Republicans See Divided Party and Trouble in ’08 (NYT)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/12/us/politics/13pollcnd.html?ex=1174363200&en=1ed83a06b3cf57a0&ei=5043&partner=EXCITE

Republicans See Divided Party and Trouble in ’08

By ADAM NAGOURNEY and MEGAN THEE
Published: March 12, 2007

After years of political dominance, Republican voters now view their party as divided and say they are not satisfied with the choice of candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.

In a survey that brought to life the party’s anxieties about keeping the White House, Republicans said they were concerned that their party had drifted from the principles of Ronald Reagan, its most popular figure of the past 50 years.

Forty percent of Republicans said they expected Democrats to take control of the White House next year, compared with 46 percent who said they believed a Republican could win. By contrast, just 12 percent of Democrats said they thought the opposing party would take the White House next year.

Even as Republican voters continued to support President Bush and the war in Iraq, including the recent increase in the number of American troops deployed there, they said a presidential candidate who backed Mr. Bush’s war policies would be at a decided disadvantage in 2008.

FULL story at link.

[DemKR]

1. Aww...Brownback and Tancredo not conservative enough?

[ClassWarrior]

2. Don't believe it for one minute. They want us...

...to let our guards down. Don't do it. Keep working hard for Dems!

NGU.

[racaulk]

6. Agreed

The MSM want us to get complacent. We can't fall for it.

[0rganism]

8. even if they're telling the truth, it'll just be a much sweeter ass-kicking

no complacency here! I'm living for the day we have a veto-proof majority in both houses of congress.

[depakid]

12. You didn't even have to click on the link to know that was a Ngourney story

NOTHING that man writes is to be believed- he's one of the most shameless panders at the NY Times.

The fact that he still writes his slanted copy there just goes to show how far the Times has fallen.

They're in a race to the bottom with the Washington Post- and in that regard Adam Nagourney is their best players.

(BTW, this piece belongs on the editorial page).

[onehandle]

3. Good. nt

[saltpoint]

4. Ain't no more Cat Butcher.

Ain't no more Tom DeLay, their re-districting dandy.

Ain't no more Duke Cunningham.

Ain't no more Man-On-Dog Santorum.

Ashcroft's gone. Abu Gonzales ain't for sure long term.

Uncle Don Rumsfeld and his drive-through war is gone.

Feith is gone.

Powell is gone.

Conrad Burns is gone.

Ted Stevens is gone but doesn't know it yet.

Uncle Dick is toast.

Tommy Franks grabbed those medals and high-tailed it out the back door.

McCain's a fading has-been.

Rudy's a thug with multiple divorces (although a snappy crossdresser).

Romney's a creep, Brownback's psychotic, Tancredo's creepy AND psychotic, and Karen Hughes hasn't mailed out the flyers yet -- the ones that say how great a country we are and how much Bush has done for world peace.
___________

The Republican Party is in real bad shape going into 2008. Which is ok with me.

[Old and In the Way]

5. It was an all or nothing gamble.

2006 will be the year that marked the turning point. The plan called for Iraq to be tamed and the focus on Iran and Syria. The triumphant war pResident, Bush the Lesser, and the institutionalized corruption would deliver the votes. But they screwed the pooch in Iraq. So they lost control in 2006 and the next 2 years will be the prelude to the final spectacular implosion of the Crime Syndicate.

It'll be like waking after an 8 year bender....the house will be destroyed, everything of value gone, and all the neighbors hating you. But at least we sobered up.

[saltpoint]

13. God, you nailed it. "an 8 year bender" and "everything of value gone."

Talk about cutting to the chase.

Once in a while I see a Bush/Cheney bumpersticker out on the highways, but they're growing fewer and farther between. I bet the hangover's going to be worse for some than for others.

I'm ready for the Iowa caucuses already. Next Tuesday would be ok, if this Saturday's too soon to print ballots.

Let's get these fools out of power as soon as possible.

[Cobalt-60]

16. Is it immoral for me to relish their suffering?

probably.
But I'm making up a batch of buttered popcorn for the show!
:woohoo:

[saltpoint]

18. hi, Cobalt-60. No, it's not immoral to relish their suffering, IMO.

According to Peter Pace, homosexuality is immoral, but reporters seemed not to ask him his opinion of the 200 visits to the White House by Jeff Gannon.

I want to celebrate the departure of the list of Rethugs up there, but at the same time I'm brought up short because their failure is the nation's failure. And I don't want to celebrate the kind of disappointment this administration has been. The fault is mine. I grocery-listed the fallen Republican luminaries and I will likely speak disparagingly of them again and again.

I'm a partisan Democrat and want a U.S. government that I feel good about again. Way back in the 60s JFK was held in almost universal acclaim and honor. Even Republicans, including the Nixon minions in my own fmaily tree, acknowledged the respect he engendered among people of other nations. Ideology aside, John Kenney was our First Citizen. George W. Bush is our First Ferret.

(There I go again!)

[eagler]

7. It's still much too early to be declaring winners. The way things are going now

the dems may beat themselves if they keep wimping out on issues affecting the war.

[kskiska]

9. NYT: G.O.P. Voters Voice Anxieties on Party’s Fate

After years of political dominance, Republican voters now view their party as divided and say they are not satisfied with the choice of candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

In a survey that brought to life the party’s anxieties about keeping the White House, Republicans said they were concerned that their party had drifted from the principles of Ronald Reagan, its most popular figure of the past 50 years.

Forty percent of Republicans said they expected Democrats to take control of the White House next year, compared with 46 percent who said they believed a Republican would win. Just 12 percent of Democrats said they thought the opposing party would win the White House.

Even as Republican voters continued to support President Bush and the war in Iraq, including the recent increase in the number of American troops deployed there, they said a candidate who backed Mr. Bush’s war policies would be at a decided disadvantage in 2008. And they suggested that they were open to supporting a candidate who broke with the president on a crucial aspect of his Iraq strategy.

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/13/us/politics/13poll.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

[AlCzervik]

10. excellent and i'm sure Adam was weeping as he wrote that.

[Czolgosz]

11. Scary excerpt:

"Even as Republicans said they supported Mr. Bush’s performance, they showed divisions over the party’s ideological makeup; 39 percent of Republican voters said they wanted the next Republican presidential nominee to continue with Mr. Bush’s policies; 19 percent said they wanted the next president to become less conservative, and 39 percent more conservative."

Troubling for Giuliani and Romney:

"Republican primary voters have a definite idea of what they are looking for in a candidate: They want a presidential contender who will make it more difficult for women to obtain abortions, who opposes same-sex marriage and who will push for more tax cuts, the poll found.

The poll found that Republicans think it might be more difficult winning an election as a Mormon, which Mr. Romney is, than as a candidate who had gone through multiple divorces, a category that includes Mr. Giuliani and Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker who is considering a run for president.

Thirty-nine percent of Republican voters thought Americans would not vote for someone with multiple divorces; by contrast, 51 percent of Republican voters thought that Americans would not vote for a Mormon. (Among the general electorate, 42 percent of respondents said Americans would not vote for someone who had been divorced more than once, and 53 percent said most people would not vote for a Mormon.)"

[kurth]

14. Flush them all to hell

Fucking treasonous assholes.

[bluestateguy]

15. I have a standing policy against reading articles written by Adam Nagourney

nt

[stanwyck]

17. Republican callers to Washington Journal

this morning were, refreshingly, very candid and reasonable about their dissatisfaction with their party. Amazing. Only one caller I heard from the "George W. Bush is a good Christian and a great leader" Kool-Aid crowd.
The balance expressed their concerns about the economy, the deficit, scandals, our involvement in Iraq, and the takeover by the religious right.
These people sold their souls to the Bushies over the war on terror, which the Bushies played to the hilt. Only "we" can save you. And the fear worked.
But I don't think that's working anymore.
The true conservatives have watched the Bushies grow government, trample on rights, and wallow in corruption.
They're not happy. But they have only themselves to blame. They're complicit. Unless they refuse to support the Bush acolytes, they're participating in their own destruction.
They need to throw out the hard-edged ideologues in their party and start over. They're stuck with a bunch of dinosaurs.