Republicans With Jitters: "We have a President who is not popular"

[Rose Siding]

These are quotes collected by The Nation's Marc Cooper at Restoration Weekend, an annual festival where conservatives gather to plot, celebrate themselves and brew potions:

Conservative Arizona Congressman Jeff Flake: He pleaded with fellow conservatives to take the high road of liberalized immigration reform in the escalating debate and not go down the immigrant-bashing path. "I encourage Republicans to not repeat what happened in California in 1994," he said referring to GOP support for Prop 187. "It works for one cycle and then you pay a price for a decade."

Former Congressman Pat Toomey, current head of The Club for Growth: "We have to acknowledge we have a President who is not popular… The war in Iraq is the 800 lb. gorilla in the room and a major downturn could drown anything we do… We won in 1994 because we promised small government and going into the 2006 elections this is key idea we have abandoned."

Former Colorado State Senator John Andrews: "I feel the Republican Party in my state and nationally is a party that has lost its way… we need to find our way back to a reason to vote Republican."

Missouri Lt. Governor Pete Kinder on the state of the party: "The demoralization of the base is real. I hear it everywhere."

Conservative Arizona Congressman John Shaddeg on the Abramoff scandal: "I believe these scandals are the end of the 1994 Revolution… all this seriously threatens the Republican majority. It might be hard to shrink government as we promised. But it's not that hard to be honest and we haven't."

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?pid=64204

[stop the bleeding]

1. very telling

:evilgrin:

[unblock]

2. no sh*t, sherlock!

[hippiechick]

3. ' a major downturn' ??

WTF do they think everything since the initial day of invasion has been? :freak:

[Blutodog]

4. The Contract on Amerika

LOL! What did the rethug sheeple realy think that the so called Contract for America was real? It was nothing more then a facade for a determined group of looters and pirates. Now 13 yrs. later their demoralized because the rethugs managed in 13 yrs. to be 10X more corrupt then the D's after being in power for 40 yrs? Well it's too late for all of us.

[FreedomAngel82]

21. It's all about the PR

ALways.

[zbdent]

5. The "unpopular pResident" should be an anchor

to the "Rubber-stamp" Republicans, who have not challenged the pResident to the point where he has yet to veto a single bill, whether it is a spending bill, a tax-cut bill, or a torture bill . . .

[FreedomAngel82]

22. In every one of their districts

they should have an ad of them with Bush. That would end it.

[Poiuyt]

6. But Chris Matthews says the only people who don't like Bush are

left wing wackos

[MadisonProgressive]

11. He should stay out of dark "left wing wacko" alleys

[Cha]

38. LOL!

bush is turning the whole world into a "left wing wacko" alley!

[Atman]

7. This can't be true

I've had CNN on the teevee, and they insist everything is peachy keen. In fact, Mardi Gras is underway, did you know that? Cool! All the polls say the dems have no message and that everybody trusts the republicans to defend us, right? Isn't that what the polls say? Whoa, gotta run! Oprah is on....









:sarcasm: -- just in case you thought I was series.

[goclark]

10. Atman ~ we know you weren't serious :)

You adore little Tweety and all the rest of those clowns :)

[savemefromdumbya]

8. Thie President may be indicted

perhaps they should suggest he step down now and also 'big gun'

[More Than A Feeling]

9. Republicans spend more time ducking the political consequences

of their mistakes, than they do governing.

[blue neen]

12. Pat Toomey is a wing-nut from PA.

He ran for the Republican nomination for Senator in 2004, but was defeated by Arlen Specter. This man may actually be to the right of Rick Santorum.

Gawd, let's get them out.

[IronLionZion]

14. Toomey IS worse than Rick Santorum

I can not even stand Santorum, I'm certain our state would crumble into fascism if Toomey was elected too. We don't need two right-wing extremists.

The big difference between the two is that Sick Rick will say or do anything to win. But Toomey actually believes the shit he spews. Which one is more dangerous?

Let's defeat Rick this year, then we'll prosecute him for robbing the taxpayers in Penn Hills.

[FreedomAngel82]

23. The right of Santorum?

You mean he's more looney?

[blue neen]

33. Santorum apparently went around Washington, D.C. circles

saying that Toomey was "too conservative to win in Pennsylvania." Isn't that rich?

Pot meet Kettle. They're both embarrassments to our state.

[IronLionZion]

13. Bushco threw everything they had against Pat Toomey in 2004

Which at the time seemed odd since Arlen Specter is a moderate critic of Bush policies and Toomey is a radical right-wing reactionary extremist lunatic. They painted Toomey as some kind of jack-booted SS officer and he certainly appeared to be one. Now I understand perfectly. It's about the money, honey. Toomey and his extremist group Club for Growth want to reduce government = reduce opportunities for corruption.

[sadiesworld]

15. Unfortunately, they also have the voting machines.

:(

[earth mom]

16. "Not Popular" is a MAJOR Understatement. nt

[Marr]

17. Hey- if 51% is a "mandate", can you imagine what "unpopular" must be?

[yellowdogmi]

36. Currently at 34% and falling.

Sorry! Must have confused *'s approval rating and unpopular. oops.
:evilgrin:

[BobF]

18. But what I REALLY want to know...

...is what does Bob Boudelang have to say about all of this?

Where in the Hell is he, anyway?

[Kurovski]

32. Maybe he went on a quail hunt with Cheney?

:scared:

[intheflow]

19. CO State Senator John Andrews needs a reason to vote Republican?

In other news, hell freezes over.

That's an extraordinary statement for him to make. I know this guy personally. He's the biggest, most uptight, shoot-the-koolaid-directly-into-his-veins kind of Repuke.

K&R! :kick:

[FreedomAngel82]

20. Love it!

You reap what you sow bastards! And the Bush administration won't let them go any other route.

[SoCalDem]

24. They "won" in 94 because they demonized Clinton

and played up their notion that he was not a "legitimate" president..Their control of media allowed them to propagandize and gin up support for their contract on america (total BS job)..

[CJCRANE]

25. There's a whole troop

of 800 lb. gorillas in the room, named "War in Iraq", "Deficits", "Katrina", "Plamegate", "911 truth" etc.

[EVDebs]

26. Beat it like a drum : Iraq and Corruption

They go hand in hand anyway

[EVDebs]

27. Iraq and corruption...beat it like a drum !

Ptech, Ptech, Ptech, Ptech !

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2481878&mesg_id=2482256

Explanations, please ?

[Burried News]

40. OK The drums of November 22nd 1963

[The Backlash Cometh]

28. Gee, do you think it has to do with all his crap policies and executive

decisions?

[lumpy]

29. Tuff S guys,

you supported the little ass. Cry in your cocktails.

[electropop]

30. These Red-staters are scared witless.

Imagine how it will be in moderate states.

This election is going to be ugly for the GOP. The margins are going to be too big to credibly steal.

Then come the real investigations.

I stand by my prediction that the GOP will force Bush out by August, in a vain attempt to salvage the Party, which is about to be dramatically downsized.

[Iowa]

31. 2006 should be a landslide...

but it won't be. And even if our side does take over, I suspect it will be a disappointing, half-assed, watered-down version of pretty much the same crap we have been getting... the same direction we have been heading. There will be a few tweaks that will be quite welcome, but by and large our guys will keep the seats warm until the corps can send in their first team again. We're a very, very long way from the sea change most here dream about. Every little bit helps, but until we actually get to elect our representatives again, and until we reform campaign financing, and until Joe six-pack becomes one hell of a lot more uncomfortable - nothing much will change. The best we can hope for now is to slow it down a tad. I'm all for that, but I won't be dancing in the streets if we get it.

[Voltaire99]

41. Excellent post.

Thanks, Iowa, for speaking so well for the realists.

The party apparatchiks imagine the GOP's gloom will usher in a new age of Clintonian bliss. For the reasons you state, this won't happen.

Given the party's nearly wholesale assistance to Bushism, I wouldn't expect much improvement even if it won both houses and the White House two years later. GOP-lite will barely make a dent.

[sellitman]

34. Good thing they have Diebold on their side.

I predict another Republican landslide in 2006.

These poll numbers mean nothing.

[Higans]

35. sadly I agree. Die Bold will steel it again. the 14th amendment is gone.

Edited to say:

perhaps the Repugs should put Die Bold in charge of the Polls too.

[DaveT]

37. In 1994, the GOP won

by having the "Contract With America" stand as the "positive" counterpoint to the Gingrich inspired politics of smear and sneer. It was the year of "The Angry White Male" -- and who he was mad at was Hillary.

Bush and Cheney still have the smear and sneer going for them, but the "positive" counterpoint has not only evaporated, but has turned into a negative -- this Administration has absolutely nothing positive to point to after five years of unprecedented rapine of the Treasury. Katrina finally spiked the "security" myth of Shrub, showing that his government wilts in time of crisis.

That long lost GOP "positive" program of the Contract With America never had a chance of being implemented, and I sincerely regret that fact. If we had a functional democracy, the GOP would have been obliged to deliver on their promise to reduce the size and reach of the Federal Government. I disagreed with that political initiative and I suppose most DUers also find it both odious and impractical. But it at least was a coherent philosophical conception of what is best for the country.

Of course this simplistic pipe dream failed -- it had a contradiction embedded in its foundation. The Gingrich "Revolution" was financed by all the usual contributors to political campaigns, a group of elite individuals and institutions who can assemble hundreds of millions of dollars in cash. There are some within this group who are motivated mainly by conservative philosophy. But the readiest money comes from people who depend upon doing business with the government.


And none of them donate money to politicians because they want to quit doing business with the government.

Eleven years and several electoral triumphs later, you can see the result of a much larger government doing a much larger amount of business. A smaller governemnt would have meant a smaller base for fundraising.

There's a long way to go before next November, and the GOP may find yet another gimmick to skate by this election safely. But their ye olde call for smaller government ain't gonna fly.

[Burried News]

39. And they say the Brits are masters of understatement.

We have to acknowledge we have a President who is not popular…

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CLUE - MANDATE? WHERE'S YOUR MANDATE NOW?

[Raster]

42. To all the rethuglicans with jitters: Eat Shit and Die!

You could have taken the high road and reigned in this neocon cabal. You could have spoken out for truth and justice. You could have exhibited common sense. You could have demonstrated loyalty and fidelity to the Republic, not the rethuglican party. There's many things you could have done to help right the myriad of wrongs promulgated by bushco*, but you did nothing. You have allowed these treasonous bastards to run roughshod over the United States Constitution and the rights and will of the citizens. If there is any justice, the rethuglican party will become pariah and will never again be a political force. You have betrayed the country's trust. You have enriched your benefactors and collaborators at the expense of the citizens and raped the body politic. People are sick, hungry and desolate because of greedy rethuglican policies. If this country survives, and I pray that it does, it will not be because of your efforts. Quite the contrary. The rethuglican machine has demeaned democracy and the democratic process. You are traitors to the country and damn poor excuses for human beings. May God, if he or she exists, damn your black souls to eternal damnation. You have stolen from the poor and tormented those most in need of comfort.

[President Kerry]

45. amen, brother.

Too little, too late.

[ClayZ]

43. Perhaps they have seen these flags.....

http://www.madeyouthink.org/

[PATRICK]

44. Would like to hear

We have an election that is not rigged!

We have a media that is fair and fact based!

We have spending limits on all our donors!

We have donors and campaign workers who will not commit crimes!

We have no lobbyists to tell us what to vote for!

We have nothing in our agenda we haven't accomplished!

We have no Swiss bank accounts!

We have no shielding from the law!

We have no key to the closet our GOP caucus will meet in in 2006!