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McBobo is the Dr. Pangloss of conservative pundits. Surveying the mess that is currently the GOP field, the total meltdown of the front-runner and presumed nominee and the bitter schism between the Village Republicans who back Romney, the fundies who back Huck, and the hold-your-nose-and-vote-for-him crowd who backs McCain -- McBobo sees smiling unicorns jumping over rainbows:
Some of the contributors to The National Review’s highly influential blog, The Corner, look to Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney to save the conservative movement. Their hatred of McCain is so strong, it’s earned its own name: McCain Derangement Syndrome.
Yet a funny thing has happened this primary season. Conservative voters have not followed their conservative leaders. Conservative voters are much more diverse than the image you’d get from conservative officialdom.
They're so notoriously diverse those conservatives! Quick quiz: how many GOP front-runners want to:
- End the war in Iraq
- Provide universal health care
- Aggressively deal with climate change
And if Willard is the National Review/Limbaugh-approved GOP candidate, and is currently winning the delegate count, how exactly have conservatives not followed their leaders? WTF?
In South Carolina, 34 percent of the Republican voters called themselves “very conservative,” but another 34 percent called themselves only “somewhat conservative” and another 24 percent called themselves “moderate.” Only 28 percent of the primary voters there said that abortion should be “always illegal.” This, I repeat, was in South Carolina, one of the most right-wing places in the country.
Just sheer silliness. These labels mean absolutely nothing when you don't attach them to specific issues. If you call yourself a "moderate" in South Carolina, it means you think the Confederate flag is only just a little awesome. And as far as abortion goes, that's double the national number on that particular question. Who does McBobo think he's fooling with this crap?
The lesson is not that the conservative establishment is headed for the ash heap. The lesson is that the Republican Party, even in its shrunken state, is diverse. Regular Republican voters don’t seem to mind independent thinking. There’s room for moderates as well as orthodox conservatives. Limbaugh, Grover Norquist and James Dobson have influence, but they are not arbiters of conservative doctrine.
Ah, those millions and millions of "regular" sensible pro-choice Republicans who ignore Limbaugh, Dobson, and Norquist, dislike George W. Bush, eschew Fox News and Ann Coulter -- all in search of a good gin and tonic Rockefeller Republican to back. No doubt, they're a thriving constituency among conservatives...in McBobo's mind.
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BT!
Blue Texan!
And Ann in AZ:
One each today…*g* Or maybe you had one earlier before I got to the Lkae.
almost zed. I would like to see the bobrooks off of PBS. He can continue to make a fool of himself on the editorial page. he has so much good company three.
wish I could stay for the thread. have fun pups.
nearly EPU’d and copied here:
Actually, I think the Bloomberg-Hillary lunch was more likely about VP issues. Among the possible VPs for Obama are both the two women governors who came out in support of him early (allowing him to address the women issue; both also are Dems in Republican states), Nelson (bringing in more of the moderate Republicans & the west), Bloomberg (centrist Republicans and the Jewish vote) and of course Edwards. Clinton possible VP folks are less clear for me.
A lesson for Bobo:
Don’t drink and write. You could get into an accident.
My take is
‘those millions and millions of “regular” sensible pro-choice [and non-war mongering, non-voodoo economics, non-xeonophobic –my additions] Republicans’
are indepents and Democrats now, which is why we observe, and still fear
‘the Republican Party, even in its shrunken state’
I hope it contintues to shrink until it sheds its criminal leadership.
Speaking of implosions isn’t that what happened to Brooks’ brain. It seems the only reasonable explanation to account for what he writes.
IAGFR: “It’s All Good For Republicans”
Speaking of cracked commentators - Glenn Beck was just right, he said people say they vote for one thing and actually do for another.
How can the two insiders be leading in the change election?
Huh? There was a Bloomberg-Obama breakfast. I’m not aware that these two had lunch in public recently.
Bobo in paradise. Not. At least not in the best of all possible worlds, candidly.
Go Goopers:
link
The lesson is not that the conservative establishment is headed for the ash heap. The lesson is that the Republican Party, even in its shrunken head state, is diverse. Regular Republican voters don’t seem to mind independent thinking. There’s room for moderates as well as orthodox conservatives. Limbaugh, Grover Norquist and James Dobson have influence, but they are not arbiters of conservative doctrine.
Arbiter - a person whose judgement is considered authoritative.
Surprise: Bobo is lying again.
Or, to put it another way, no matter how much the Republican Party shrinks, it still remains cobbled together from several factions with few shared interests. Sure sounds like “headed for the ash heap” to me…
This is how they plan to fight Roe v Wade, state by state. My very best wishes to them.
Well, some meal (looked pretty light outside) in a NYC Deli.
Congratulations FDL on 49,000,000 site visits!
—–Geeks R Us
Nothing says diversity to me like a bunch of rich, white chauvinistic males. - Bobo
Because it’s not a “change” election in the GOP primary. You can’t promise change without saying something you’d do differently than Bush, and if they did that they’d get savaged by the noise machine and the part of the base that isn’t supporting Ron Paul. Hence Romney’s vague “change Washington” without changing anyone in it, which is meant only to highlight the fact that McCain is a senator. “Change” means nothing more in the GOP primary than “compassion” did to George Bush.
Won’t it be nice to see them arrange residence in Dubai and the UAE? Michael Jackson will be a good neighbor.
Many because they can’t return to the country they betrayed. Others because of extradition treaties with nations that respect human rights. Others because they can walk in their gold by arrangement with the bank of oil.
Some key Romney changes include Double Gitmo and more better GWOT.
Nope, and I have to go out soon, so it’s unlikely I get another anytime soon. So the field is clear, except, of course, for everyone else!
Any of the bozos in the “partisanship bad, centrist compromise is all we need” camp should have that tattooed on their forehead (backwards, so they can read it in a mirror.) There is no further compromise with anti-abortion forces, because if they get abortion, they’re going for contraception next. It’s not about “life” and never has been, it’s about control of women.
And it’s the same with other issues — compromise with the Right doesn’t settle anything, because they don’t see compromise as an end result, they see it as a new starting point to demand further compromises with their position.
This is when we’re glad that George Allen isn’t in the race.
I’m heading out in a few myself. So the coast is clear for other FDL zed-hunters…*g*
OT: Global Warming is not just for poor people anymore. The Dutch government is (currently) eminently domaining private farmland to allow higher ocean levels some breathing room in key areas.
In Bobo’s bubble:
Stock market crashing? Good for the GOP.
Republican party in disarray? Good for the GOP.
4,000 dead American in Iraq? Good for the GOP.
Troop surge in Afghanistan? Good for the GOP.
Betraying covert CIA operatives? Good for the GOP.
Democrats take control of Congress? Good for the GOP.
In Bobo’s world everything is “Good for the GOP.”
(Thanks, BT, I’ll be using that line for a long time-especially when the Democrats take the Presidency.)
I find something very incongruous about saying that, “Only 28 percent of the primary voters there said that abortion should be ‘always illegal.’” while saying in the same paragraph, “In South Carolina, 34 percent of the Republican voters called themselves ‘very conservative,’” How could you call yourself Very Conservative if you think there is any viable reason to abort a fetus?
Amen.
((((( egregious )))))
You’re right about that, although I would’ve love to watch him and Freddie vie for the ’slowest drawl award’ … *g*
Too funny!
HRC and Obama still sniping….good timing for Edwards..
Chris “Hyper” Matthews would’ve been having conniptions listening to them …
Someone mentioned earlier that Bill Clinton got his first win at the 5th primary … keep going Edwards !
Love to you and Elizabeth !
Yes, definitely. Just goes to show that no matter how many dangerous lunatics they have in the race, there are always more out there.
Don’t even mention that guy from Pennsylvania … “Mr. Man on Dog” *g*
He’s shifting his views in hopes of relevance in the years ahead. I think we should plot out, here in left blogosphere, names we WILL NOT click on. Brooks and Kristal would top my list. Fewer hits, less work.
HRC has left in South Carolina to
attackcampaign against Obama. I’m sure he’ll say some more endearing things to win sympathy for Hillary. Geez, he does her more harm than good.“has left Bill”
OT: from Jim Kunstler, via Wolcott:
Really no choice but to laugh or cry…
Yep, I agree that Bill’s campaigning will turn negative for Hillary, making her seem incapable of winning without his strong support. It shouldn’t matter but it does and they need to be aware of that.
Wha … Hillary has left Bill ?!! When did this happen ?!! Why go through a messy divorce in the middle of campaigning ?!! *g*
Yes, I subscribe to Tabloids … why do you ask ?!! *g*
And this from the link:
“The exact nature of this giant beast still remained largely concealed in a fog of accounting gambits, policy blusters, and reporting dodges, but a few intrepid scouts who glimpsed the behemoth up close said it looked like Godzilla with Herbert Hoover’s face.”
OMFG, Hunter S. Thompson lives!
Herbert Hoover is about to be eclipsed by George W. Bush. The only problem is that I don’t see another FDR running on the Democratic side.
Blue Texan. Bobo said:
You replied:
I think that you’re comparing two different elements here. The national average is of both Democrats, Republicans, Independents and anyone else out there. The 28% figure is taken of Republican South Carolinians. Not all South Carolinians. It may well be that the S. Carolinian average is more in line with the national average.
I’d also point out that what “moderate” might mean to a Democrat or an Independent may vary greatly with what a Republican who is “moderate” might stand on particular issues. It can also vary regionally. A Berkeley “moderate” may be considered a radical leftist elsewhere.
I think Bobo’s on to something here, but whether it’s what he thinks it means can certainly be contended. I think what we see is a shift to pragmatism in those that ascribe themselves as Republicans. Bush failed to get things done, whether it be advancing the religious rights ideological mantras, or the economic conservative agenda of smaller, less imposing government that kept within its budget. I think a lot of those on the religious right, especially the rank-and-file evangelicals ARE shifting to the view that government can’t impose morality successfully (and that they had really lousy Republican role-models). If you’d have asked that abortion question 4 years ago you’d have gotten 10-20% higher levels of “outlaw all abortions” and “make most abortions illegal”.
And most fiscal conservatives and Main Street Republicans now see the Washington DC pack as incapable of seeing any long-term solution to solving the economic issues in the United States. They almost look back at Clinton nostalgically.
Fiscal Conservatives? Or Eugenicists?
Undead Fred has left the building
CNN confirming
Former Sen. Fred Thompson is dropping out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination, CNN has confirmed.
AMF Fred
Aw, tsk. Goodbye Fred.
See ya Fred.
We hardly knew ya…
Who now will step forward and pretend to be Reagan?
Don’t you have to show some signs of life to be considered a candidate in the first place?
So now that I wouldn’t necessarily be contributing to evil, and since the price oughtta drop to nothing, I am gonna buy a Fred08 handbag for my favorite right winger at work.
He had such hopes for Fred.
Apparently not. Fred snoozed along until now, seeming barely able to keep his eyes open.
Dunno, I was told I was supposed to show some level of respect for anyone who was a candidate. . .or an officer. Fat chance.
Bye, Mr. Flintstone.
I can’t see a Clinton-Bloomberg ticket. No geographic diversity…they come from the same State and essentially it wouldn’t do much to assist Hillary. Hillary won the vast majority of NY Republicans. The only thing it might add is association with a successful “Executive” (Mayor and Businessman). I think Bloomberg might be considering an endorsement actually. Whether he will do this before Florida (thus shoving it into Rudy’s mug with a statement about all the problems the latter left behind in NYC) or after Florida’s primary may be what they are discussing.
Hillary might want Rudy to win Florida, which would throw the Republicans into further disarray. Then again, a Bloomberg endorsement might do a lot to swing Northeast retirees FURTHER her way. But she seems to be doing rather well in that demographic, so…..
Young Republicans everywhere are in mourning.
I agree with you completely on the improbability of a Hillary-Bloomberg ticket -Ny-NY. Don’t know who she would take, however.
Good for the GOP…
and OT: “Sicko” nominated for Oscar-best documentary category.
What, someone wake Fred up and stick a mike in his face?
Fred, FRED!, Say ‘I quit”.
Huh?
Wha?Snort. scratch, scratch, FRAAAAAAAAAp, Uh, I quit.
Good boy Freddie, here’s a pudding.
Well, Villaragosa [sp?] would’ve been good until the tee-vee lady
Vilsack? Anybody with a V for Victory?
Give me Edwards08
Also unconstitutional. Of course, Bloomberg could just move to Wyoming.
As a one-time ROTC Ocifer “candidate” I sure as hell had no one showing any respect. At best we wee told that at some point in the future we might be called “Butter”
And as for the Nixon mole known as Freddie of Hollywood, he never showed anything viable worthy of respect either.
A Clinton-Bloomberg ticket would not be legal anyway as both parts of a Presidential ticket cannot be from the same state.
That’s why Darth Cheney had to move back to Wyoming I believe it was from Texas in order to run with Little Boots.
OT - Does anyone know how much money was donated to John Edwards’ campaign on Friday?
300k I read it on the JRE blog
There is a lot of libertarianism among the very conservative, and those folks want minimal government involvement in everything, including people moral and medical lives.
not enough
johnedwards.com — keep ‘im flowin’!
Bolton wants more war, goddammit!
Think Progress;
Bolton: ‘Pressure’ Is On Israel To Strike Iran Because NIE Made U.S. Attack ‘Highly Unlikely’
In December, after the new NIE on Iran was released, former US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton established himself as one of the top hawks trying to undermine its credibility, going so far as to call for a congressional witch-hunt into anti-Bush “people in the intelligence community.”
During his trip to Israel this week for the the Herzliya Conference, Bolton has ratcheted up his criticisms of the report, saying on Sunday that the “illegitimate politicization” of the NIE was “a quasi-coup by the intelligence services.”
Gross. Bloomberg. He’s not politically viable IMHO as a presidential candidate.
Letter of support from MLK III to Edwards.
January 20, 2008
Why did he have to repeat - and say he was reating- “in South Carolina” two sentences after he’d just said it? Does he just assume his readers that thick?
Hey come up stairs and look at my Fred Zed!
another ACLU petition of Reid.
About time.
Poor fred was politically moribund anyway.
Interesting. Thanks
McBobo = McIdiot.
Notice though that he pitched his fabled ”exurban” communities yet again.
Criticizing a Bobo column is like giving your bald grandfather a hairstyle. There’s little to work with, it’s surprisingly difficult and nothing is improved because of it. That’s because Bobo is not commenting on American culture or politics; he’s a neo-con propagandist, subsidized, for no apparent reason, by the Great Liberal Newspaper and, more ironically, by Jim Lehrer.
The paint blobs and funny lines in Bobo’s propaganda are often great art - at least as perceived by the WingNuts whom he’s paid to keep complacent. Today, for example, he tells them that they are really quite a centrist, heterogonous, down home American group and that, impliedly, everyone else is on the fringe. (Patently false.) But he chides them for not following their Leader - an original sin for authoritarians. Bobo, of course, elides that there is no Great Leader to follow. Which illustrates his effectiveness from the perspective of his therapy group, but which is seen as congenital lying by those outside the asylum.
What are we complaining about? Wouldn’t it be a good thing if neo cons flew that flag and seceded from the nation??
Guiliani and Thompson were practically handed the GOP frontrunner status early on which, if they had taken advantage, would have them now in a much better position. Astoundingly they chose to not compete or campaign.McCain and Romney keep holding their hand out begging for the nomination but are continually ignored by conservative passers-by. Huckabee seems to have lost the little mojo he had and his campaign is probably going to end up going broke. Looks like the GOP nominee is will be the last candidate who refuses to drop out of the campaign and wins by default. Is this all a result of conservative voter’s general lack of interest in this field of candidates?
The Republican Party isn’t going away. The reporting of it’s demise is premature. As long as they control the media they control the message. As long as they control the message they control the masses. The entire failed and flawed anti-democratic, anti-justice and pro authoritarian ideology has to be crushed and relegated to the dust bin of history before there will be a change of direction in the U.S. of A.
They’re gonna be packing for a longish trek through the desert, trying to find their party’s soul. Strange how these things are always hidden in a desert.
awwww, everythin’s good for the fookin GOP,an’t it?