September Straw Poll
By machiavel Posted in Archived — Comments (42) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
They're running another one of these over at GOPBloggers. Vote.
And you know the drill. When you're done, chip in $5 or $10 to the Rightroots candidates.
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September Straw Poll 42 Comments (0 topical, 42 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
but other than his direct assault on free speech it is hard to say he is a liberal. In fact, on paper McCain talks a great conservative game. In fact, on paper Hagel can make himself sound conservative.
He's also not a conservative.
He's a McCain.
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If "pro" is the opposite of "con", what is the opposite of "progress"?
If it comes down to Hagel or McCain vs. any Democrat nominee (other than maybe Lieberman), I would choose the GOP candidate. So I can't really say I find any of them "unacceptable".
I agree that it would be difficult to find a Dem who I would agree with.
The only possible way that I could see voting for a Dem in 2008 is if there was a strong pro-American, pro-GWOT candidate who was also fairly conservative in other areas versus McCain or Pataki.
Since the first doesn't exist and the latter won't win the nomination, I have no doubt that I'll be voting Republican in 2008.
I would vote for Chaffee before any dem other than zell miller or nelson (NE). After the vote though, I would find the nearest bridge.
I am done voting for the lesser of two evils. That R by their name is not some magic potion. If my party nominates a Guiliani, it will have left me.
Bush is certainly not a mainstream conservative, just what about Giuliani is so much worse? If it is his views on abortion and gun control you are probably not aware that his views are very orthodox conservative. How? Well, like most conservative he does not believe that most social issues should be solved by the Federal government, They should be resolved by the states and localities.
"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle
Maybe he is willing to play the federalism game on the issues, maybe not. That doesn't make him conservative on the issues. He is still a proponent of gun control. I haven't heard him repudiate gun control at the federal level, either. As for abortion, many people would not consider legalized killing of innocents to be the conservative position... Any more than they would consider the holding of slaves as property to be a state issue.
Right now, Guliani has said nothing about anything, which is why he does so well among people with radically different views. He is an empty vessel that people are placing their hopes in. Once he actually opens his mouth to campaign, he has no where to go but down. Unless he goes a lot further than the federalism excuse on issues like gun control and abortion, he is going to flame out in the primary.
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"I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more I have of it." -- Thomas Jefferson
but, I would hardly call Federalism an excuse, It used to be a major component of the Republican Party, at least until the Bushes pushed big government conservatism on us.
"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle
The thing to remember is that in most states, the election isn't a two man race. If the party abandons the base, then the base can abandon it without having to vote Democratic or stay home.
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If you're seeing shades of gray, it's because you're not looking close enough to see the black and white dots.
have to hold my nose in order to vote for them in a general election. There are a few that I wouldn't really choose in a primary, but if they won it, I also wouldn't be horribly upset-I mark them acceptable. Anyone who I really would just absolutely hate to see as the nominee gets an unacceptable, even if I would vote for them over the dem nominee in the general.
Although, I think this is the weakness of these polls, we are all self defining what the various terms mean, and we aren't all working from the same definition.
But then this type of poll is anything but scientific.
because you can read that into "guest worker" without another question clarify what theyre saying a "guest worker" is.
those of us who remember that pitch from Reagan's years understand that the "secure the borders but create a guest worker program" supporters either fall into the "fool them all of the time" group or are too young to remember the event. Guest workers lead to overstayed visa/guest worker passes lead to illegal aliens lead to new amnesty and call for new program under yet another new name that more easily allows future illegal immigrants into the country. Rinse and repeat.
It would behoove us not to make historical mistakes, the track record of Guest worker programs in Nation after nation is dismal.
"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle
seems too much like indentured servitude to me. I have heard of other countries who do this where immigrants have all of the lowest skilled jobs.
Does a guest worker have the ability to seek other employment without leaving the U.S. first? If not, they are pretty much stuck with the job they have, making them easy to exploit and would create a permanent immigrant underclass, as other countries have.
I don't care much for the concept but I wouldn't rule it out either... a guest worker plan could be anything you slap that name on... they vary quite a bit in details.
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"I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more I have of it." -- Thomas Jefferson
George Allen, moved from acceptable to unacceptable. Even though he's great on the issues, he's just not electable. Too fumblefooted.
Changed to Mitt Romney from Sam Brownback as first choice. Electability, again.
Newt is acceptable or unacceptable depending on the hour of the day.
I never viewed Dole as "electable", just "available". As I recall, there wasn't a long line of R candidates in '96 & Dole had been around forever. Thus he was "rewarded" for whatever and sent off to the slaughter.
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If "pro" is the opposite of "con", what is the opposite of "progress"?
my guess would be too much personal baggage of the type the R's were beating Clinton up for.
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If "pro" is the opposite of "con", what is the opposite of "progress"?
Cheif among them was Newt's fondness for his position as Speaker. Ever since he had been a first-time congressional candidate, Newt's goal was to be Speaker of the House. While Newt did strongly consider running for President, I believe he was more concentrated on running in 2000 (which he abandoned post-coup).
There was also the struggle of his second marriage to consider, with his wife refusing to ever go to Washington. The strain of a presidential campaign would have just put more pressure on the family.
Then there was also the presence of the ultra-party insider candidate, Bob Dole, who was well-liked by all of the Washington insiders, and not surprisingly won the nomination over the better candidate, Senator Phil Gramm.
1. He was having an affair with an intern and his second marriage was on the rocks. (He would eventually divorce his second wife because she "didn't look like a President's wife" and marry his third a year later.)
2. Public view of Newt was tarnished in '95-96 by the government shutdown, the Air Force One crybaby act, and the ethics charges which included, among other things, his "interesting" book deal. America started to not like him in 1996, and compared to Clinton's favorability ratings Gingrich would have been toast anyways.
3. Bob Dole.
Really, though, I still can't believe we're taking this guy seriously. He will get utterly trounced in the general election if he manages to win the primaries: three wives, the first two of which he chose to divorce (unlike Reagan, whose wife divorced him), at least two or three mistresses at the same time he was attacking Clinton for the same thing, being an ineffective leader of the House, overseeing the loss of seats in 1998 when the GOP asked him to step down a year prior, leaving Congress having had an approval rating at a dismal 28%, attacking the President on the war in Iraq and now saying that we are no safer than we were 5 years ago?
That's one heckuva record to run on. Gingrich had his moment of brilliance - the Contract with America - and has sputtered out since.
As for me, I subscribe to one of the oldest and most beloved mantras in the GOP primary playbook - "Choose the most conservative candidate that can win." Electability isn't everything, but it is something.
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Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same. -The Fray, "All At Once"
I can see how such disrespect for marriage can cause him to lose the primaries, but will it cause him to lose the general election?
Do you think it'd be that discouraging to voters?
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If you're seeing shades of gray, it's because you're not looking close enough to see the black and white dots.
But I don't think it's so much the marriage issues in the general as the overall unfavorable view of the guy by Americans (which may include the marriage issue). If he left office with a 28% favorable rating, I can't imagine that he could just swoop in 9 years later and Americans would say, "Gee, I used to really hate this guy, but now I love him!"
It's generally only the really popular politicians who can step out of politics and then come back in with the support of the American people - like Rudy.
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Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same. -The Fray, "All At Once"
I would support it but only if the border was very secure, there were strong efforts to go after employers who hire illegals, duck taxes, etc. and it was a smaller program, not a huge influx that we become dependant on forever. Also the automatic US citizenship for people born here must be ended.
Mitt Romney:
"I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. I have since the time when my Mom took that position when she ran in 1970 as a U.S. Senate candidate. I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years that we should sustain and support it, and I sustain and support that law and the right of a woman to make that choice. ...Since that time, my mother and my family have been committed to the belief that we can believe as we want, but we will not force our beliefs on others on that matter, and you will not see my wavering on that." http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/03...
'I respect and will protect a woman's right to choose. This choice is a deeply personal one. Women should be free to choose based on their own beliefs, not mine and not the government's. The truth is, no candidate in the governor's race in either party would deny women abortion rights." (Notably, Romney refused to answer Massachusetts Citizens for Life's candidate questionnaire.)
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/07/03/clarity_sought_on_r...
For more information about Senator John McCain and continual updates on his campaign in Michigan, please visit: http://michiganformccain.blogspot.com/ .
Isn't going to make McCain any more acceptable. His lack of acceptability is his problem, not the desirability of the other candidates. There are maybe a few jokers in this poll that I would rank lower than McCain (Pataki, Hagel, Tancredo) but they would all mean taking a pass on 2008 anyway... they would stand no chance of turning out the base (just like McCain).
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"I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more I have of it." -- Thomas Jefferson
Looks like Romney has the most votes, after deducting the not acceptable from his number.
Oh by the way, dear sir...the only way McPain wins the MI primary is if Dems cross over to vote for him. Romney will be the Republican nominee when all is said and done.
For every effort you fools put into getting McPain the nomination in Michigan, I and a whole boat load of people will work FOR Romney and against McPain. He will be too old, sorry.
Go ahead and bring up Romney's OLD stand on abortion all you want. It gives his supporters a chance to explain when and why he changed positions. Kills two birds with one stone. We get to talk about EMBRYONIC stem cells and abortion.
Don't be like the dems and lie on your fellow Republicans, its not becoming and its DISHONEST. Although that's about what I expext out of a McPain supporter.
I'll do another acceptability graph and compare it with the last poll to see what movement, if any, there has been.
Are these polls going to be monthly things from here on out? I would enjoy it if they were!
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Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same. -The Fray, "All At Once"
At the risk of sounding like a broken record around here, Newt Gingrich is the most conservative of the candidates on that list, with the possible exception of Brownback. Newt has a higher name recognition, more star power, is a brilliant speaker and explainer of conservative principles, and has the advantage of having been out of elected politics for a while.
Yes, he has the negatives of his personal baggage. Against Hillary!™, however, these are neutralized. The press is probably salivating over the prospect of roasting him on the spit it he runs, but their power is waning. Look at how President Bush was treated in '04 and he managed to increase his share of the vote by close to 4%.
I have seen an increasing number of RedStaters posting that they are warming to or coming around to or giving a second look to Gingrich. If the Republican party is to be a party of conservatism going forward, I say the Newt has to be the nominee in '08.
Don't worry about electability, go with the most conservative candidate. With apologies to Rush, Conservatism wins every time it is tried. If Newt is the nominee, he will win.
Develop alternatives to existing policies and keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes the politically inevitable. Milton Friedman
Love Newt! No questions on where he stands. Can we PLEASE stop talking about McCain now? He's got about as much of a chance at winning the primary as my parakeet.
I had to say all of the candidates listed are too liberal and unacceptable.....How about Ron Paul?
Spending will certainly go way down after we cut and run in Iraq and Afghanistan, won't it?
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If you're seeing shades of gray, it's because you're not looking close enough to see the black and white dots.
Romney and Giuliani, my top two, are fiscally conservative, doing pretty amazing things in MA and NYC respectively. Both came in facing massive deficits and went out with massive surpluses, all without raising taxes (enter argument for Romney's fee hikes for things like marriage certificates here). Both have proven themselves to be government cutters and spending cutters.
For what it's worth, Allen, who is unacceptable to me and has been for quite some time, is also pretty fiscally conservative.
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Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same. -The Fray, "All At Once"
Interesting to see that Redstate is notably more supportive of the more liberal candidates (Rudy, Rommney) while the rest of the blogosphere prefers the more conservative Gingrich and Allen.