How My Party Lost Its Way

I left the GOP for Bush41. I sat Independent until 1995 and Military Retirement. I now openly regret even voting for Reagan since it brought the Bush family to power. I am a conservative southern D and have been since 1996.
Gerson is an apologist. The real Axis of Evil are Monopolists, Religious Bigots, and Constitutional Revisionists. (Bascially the 3 standing legs of their toppling chair.) They have been anti-court, anti-law, anti-worker, and have handed our national sovereignity to various Israeli lobbies.
The market is in fact tanking and they set the path to pauperism for the middle class and deregulated markets and oversight to the point that food is even dangerous. Lead toys for kids and missiles to restart the cold war. Thanks GOP (Geriatric Oligarchic Paedophiles)

"Every element of the Republican coalition the president had offended during his political rise???budget hawks, anti-immigration activists, libertarian critics of compassionate conservatism???felt liberated and emboldened by Bush's weakness, and reasserted their claim on the party's future"

These are the groups, along with the Religious Right, that I can't stand and have driven me from the GOP. I used to think of the Dem's are extreme left, but they're looking middle of the road in comparison. This country is facing huge issues, and the GOP wants to build a fence, persecute gays, and spend hundreds of billions of $ on an irrelevant, if not lost, cause in Iraq? I like Obama, but I may be forced to support Hillary when the time comes.

Wow, did I read this correctly? I thought Michael Gerson would point out how federal deficit spending blossomed under Bush, how our civil liberties were trampled under Bush, how more intrusive regulation was federalized under Bush, and how our military might was squandered under Bush. Maybe if you wrote about those issues, also known as REAL ISSUES, then it would be a time for a Republican resurgence.

At this time in the campaign for the presidency the candidates in each party are focused on winning the nomination. They are not focused on the November election. Listening to the debates certainly tells us that the Republicans have greater differences than the Democrats.

If the only thing uniting Republicans is their common hatred for Hillary Clinton the party will most definitely lose. John Kerry was not a good candidate for the Democrats in 2004 but they rallied around him because they hated George W. Bush.

Gerson fails to understand what I learned in Educational Psychology 101, ???Correlation does not imply causality.??? Granted. Violence in Iraq has decreased, but that???s poor consolation the families of Iraqis and Americans killed in recent terrorist attacks. However, the cessation of violence does not mean the surge has worked. Perhaps, what worked was the pay-offs the US government made to various Sunni warlords. Perhaps Al Qaeda, like all religious fanatics, overplayed their hand and alienated many people. Perhaps various militia are running low on suicidal maniacs. Perhaps the decision to reverse the de-Baathification of the Iraqi government (originated by the American occupation forces) has made a difference. All these are possible factors
What???s delusional is the belief that we can win Iraq (whatever that means) by maintaining a steady military presence there. In fact, our occupation of Iraq is alienating Muslims from Morocco to Indonesia, and from Somalia to Bosnia. Fundamentalists are gaining ground in all these areas, and no one in the Republican party is capable of thinking of a way to counter act this appeal. As a result, while we are tied down in Iraq, al Qaeda is free to operate everywhere else. And, should I mention, Al Qaeda is financed by oil revenues - not from Iran, the ideological enemy of the Taliban and Al Qaeda - but from Wahhabists in Saudi Arabia which is supposed to be our friend. Gerson???s article again illustrations the delusional nature of the entire Republican party and an excellent reason for sweeping all Republicans out of office in 2008. It???s the onluy way we can win the war against terror.

Gerson is right. Medicare D is wildly popular - with Big Pharma.. If the government were to bid for pharmaceuticals directly, it could hold down the price. This is forbidden. As a result, Big-Pharma is raking in record profits from the confusing mish-mash of pharmaceutical plans that Gearson considers a Republican accomplishment. Worse Big-Pharma is free to squander Medicare money on TV commercials, lobbyists, and campaign contributions. We are going to be a sicker nation in the future partially because the Republicans hate to enforce OSHA and EPA regulations. The Clear Sky Initiative has resulted in more toxic air. The failure to clean up toxic waste sites means more toxic chemicals seeping into local water supplies. All of these factors add up to more medical claims - especially among senior citizens. Unless we take decisive action Medicare will be broke by 2019 - which is perhaps what the Republicans wanted all along. For the senior citizens who depend on Medicare for their survival - the Republicans are signing a death warrant. That???s a really great accomplishment.

This article is itself an amazing display of the lunacy of the Republican party, its constituent parts are each more insane than the other! Until 911, I was a lukewarm Republican supporter; but after the absolutely insane actions of George after 911, it became clear that a serious error had occurred; who knew you really needed a President?

There was a hopeful acceptance of the invasion of Afghanistan; I doubted we would succeed and I was pleasantly surprised that we were able to cobble together a force which routed the Taliban and should have captured and/or killed Osama. Dropping the ball and invading Iraq with transparent lies by anyone who had even a superficial knowledge of the country was a clear indicator that George was headed for a reckless adventure that would make America a pariah nation. It is sad that the Age of Aquarius degenerated into Christian Evangelical ignorance, the Peaceniks became Fascist agitators and enablers, America the free became America the fearful, the torturers, the oppressors, the spied upon!

That this PR hack still harbors some delusions of grander about the debacle from start to finish of the George regime is sick and probably insane.

Yeah, you missed a whole bunch of the most important reasons for the public's widespread rejection of the Republicans... Cassandra10 did a good job running some of the items down, and honestly, I'm too sick of dealing with Republican scandals to write them all out. I do want to mention Larry "Wide Stance" Craig, Ted "Off of which gay male hooker's ass would Jesus snort crank" Haggard, and Mark "Come here, little boy" Foley. A precious precious bunch. Never mind the guy that was screwing watermelons and thought it would be bright to tell George Stephanopoulos on his radio show. Geezus.

Hillary Clinton or no Hillary Clinton - the Republicans have no one to blame but themselves for the fact that there's not hardly a chance that they will win the next Presidential race. The list of Republicans' egregious conduct is too long to mention.

Dr. Doug (Independent)

The concept of a party losing it's way is a nonsensical concept.It implies that as a consequence the party should then nonexist. A party just like a business has core values, these should always exist.

Mr Gerson,

Your party (or rather 'my party') lost its way when Bush out-spent spendthrift Democrats as president. He also lost it in going to Iraq. And keeping Rumsfeld on. He led Republicans to become as big of spendthrifts, even bigger, than the Democrats.

Dick Morris helped save Clinton's presidency by teaching him how to "Out Republican the Republicans". That is why he was leaving surpluses when he left office.

Sure, we had 9/11. Sure, that changed things. But, we still could have, and we still should have, remained tru to conservative principles.

Of course, I know and realize that Bush did not really run as a conservative, at least not as a fiscal conservative.

And, sure, giving meds away to the elderly cheaper is going to be popular. Bread and circuses worked in the times of the Caesars. Drugs and pork barrel projects do now!

Why snipe over it? Sir, as a father of nine children, I can tell you that saying "No!" to children for what is best for them does not make you popular with them. My wife likes to say, "Yes", because she always wants to please. In the short term, it may seem nice. But, in the long term, it is extremely detrimental.

You criticize Romney for telling voters what they want to hear. As a former speech writer for President Bush, you know how important that is. Romney is the one who can "closest" deliver on what he says of any of the candidates.

The economic dlilemma we are now facing has been greatly allowed to come about because of the non-understanding of President Bush and his cabinet and people to what leads to these problems. Of course, many presidents and congresses before have contributed greatly to it. But, to continue something that's hurtful in the long run, just because its more popular and easier in the short run, is not wise to do.

What, are you telling me that McCain and Huckabee aren't pandering to their perceived target audiences and constituencies? Baloney!

And what will a one-time preacher, tax-raising former governor of Arkansas do to help us? What will anti-tax-cut John McCain do to help the American economy?

Sir, what you are saying about Republicanism changing, is like saying that if a man gets a sex change as a woman, that is necessary, but not different. You are, sir, on this, completely wrong. If you spend like liberals, you're not conservative. You do not understand that people have to live within laws. Not just man-made laws. But laws of nature, of the universe, of God. The ride off a cliff may be thrilling for a while. But, eventually, you'll hit bottom!

Mr Gerson,

Your party (or rather 'my party') lost its way when Bush out-spent spendthrift Democrats as president. He also lost it in going to Iraq. And keeping Rumsfeld on. He led Republicans to become as big of spendthrifts, even bigger, than the Democrats.

Dick Morris helped save Clinton's presidency by teaching him how to "Out Republican the Republicans". That is why he was leaving surpluses when he left office.

Sure, we had 9/11. Sure, that changed things. But, we still could have, and we still should have, remained tru to conservative principles.

Of course, I know and realize that Bush did not really run as a conservative, at least not as a fiscal conservative.

And, sure, giving meds away to the elderly cheaper is going to be popular. Bread and circuses worked in the times of the Caesars. Drugs and pork barrel projects do now!

Why snipe over it? Sir, as a father of nine children, I can tell you that saying "No!" to children for what is best for them does not make you popular with them. My wife likes to say, "Yes", because she always wants to please. In the short term, it may seem nice. But, in the long term, it is extremely detrimental.

You criticize Romney for telling voters what they want to hear. As a former speech writer for President Bush, you know how important that is. Romney is the one who can "closest" deliver on what he says of any of the candidates.

The economic dlilemma we are now facing has been greatly allowed to come about because of the non-understanding of President Bush and his cabinet and people to what leads to these problems. Of course, many presidents and congresses before have contributed greatly to it. But, to continue something that's hurtful in the long run, just because its more popular and easier in the short run, is not wise to do.

What, are you telling me that McCain and Huckabee aren't pandering to their perceived target audiences and constituencies? Baloney!

And what will a one-time preacher, tax-raising former governor of Arkansas do to help us? What will anti-tax-cut John McCain do to help the American economy?

Sir, what you are saying about Republicanism changing, is like saying that if a man gets a sex change as a woman, that is necessary, but not different. You are, sir, on this, completely wrong. If you spend like liberals, you're not conservative. You do not understand that people have to live within laws. Not just man-made laws. But laws of nature, of the universe, of God. The ride off a cliff may be thrilling for a while. But, eventually, you'll hit bottom!

Mr. Romney is the best! Lt with You.
Rolandas Tucas