unelectable are Ron Paul and Tom Tancredo.
interesting to see how terrified the left is of Giuliani – they put more time into attacking him personally than all of the other candidates put together. (although Thompson is starting to get some attention from the haters)
And this from the people who hold up Bill and Hill as the pinnacle of ethical behavior? This factor all by itself is enough to make me want to pick Giuliani over any of the other candidates.
“Perfect time to shake up both parties and get some adult supervision in them.”
I agree, and this is the most optimistic view to deal with the looming election — not as a disaster but as a long overdue reckoning. You know, 9-11 really did change me and changed my priorities. And while my president has kept his eye on the ball, my party has lost sight of some things and gone off on this bizarre, slash & burn nativist tangent, which threatens our national security as much as the Dems’ appease & surrender tack.
“The moderate middle, which determines who wins elections, dumps the GOP as too unstable and untrustworthy to be an ally.”
Yes, the “unstable” thing is bothering me. And if you noticed, GWB made a special point in his last press conference of cautioning against “protectionism and isolationism” which is all tied in with the hysterical nativist movement. I think that is partly what the business community is reacting to, although how that translates into shifting support to the Dems is a mystery. Perhaps it is more spiteful than logical. Either way, it’s not good to lose the business sector… unless it causes the GOP to realign and grow up, as A.J. suggests might happen.