So... I Gotta Ask... Is There Any Evidence That Sane Republicans Are...

[WillyT]

leaving their party and becoming Independents, Democrats, planning to vote for Obama???

I just wonder what sort of accommodations our party is making for rightists, leaving the Party of The Insane.

And if it's true, why we should have to change our principles.

Big tent, fine. Polluted tent, not so much.

:shrug:

[Rex]

1. Repukes have been coming over to the Dems side for years

but not to convert, more like mole and subterfuge. Just think of all the liberal haters that are moderates and in our own party, sure they are Dems (NOT)! Do we really need their choir buddies joining us? No thanks.

[Ozymanithrax]

2. Centrist Republicans who leave one tent for the other...

don't become liberals. They do not, by preferance support liberals or liberal policies. They are leaving because the crazy got out of control in the neighbor's tent.

Read this article from June 21, it goes into the whole thing. Why the GOP should nominate Barack Obama in 2012

[spinbaby]

3. The saner ones leave politics

I'm thinking of Chuck Hagel and George Voinovich, both fairly reasonable and both quit.

[Rex]

4. Chuck Hagel might have been the last real Republican.

[Little Star]

5. +!

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

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[mwb970]

6. An interesting question.

Maybe we can get at it by considering how we might react if something similar happened on our side.

What if a significantly large, boisterous subgroup of Democrats began advocating, indeed insisting upon and demanding, that America immediately institute a Communist government. (This is the true "far left" position, corresponding to the corporate fascism of the teabaggers.) They declare that they will not compromise, that nothing but Communism will satisfy them and they will never rest until all private property is confiscated and all of the means of production are turned over to the state.

(I realize that this is essentially what Fox "News" and right-wing hate radio jocks say that the "far left" is advocating right now, which is of course ridiculous. The "far left" as seen by right-wing extremists is basically, well, Obama - namely, quite a bit to the right of center.)

Would Democratic politicians immediately adopt the "Communism or nothing" line in order to placate the far left wing (feels funny to type that phrase; there is no such thing here)? When they refuse to compromise, would they be hailed as heroes by a large proportion of Democratic voters?

I don't believe in Communism myself. If I found that my party had somehow slid way, WAY to the left to the point of extremism, I would begin to question why I was associating with a party that had such un-American views so different from my own. I would certainly never defend the extremists in conversations or on discussion boards. Yet republican voters seem so easily pulled to the far, far, lost-in-the-weeds right on every issue (as long as Rush and Sean say it's OK). I just can't imagine liberals marching in mindless lockstep, "following the leader" so to speak, the way republicans do.

[jwhitesj]

7. Great Post

[War Horse]

14. Great post

[kenny blankenship]

8. A few have signed up here lately. Or resurrected accounts they stopped using in 2004 or 2008

They haven't stopped being deficit-demagoguing, outsourcing-loving, poor-bashing corporatist Republicans, though, even though they've been away for a while. They just never tire of telling us how the New Democrat way is best during important election seasons. Fuck 'em.

[MzNov]

9. sane republiCons?

nahhhhhhh

[Dappleganger]

10. Our party has already made too many accommodations for the "rightists."

One of many reasons we're in this unrighteous pickle at this time.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

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[Motown_Johnny]

12. the fight is for independents. I am betting on the debates next year

to make the difference



How can any (R) candidate defend what has been going on?



Obama will rip whoever it is to shreds.

[War Horse]

15. So will Obama gain from the moderate right/center

and lose some of the left?

Some on the right seem really put off by the pandering to the Religious Right. (No, I don't have any statistics, just been reading a lot of blogs, comments, editorials etc).