tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post1178172744653714210..comments2024-03-18T14:34:31.684-05:00Comments on Horizons: GOP money vs the lunaticsNancy LeTourneauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614317154146836694noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-63015901541222396342013-02-03T10:49:52.638-06:002013-02-03T10:49:52.638-06:00Edit: they're not theirEdit: they're not theirTien Lenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-55234885746365626712013-02-03T10:49:02.205-06:002013-02-03T10:49:02.205-06:00From an electoral standpoint, the problem with the...From an electoral standpoint, the problem with the average age of these people being 65 is that is the age when activists are their most productive. Their retired and motivated and all their peers are there to support them. <br /><br />Speaking of Rove not being thoughtful, if he were, he'd realize that if he spends a lot of money smearing a candidate and then that candidate goes on to win the primary, all that money has accomplished is help the Democratic candidate by softening up the opponent. I sincerely doubt that Karl Rove understands the psychology or demographic make-up of the right wing base in any of these States. Because he views them with utter disdain, he underestimates their ability to organize, especially in Iowa.Tien Lenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-9397223438250160602013-02-03T10:10:36.422-06:002013-02-03T10:10:36.422-06:00I think you're absolutely right about the simi...I think you're absolutely right about the similarities between Rove and King. There's nothing thoughtful about either one.<br /><br />When a thoughtful conservative takes the stage (I'd put Colin Powell in that category) - I'll disagree - but engage with respect.Nancy LeTourneauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12614317154146836694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-44145913469111234782013-02-03T09:55:03.932-06:002013-02-03T09:55:03.932-06:00You know, part of the problem as I can see it for ...You know, part of the problem as I can see it for the GOP and "conservatives" in general is that the movement, so to speak, has long since abandoned the basic ideological tenets of conservatism as it historically happened--i.e., Burke--and made "conservatism" as set of positions on policy. I.e., you're conservative if you oppose abortion rights. You're conservative if you want to make English the national language. At some point there was an ideological reason that conservatives might have taken these positions but there was also an ideological reason that conservatives might well have opposed them.<br /><br />Burkean principles, in an analytic sense, aren't ones that I generally tend to oppose per se.<br /><br />Anyway, the problem is that, despite the hopes of the right, things do change. Ideologies can adapt to change, or rather can accomodate different sets of social, political, and economic variables as they happen. A list of particular policy stances, which is what "conservatism" has devolved to, cannot adapt. A list is a list.<br /><br />So what we have--and this is as true of Rove as it is of King, however either would want to play it--is a list of policies that was developed, really, by the 1970's. The list is a decade short of a half-century old. Add to that a smaller group of people in the coalition who genuinely want to revoke the New Deal and go back to the Coolidge admistration, and you've got an average age of these policies of about 65 years. Roughly the average age of your remaining Republican votes.Billhttp://freeandeasywandering.com/noreply@blogger.com