Are You a Conservative?

[dblack]

here's something not fake: FUCK YOU

Doesn't really answer the question though.

 

[basquebromance]

Doesn't really answer the question though.

actually it does. emphatically. i'm a punk rock rebel. you can't label what i do. there's no reason to it other than to fight the boredom

 

[MarathonMike]

Depends on how you define it. But today’s definition of conservatism is certainly different than it was a couple of decades ago. Here’s a clip describing the differences.

You've got to be kidding. Democrats used to believe in love of country, protecting our borders, imprisoning criminals and making America number one.

 

[BS Filter]

You've got to be kidding. Democrats used to believe in love of country, protecting our borders, imprisoning criminals and making America number one.

Agree. The democrat party today is not an American political party.

 

[basquebromance]

The day before Iowans caucused, Limbaugh informed his audience: “Governor
Huckabee supports open borders and amnesty. . . . His position allows for
all kinds of taxpayer aid to the children of illegals. . . . He said to the legislature
of Arkansas, ‘Send me any tax increase, send it up here.’ . . . Conservatism, ladies
and gentlemen, true conservatism balances budgets by cutting government,
not by raising taxes. Governor Huckabee is opposed to school choice, and he
said we should treat dictators and terrorists with the Golden Rule” ( January
2, 2008). One of Limbaugh’s conclusions moved onto cable when Fox News’s
bottom-of-the-screen ticker carried Limbaugh’s pronouncement to the Fox
audience on the eve of the caucus: “Governor Huckabee who might be a fi ne
man and is a great Christian is not a conservative” (January 2, 2008).
The morning after Huckabee topped the Republican fi eld in the Iowa caucuses,
an op-ed in the Journal proclaimed, “Mike Huckabee’s New Deal: More
God, More Government.” Featured in the piece were Huckabee’s gubernatorial
record of support for free health insurance for children and the working poor,
his opposition to school choice and vouchers, and his support for an increase in
the minimum wage. He “pleased teachers’ unions” said the author and “satisfied
labor.” On the day New Hampshirites voted in their primary, another essay
on the editorial pages of the Journal attacked the centerpiece of Huckabee’s
economic platform, a flat tax on consumption labeled the Fair Tax

 

[Pellinore]

You will be aware that UK cons are not as crazy as their American friends. But there is still an authoritarian wing of the tories led by Braverman and her nutty mates.

We have seen traditional cons in the UK turn to the liberal party in recent by elections. they cannot stomach authoritarianism/ fascism.

But where do normal American cons go when they are revolted by culture war nonsense ?

Your last line is the big question right now. The GOP is clearly changing its identity, from mostly conservative (small government, free market, strong democracy, works-based opportunity, preservation of social institutions such as free religion, family unit, law and order) to nationalism (elevation of national identity, centralized power, loyalty to party, anti-outsider rhetoric, mobilization through fear of the other). That left a lot of old-school conservatives feeling as if their party has moved away from them.

And this has happened before. One example was in the 1890s, when a huge Populist movement led by William Jennings Bryan took over the Democratic party, which had been a coalition of rural conservatives and Northern financial interests, united over their resistance to federal power. Those Northern bankers and industrialists felt abandoned by their Democratic party's new platform of financial initiatives such as the silver standard, which worked directly against their goals.

In the lead-up to the 1898 election, Republican candidate William McKinley and his campaign manager, Senator Mark Hanna of Ohio (the most influential American you've never heard of), devised a plan to deliberately appeal to the Northern business managers by presenting a platform of progressive pro-business reforms. It worked, McKinley won, and big business has been mostly identified with the Republican party ever since.

The question is, therefore, will the Democratic party be able to appeal to the middle-of-the-road conservatives who feel abandoned by the GOP? Time will tell, but my experience tells me:
1. The far left isn't exactly the most understanding and flexible group of people in the world;
2. I find it best not to underestimate the Democratic party's ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory;
3. If they do accept moderate pro-democracy conservatives, we could see a generation-long stretch of one-party dominance, similar to 1865-1912;
4. If they don't, the right wing will probably eventually split, leading to a Wilson- or Clinton-like Democrat taking the White House with less than 50% of the popular vote, before the GOP rejects the extremists and reforms with a less arch-conservative platform; or
5. Some sort of collapse or disaster, which no one really wants.

So, watch this space, I suppose.

 

[progressive hunter]

Depends on how you define it. But today’s definition of conservatism is certainly different than it was a couple of decades ago. Here’s a clip describing the differences.

I saw it i=on the internet so it must be true,,

 

[Harpy Eagle]

But it's not really voting unless you blindly support your party at all costs. Or so I have read.

That is what I am told often...by both sides.

 

[Dirk the Daring]

Perot. - 1996
Browne - 2000
Badnarik - 2004
Barr - 2008
Johnson - 2012
Johnson - 2016
Jorgensen - 2020

Ron Paul, 1988 thru 2012

 

[Dirk the Daring]

You are not a conservative....you are a reactionary right-winger...big difference........


and can't you explain to me why voters have not elected a "conservative" ??


Hell, you can't even tell me why the so-called fiscal conservative party can't even nominate one

Because the UniParty likes controlling the purse strings and will never, EVER relinquish those reigns. I hated Romney, hated McCain, and haven't voted for a mainstream R candidate since Bush Jr.

 

[Biff_Poindexter]

Because the UniParty likes controlling the purse strings and will never, EVER relinquish those reigns. I hated Romney, hated McCain, and haven't voted for a mainstream R candidate since Bush Jr.

Trump is a mainstream Republican tho...and you will vote for him

And his policies are the EXACT policies Bush had....the exact policies Romney and McCain would have pushed...


Which tells me it isn't the policies....its the cruelty.....yall probably still upset McCain didn't call Obama a muslim and called his wife a man to their face......he would have still lost, but hey, at least he told those uppity darkies what you wanted to tell them

 

[OldFlame]

You give yourself far too much credit, there are shit ton of people like you that claim to support something but the never do so in the voting booth.

Oh, the irony.

 

[OldFlame]

It has nothing to do with "being responsible" -- Conservative policies suck because they are bad policies...
Even when you folks had your pipe dream of "True Fiscal Conservatism", it failed dramatically...



Need I remind you folks of Kansas and Governor Brownback??

"Former Kansas Governor Sam Brownback’s failed “red state experiment” has truly come to an end. In rejecting Republican gubernatorial candidate Kris Kobach, who advocated restoration of the Brownback experiment, Kansas voters on Election Day put the final nail in the coffin of what even Republican leaders had come to see as a disastrous set of tax and spending cuts that ruined the Kansas economy. Brownback’s experiment was such a failure that his party turned against him. In 2017, the Republican-dominated legislature, overriding the governor’s veto, rolled back the tax cuts."

Failed tax-cut experiment in Kansas should guide national leaders

Kansas’s 2018 election should serve as a political lesson to our national leaders.

thehill.com

Did Brownback ascend to the presidency because of how popular and successful his "Fiscal Conservatism" was?


Nope....he was exiled by his own party...so much so, that even folks like you don't remember him........but...
View attachment 801946


You see, when you folks are presented with the fact that your policies suck..instead of making them better, you claim "oh um, that is because it wasn't really super duper authentic real Conservatism"

List the polices and how they were implemented.

 

[Dirk the Daring]

Trump is a mainstream Republican tho...and you will vote for him

And his policies are the EXACT policies Bush had....the exact policies Romney and McCain would have pushed...


Which tells me it isn't the policies....its the cruelty.....yall probably still upset McCain didn't call Obama a muslim and called his wife a man to their face......he would have still lost, but hey, at least he told those uppity darkies what you wanted to tell them

Gibberish. I will say that CANDIDATE Trump did impress me with his willingness to point out things that were obvious to the American public but oblivious to the ruling elite - which includes the media. But I still refused to vote for him because I hated the optics of a billionaire becoming president of the United States. And once he took office, his spending knew no limits. So no, I will in fact NOT vote for him moving forward.

 

[Biff_Poindexter]

List the polices and how they were implemented.

You should be asking the Kansas state legislature and the majority of the Republican party that question since they are the ones who IMMEDIATELY REVERSED their own policies and sent Brownback off to oblivion


Let me guess...you are going to say that Brownback didn't cut corporate taxes while yelling at brown people enough??

 

[Harpy Eagle]

Democrats used to believe in love of country, protecting our borders, imprisoning criminals and making America number one.

So did the Repubs, but now all they care about is their beloved party

 

[OldFlame]

You should be asking the Kansas state legislature and the majority of the Republican party that question since they are the ones who IMMEDIATELY REVERSED their own policies and sent Brownback off to oblivion


Let me guess...you are going to say that Brownback didn't cut corporate taxes while yelling at brown people enough??

What policies? And how were they implemented?

 

[Biff_Poindexter]

What policies? And how were they implemented?

This is why I call you so-called "fiscal conservatives" full of shit...


Because the minute someone who had Republican control of a state and decided to put his money where his mouth is.... right where you fiscal cons claimed you wanted it to be....you have no idea it ever happened or no idea of what policies were actually implemented...



Which further makes my point that you folks are just performative hacks...yall could care less about governing

 

[Votto]

I vote for the Libertarian candidate when possible. I will vote for a D or an R locally as long as I know who they are and what they stand for. At the local level elected officials are not as required to toe the party line

I personally only vote for dead candidates or stroke victims

I only wish the GOP would run a few so I would have other choices.

 

[d0gbreath]

I've never been a Conservative. I could never get my self-righteousness up to that level.