Boot

In the last year or so I have realized that I am less of a conservative and more of a libertarian than I thought. I feel a bit disenfranchised... not in the sense that I lost my vote or rights, but in the sense that the party I thought met my needs, suddenly doesn't.

From a foreign policy perspective, I have some but little criticism of the administration. The only way to change the world is to change it, and it won't all go perfect. But on the home front, I have seen nothing in this term to please me. No progress on lowering taxes. No reductions of ridiculous entitlement and pork spending (the first being a category of the second). No liposuction for overweight bureaucratic organizations like the EPA. No followup on education reform to fix the bad parts of No Child Left Behind and make it stick. I could go on.

I'm an Ethno-European American, almost middle aged family guy who is starting to make some cash, starting to look at where I want to end up, starting to look at what I think I need to get there. I don't care about gay marriage. I don't live or die on immigration reform. Other than the security front, I don't see the benefits of all that money I pump into the IRS. And no one in Washington is voicing my views on this.

I feel the way Ronald Reagan used to describe his shift from the Democratic party... that he didn't leave them, they left him. And I'm not the only person who feels that way.

Yes, disappointing indeed.

__________________
Boot.

In Soviet Russia, TV watches YOU.

Turbo

I feel the same way. I voted for Bush but now I think he is an idiot, don't know why I couldn't see that before I voted. It really scares me that he listens to the far right wing of the party and his religious supporters. He acts like the other half of the republican party doesn't even exist. He tramples all over the constitution and no one does anything about it, I feel like he is dictator. He doesn't listen to anyone but his minority of supporters.

__________________

CingularDuality

I think that most Republicans that become aware of libertarianism feel the same way...

If the Libertarian Party had a different view of illegal immigration, I would be a member. Until then, I'll keep registering with whichever party I want to participate in their primary. (That last sentence sounds grammatically horrible.)

__________________

Become a supporting member!

Buy a Tactical Duck!
Take the world's smallest political quiz! "I was touched by His Noodly Appendage."
TacticalGamer TX LAN/BBQ Veteran:

Steeler

When Bush was popular, self-described conservatives hailed him as one of their chosen sons. Now that he is severely unpopular, watch them disown him. Watch them deny that he was ever a conservative to begin with.

__________________

CingularDuality

Make me choose between him and Senator Kerry and I'd choose President Bush again in a heartbeat.

We need a libertarian candidate to get national media coverage.

__________________

Become a supporting member!

Buy a Tactical Duck!
Take the world's smallest political quiz! "I was touched by His Noodly Appendage."
TacticalGamer TX LAN/BBQ Veteran:

Trooper

As bush has gone farther right you really have seen hilary start to move closer to middle, not all the way middle but alot further then she was 5 years ago. And John McCain has startd to take up alot of slack in the republican party, which is good. He is a well respected member of congress on both sides. Gonna be real interesting how many people are gonna vote out of party just because they want to get the government back on track.

__________________
that sounds like a good idea trooper.
-Vulcan

Lucky Shot

Bush isn't far enough right to satisfy me on the home front. Regardless of where Clinton is, I can't vote for her and if she ends up winning the Left, it will lead me to donate to the right for the first time ever. McClain is in the same boat, I can't vote for him. I think he is better respected by the left than he is by the right. No joke, give me Lieberman over McCain!

Bush just isn't conservative enough, especially domestically.

Lucky Shot

AMosely

Has anyone answered 'yes' to this question?

Bush sold out the republican base (and even some mild-mannered republicans) the first time he uttered the words "compassionate conservative." He talked the talk to get the votes, using a masterfully precise political campaign designed with the sole purpose of churning out republican votes. But for all the genius in the political campaigns, there was an equal amount of emptiness when it came to actual leadership and vision. Whatever walk he does walk, it looks forced, uncomfortable and fake when you watch it.

He's not really a conservative, and he's not really a leader either. At this point in time, he has managed to dissapoint not just the democrats and conservative republicans, but a staggering percentage of the entire American population. American voters were sold out.

leejo

Haha you keep telling yourself that.

I did answer yes way early on in this thread, and then decided it's a silly topic. Watch the polls between now and the elections. We will see in the fall fellas.

Steeler

I thought polls didn't matter. Anyway, they are down across the board.

__________________

Rincewind

Not only that, but Buchanan is a nut-job.

__________________
~~ Veritas simplex oratio est ~~
No matter how far a wizard goes, he will always come back for his hat. --T. Pratchett

<---- You know you're getting old when you rely on your forum meta-data to remind you how old you are.

Required Reading for all TG sandboxers

leejo

Just don't start counting your chickens is what I'm saying. Y'all are clucking a lot right now, but there's a lot of campaigning to do and a lot of people may decide yet that Bush is plenty conservative for them. They may also find that the moonbats the democrats put up to seize the moment can't campaign their way out of a wet bag. Howard Dean may be let out of his padded room long enough to hand the republicans a few seats.

President Bush has been fighting a way for 5 years. That will blow a lot of plans out of the water. Domestic policies are often the first casualties of war.

I don't know if Bush is conservative "enough" and I don't agree with all of his policies or positions, but I believe he's honest and decent and that history will hold him in rather high esteem. I know that makes some of you cackle but I don't really care. I'm right and you're not.

CingularDuality

He may not be a textbook definition of a conservative, and he may not be popular right now, but that's because he's actually being a leader and not just a puppet. If he wanted, he could follow the polls and change his stance based on public opinion. He's not doing that... He's leading.

__________________

Become a supporting member!

Buy a Tactical Duck!
Take the world's smallest political quiz! "I was touched by His Noodly Appendage."
TacticalGamer TX LAN/BBQ Veteran:

Boot

I completely agree with this statement. And even with my earlier post I would still vote for Bush or any other Republican provided they continue to suport more of my views than the Democrats.

But I think the country has shifted here. Most of the people say they're moderate or in the middle, not true conservative and true liberal. I think the scales we use are way off, and should be recalibrated to measure what people really are.

Take the political quiz in Cing's sig. You may be surprised to find out where you really stand. I thought I was conservative, but here's me:

__________________
Boot.

In Soviet Russia, TV watches YOU.

Steeler

When he's up in the polls, that shows that he knows what real Americans want and has the vision to pursue it. When he's down in the polls, it's because he's being a real leader and not kowtowing to fickle public opinion.

When a Democrat is up in the polls, that shows that he bends in the wind to please people without doing any good. When he's down in the polls, that shows how out of touch he is with real Americans.

Methinks the hardware store is running low on shovels.

__________________