Pajamas Media

111 Comments

1. Dan:

All this article says is “Republicans need to learn to use minorities to get elected”. Including lies like “So a bunch of rich white liberals can import a Hispanic slave class to pick their strawberries and be their nannies?”, it attempts to turn the tables on “liberals”. However, I live in Texas, a state unabashedly “conservative”. A state that, while voting Republican, has no problem hiring illegal immigrants to do their manual labor.
The Republicans need to find a way to bring in other people besides alienating their “foes”. In the last election cycle, the Republicans branded us as “Real Americans” (which means there must also be “Fake Americans”), sexists, and reverse racists. Even in this blog, the author tries to tell us how great Republicans are by telling us how bad the Democrats are. Americans are savvy to this. You need to start telling us what you can do for us, not belittling your opponent and using third-grade name-calling tactics.
But, this blogger is right. If the Republicans can more effectively use minority groups, they will trick more people into overlooking their lack of good ideas.

Jun 28, 2009 - 10:23 am 2. r finley:

PANDER (oxford dictionary)verb. “Indulging desire or bad habits in a person or persons in an unreasonable desire or bad habit”.
Republicans and Democrats alike have failed to see that pandering to any special interest group is the kiss of death to any Democracy. You can’t be a glassy eyed globalist or a greed addled Corporation whore and expect to represent American values and needs. Every since you all rowed ashore, diversity is what this Country has always represented. WE are Americans under the Constitution. We are not Black, we are not latino or Bulgarians for that matter. WE are the people. We only need to return to the days when our Government represented OUR mandates. Not mexico’s or Canada’s or more spacifically, not Communist China. Now we have another prime example of an administration who it’s soul campaign promises. Other Countries, weather bordering us or across the globe, are not our primary concern. Quite walling us into groups and then lying to us.

Jun 28, 2009 - 10:53 am 3. whiskey:

Please, this is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.

First, Blacks are 12.5% of the population. They will always vote Democratic since Dems are the anti-White guy party, and this plays into both the general racism of Blacks (no group is more consistently racist than Blacks, exhibits A, B, and C being Wright, Farrakhan, and Sharpton and their legions of Black followers) AND pure spoils politics. Simply put, with limited tax dollars, even running the printing presses non-stop, spending on Blacks and excluding Whites is the “deal” along with White-discriminating Affirmative Action for Jobs, Health Care, promotions, raises, education, contracting and everything else a cradle-grave government does, can only win if White Men lose. By enabling others, including Blacks to win at their expense.

Example: requiring racial quotas for Firefighters in New Haven, instead of merit based hiring, or University of Michigan Law School (denying qualified White applicants, admitting and aiding unqualified Black ones for “diversity” goals aka Quotas).

That deal cannot be beat. Don’t try. Blacks will ALWAYS vote Dem.

Second, the same applies also to Hispanics, with the cherry on top of ethnic dominance through mass immigration from Mexico. Democrats are solidly in favor of pure Amnesty, open borders, creating a giant Mexican version of Tammany Hall in the US. Ethnic-nepotism politics at it’s highest, again advantaging Mexicans against Whites, through Affirmative Action (once they step over the border), quotas, preferential admissions, and so on. Hispanics will ALWAYS vote Dem excepting older Cubanos who hate Castro.

Finally, Women. White Women benefit from all of this as much if not more than Blacks and Hispanics. Hispanics btw are only about 14% of the voting population. White women are the beneficiaries of the Obama spending spree, with nearly all jobs funded being White Women in social work, stuff like that. No shovels being turned. Robert Reich let the cat out of the bag when he noted, “No White Men Need apply” to stimulus money. White Women HATE most White men, rivals at work, unwanted sexual attention if they are halfway pretty (and the guy is not Tom Brady, ala the SNL skit on “Sexual Harassment”), and HATE government spending that benefits White Men: Defense, Construction, etc. Instead youth counselors, social workers, studies on Sea Otters, junk like that.

Women famously HATE HATE HATE Palin, and men love her, by equal margins, because Palin married a blue collar guy and favors male-oriented spending on resource extraction, construction, stuff like that. Gallup had one poll with Palin netting 11% favorable ratings by Men and about the same Negative by women. Or close to that.

Structurally, the GOP is the White Guy Party and Dems are the “HATE WHITEY”(tm) Party. That’s who they are. The problem in the last few elections is that marriage among White women has fallen apart, and married White Women are FAR more conservative than single women. Married White Women were GWB’s margin of victory in 2004, and not enough of them insured a President Obama.

Women are the key. You cannot offer a better “deal” than the Dems for single women. But married ones — it’s definitely possible and the GOP’s play is to encourage marriage.

Trying to be “cool” with some magical minority or woman won’t work. Instead they generate hatred ala Palin. Viewed as “traitors.”

Jun 29, 2009 - 1:01 am 4. lee:

“The obstacles that prevent Republicans from bringing more minorities into the party are as cultural as they are political. Many blacks, Hispanics, Jews, Muslims, and even women instinctually vote Democrat, even when their views more closely align with the Republicans”

This is something Republicans have to grasp. I live among immigrants, and by my experience, minorities are a sort of reverse libertarians. They tend to be socially conservative, as they’re usually split or slightly favoring traditional marriage, pro life, and religious cause (They won’t be for legalizing drugs or prositution). This is especially true for older, “uneducated”, unassimliated church going crowd who clings to the conservative culture from their homeland. You know, just the kind of group who liberals love to label as “bigots”. For all intents and purposes, they should be voting GOP.

I cringe when I read Asian language newspapers in LA, because most of them just regurgitated info from the liberal American media. On discussing Obama’s healthcare plan, one Korean American newspaper ran a headline that read “Healthcare for all citizen”, placed right next to a picture of a “Sicko” poster.

If the GOP won’t compromise at all on immigration, then they should at least connect with legal citizens. Tons of Koreans and Vietnamese are evangelicals or Catholics. The GOP should think about establishing some thinktanks or blogs in other lanaguages that effectively communicate their message to minorities in a culturally relevant fashion. The Vietnamese align themselves with the GOP largely due to the party’s long history of anti communist stance. But when they win elections for the GOP, there’s no noise.

It wouldn’t hurt to have a charismatic minority Republican in the Reagan mold.

Jun 29, 2009 - 1:08 am 5. Ed Wallis:

NO, John, you’re absolutely wrong.

You write fairly enough, “The lesson that needs to be internalized is that it’s not just the message; it’s who’s delivering it. When conservatives accept that, we may shock people with how fast our minority outreach begins to bear fruit.”

No problem with that.

But…Identity Politics?!?

Apples and oranges, sir. Salesmanship versus racism.

Jun 29, 2009 - 3:11 am 6. johnb:

Sometimes I’m glad I’m old and will not live to see the total destruction of my country. And that’s what the Dems are doing, they are taking a rich, viable, lively, productive country and sucking the life blood right out of it. By the time Obama and his parade of clowns are finished, America will be nothing but a dried out hag of a rotting corpse.

Jun 29, 2009 - 3:33 am 7. J Milam:

“All this article says is, “Republicans need to learn to use minorities to get elected”.”

Not true. What it’s saying is that there are many conservative minority groups who do not get the attention they deserve. They should be given a bigger microphone. The media is certainly not going to share theirs. The liberal minority groups have all the airtime they can handle.

“You need to start telling us what you can do for us,…”

Taking your words at face value is what will make us “exactly” like the Democrats. I can’t help but be reminded of that woman on TV right after hurricane Katrina, “What are you gonna do for ME?” At this point I’m more interested in what they’ll “un”-do. They (the government) do too much already.

Jun 29, 2009 - 4:04 am 8. "progressive"watch:

This is the poorest reasoned John Hawkins article I have ever read. Republicans can’t outDemocrat Democrats. When they get candidates who are female or minority the left try cuts them to ribbons because they are Republican and minority and often minority noncandidates go through some of the same harassment. The only solution is candidates who are actually conservative and uphold unflinchingly Constitutional libeties and opportunity for all equally. If we try anything else we are lost. If that doesn’t work we are lost.

Jun 29, 2009 - 4:33 am 9. Steve:

Going after the black vote by compromising our values and message is insanity. Michael Steele is pathetic and will not make any in roads into the 97% of blacks that voted Democrat last election.

The Democrat Party appeals to black voters because its all about ant-white hatred.

Many blacks see the Dems as the get even with “whitey” Party.

What we could do is stop accepting and teaching racial hatred towards white people in our schools and media.

We should begin to emphasize the history of the race of people who have contributed more to mankind in every category, science, medicine, technolgy, freedom etc. than all the other races of people combined.

Start teaching that it is evil to have institutionalized discrimination against white working and middle class people.

Teach that the demonization of whites is also evil and condemn Obama’s Black Liberation ideology, Black Panther groups, the Nation of Islam and all other black hate groups that are now part of this country’s mainstream.

How’s that for a beginning to identity politics, John. If that’s too politically incorect for you then you need to take a long look in the mirror.

Jun 29, 2009 - 4:36 am 10. Cato:

I agree this is nonsense, but it’s not silly nonsense — that is, identity politics has been effective for the Democrats. The problem, in a sense, is as stated, that the mainstream conservative (regardless of what may have been true in the past) generally actually believes in the notion of equality of opportunity (not result) and in treating everyone on their own merits.

Interestingly with respect to women, it’s not all women who hate Sarah Palin, it’s primarily upper-middle and upper middle class women. It’s not so much that she’s conservative, it’s that her success “in spite” of having married a blue collar guy, graduating from a 2nd or 3rd tier state college, having lots of kids and being conservative, basically mocks all of the choices many of these women feel they have had to make since they were teenagers: get into and graduate from a top school, postpone serious relationships for a career, suppress many of the natural instincts for ‘manly’ men and motherhood, accept the ideology of the wimmins movement and the left to support the abortions and ‘mommy party’ agenda that gives them a sense of comfort in making those choices. Palin has done none of that and succeeds! It puts the lie to, and makes a mockery of, all of the things they have been telling themselves (and the left has been telling them) for the past 50 years. And that leads to cognitive dissonance – hence the hate

Jun 29, 2009 - 4:39 am 11. Blackwater:

No thanks. One of the main reasons why I became a Republican is because they rejected sexist and racist identity based politics. I don’t care if it works or not. It’s wrong and we should stay the hell away from it. I vote for people based on substance. Not on gender or skin color. If you’re into identity based politics then go vote for the Democraps.

Jun 29, 2009 - 4:43 am 12. RM:

No. Hell, no. Go join the Democrats if you want to play idenitity politics.

Jun 29, 2009 - 4:43 am 13. RE:

So the GOP should participate in the Balkanization of the nation also?

That sounds less than wise.

Jun 29, 2009 - 5:08 am 14. Filthy Screw:

Absolutely the worst advice I have seen in years. Karl Rove’s strategy writ large for all to see in its utter failure. Where to start?

First is simple mathematics, by picking up marginal gains in some non-key constituencies the Republican party is sure to lose forever. However, by picking up even very modest gains in the core constituency of the 75% of the country that votes, the party will secure a win and a majority. It is time to forget pandering which always only favors the Democrats (how can you out-pander Kennedy or Pelosi?

Jun 29, 2009 - 5:44 am 15. Gary Ogletree:

Who do you attract with identity politics? We need people who aren’t blinded by the emotion they attach to their identity. Let the liberals indulge in this nonsense. Note that the members of minorities who are conservatives excel on their own merits and tend to be highly respected for it. Let us celebrate and share that with like minded members of minorities who are tired of the closet elitists who maintain the identity plantation.

Jun 29, 2009 - 5:46 am 16. john from cinncinatti:

steve :Start teaching that it is evil to have institutionalized discrimination against white working and middle class people. wahhhhhhh i’m a victim too.
We should begin to emphasize the history of the race of people who have contributed more to mankind in every category, science, medicine, technolgy, freedom etc. than all the other races of people combined.
listen to yourself…you created it so now the faults are someone elses.
only you didn’t did these people invent the concept of the zero? you sound like obama making up shit as you go along. we the people inherited all this.

Jun 29, 2009 - 6:15 am 17. blotto:

Dan: “Including lies like “So a bunch of rich white liberals can import a Hispanic slave class to pick their strawberries and be their nannies?”,…”

Agriculture is the major industry that Mexicans and other Hispanic illegals work-that and construction and the service industries like house and hotel cleaning… Do you deny that it is the white liberal who owns these businesses? Do you deny that illegals target these industries? The white liberal thinks they are doing God’s work by hiring illegals to do their mundane jobs. It’s a win-win for them. They feel good about themselves and they get cheap labor.

“Americans are savvy…” You must be kidding. The people who voted for Obama have got to be the dumbest Americans who ever lived. From the woman in Florida who asked Obama for a house to the other who asked him for a car… Blacks, Hispanics, upper crust white liberals and poor whites all voted for Obama and the Dems because for 50 years the Dems have been the party of not only identity politics but of buying votes.

Other posters here are correct: The Dem party has become the anti-white and anti-American party. And minorities buy into this nonsense. They have been force-fed this crap in public education, colleges, unions and the new 527 groups. My own sister at 66 thinks MoveOn is a news outlet and she believes what they say despite my protestations…

Dan explain this about white liberals especially males:How can any white male senator with a straight face support someone, Sotomayor, who just said she is smarter than he is by virtue of her race and gender? The only way is if the white liberal male really does believe that white males are stupid and the cause of all the problems of minorities.

Jun 29, 2009 - 6:21 am 18. rocketeer:

I know that we all want to take the high road as conservatives and that most conservatives feel that any sort of attention paid to race is inherently racist. We feel that the idea should be the argument and not the messenger. I agree, this is a noble sentiment.

However, the author is correct here. No matter how disgusting it is, there are simply large groups of American’s that identify with their racial culture first over their ideological leanings. What is wrong with trying to relate to people with people that belong to their own ethnic makeup? No one has said to change the message to appeal to minorities. The author is merely forwarding the notion that we change the messenger to suit the audience. I don’t have a problem with this at all.

Would you send John McCain to South Central Los Angeles to go door to door seeking help for the Republican party? Why not? The answer is pretty simple. As an old white man, he’d be chased out of the neighborhood by a mob. Now, if you managed to get a group of conservative leaning black activists together, they could go door to door and talk with people without being attacked. They might have a hard time of it, but they would be accepted much faster then another old white man. Is this sentiment racist? Probably. But it’s also true. We have to accept certain realities in order to make progress.

Jun 29, 2009 - 6:36 am 19. Sapwolf:

As long as their is a significant % of Americans that identify with their race as opposed to their citizenship, we will be a divided country.

Answer: Peaceful split of the country along Red/Blue state lines. This is the only answer that will bring less conflict and it makes sense.

The country is too divided at this point and is headed for a violent split down the road if we don’t address this division peacefully.

Jun 29, 2009 - 6:56 am 20. Tina Trent:

The Republicans need to get honest regarding illegal immigration. Then they will gain loyal voters and appeal to more voters. Period. The rest is all bread and circuses, and shameful at that.

I suspect that the IWF either has more membership than the N.O.W. at this point or could easily trump their numbers with a membership campaign. But would the media start treating them so? That’s the issue.

In other words, the problem isn’t so much the attitudes of women in general, or even the classes of women hysterically castigated in the letter thread here: it is a small group of extremely elite women who reside in academia, puddles of activism, and the media/politics beltway who have lashed out at Sarah Palin. I know plenty of Democratic women who are appalled by the treatment of Palin. However, they view it as just another media-circus, so if you’re not hearing from them, it is because they are not the type of people who spend all day fighting in the blogosphere or playing partisan politics.

Rather than succumbing to identity politics, the Republicans should clean their own house and conform to their own stated standards. Then, when they succeed, it will be a good thing, not more of the same dishonest, political claptrap.

Jun 29, 2009 - 7:08 am 21. Sebastian Shaw:

Pandering never works in the long run; it is a gimmick for those who has no morals. The Republicans need to reject identity politics at all cost. Why are moderates giving advice given the last 2 election cycles have lead to dreadful defeats? Democrat-lite is not the answer; it is never the answer. Standing for core Conservative values & the Constitution are timeless concepts that always outlive gimmicks such as identity politics.

Jun 29, 2009 - 7:13 am 22. tanstaafl:

…counter-productive “help”

It bears repeating, the parallel your linked article draws between the great society programs instigated in the 1960’s and the disintegration of the black family.

It’s a point often missed by today’s cadre of would be do gooders (e.g., Presidents who would use the power of the office to redistribute “wealth”) that it is precisely federal programs and intervention that have aided & abetted social catastrophe.

As for crafting an appeal to so called identity groups, that’s what watered down conservatism (cf John McCain or Colin Powell) has done. An appeal to principles such as liberty, personal responsibility and free markets should cut across all categories of people.

Jun 29, 2009 - 7:13 am 23. JED:

In a culture of “anything goes”, what is solid, stable, and real must be either entirely defeated or be the only constitution that lasts. In game theory, the min-max players must always go to zero sum. The optimum players continue with benefits for everyone.

Jun 29, 2009 - 7:29 am 24. Meryl:

“Even women instinctively vote Democrat”???? Not me. Not my friends.

So the solution is for the Republicans to embrace identity politics. Oh, goody.

Doesn’t that just raise the level of concern FOR THE NATION. The nation was never intended to be governed with decisions made as a bunch of interest groups. The idea was that “THE NATION” was the reference point: the health of the nation, the prosperity of the nation, the defense of the nation.

Oh, well. Sign me up, I guess.

I’m 100% Dane, 3rd generation US. So let me know the following please:

1. Where is the affirmative action education for Danes? No one has ever offered to help me.
2. My heritage is disrespected and ignored. Can I get PBS to run PSA’s regarding treating Danes better?
3. I expect that my 2nd and 3rd cousins, still in Denmark, should be able to immigrate here on my citizenship, without having to go through all the crap, so let me know where to sign up for that.
4. I demand Danish Study Month be observed in high schools and universities, beginning next year. I expect to see Scandinavian Studies and endowed Scandinavian Chairs in all major universities by the school year 2010-11.
5. I demand that all blacks and hispanics be required to attend sensitivity training so that they are more aware of my perspective and my pet Danish language phrases.
6. I am under-represented in Congress. I demand at least 2 Danes to be seated in the Congress by 2012.
7. And, finally: reparations. My family was not able to begin its immigration from Denmark until the late 1890’s. I DEMAND financial and property reparations compensating for 75 years prior to that date, for the hard work my grandfathers had to do at backbreaking labor as they saved money laboring in New York, Wisconsin and Nebraska for YEARS before they could afford to buy a small plot of land.

Like I said, let me know where to sign up. You want identity politics, let’s go for it. What do the rest of you guys want? Start your lists now.

Jun 29, 2009 - 7:31 am 25. Meryl:

5. Ed Wallis…thank you for your succinct statement. I’m so frosted with the whole “identity politics” aspect, I didn’t think through the distinction you express so clearly.

Jun 29, 2009 - 7:35 am 26. Reformed Trombonist:

I’ve had it up to here with “advice” from ostensibly friendly sources that purports to convince me that the way for Republicans to win elections is for them to become Democrats.

That’s pretty much the recipe offered us by McCain. How did that work out?

That’s pretty much the recipe offered by Dole in ‘96. How did that work out?

And sometimes it works out even worse when they win. When Reagan left office in ‘88, he left the GOP in better shape than they had been in since the 1920s. His VP GHW Bush ran as a conservative and won handily, but then governed in the “kinder, gentler” — i.e., liberal — mode. How did that work out?

We’ve had eight years of liberalism in conservative clothes under Junior. How has that worked out?

Why not do a better job of explaining the principles that made us become Republican voters to begin with? Is that asking too much of our addled politicos?

And when elected on conservative principles, here’s a thought: govern like you believe in them.

Jun 29, 2009 - 7:48 am 27. AThinkingPerson:

Re Sebastian Shaw: “Pandering never works in the long run; it is a gimmick for those who has no morals.”

Two words: Barack Obama

Jun 29, 2009 - 7:49 am 28. sheesh:

You already play identity politics . . . the angry old white man . . . the ignorant redneck . . . the sexually repressed Jesus freak . . . the family values champion . . . the disingenuous MILF . . . the angry old white woman . . . the abortion doctor killer . . . the white supremacist . . . the night clerk at Piggly Wiggly . . . and of course you’re leading demographic, the NRA lobbyist.

I’d say you have plenty to work with there. Now, feel free to create your own list about liberals . . . it won’t be original, and it won’t be funny, but it will be derivative, so you got that goin’ for ya. You betcha.

Jun 29, 2009 - 7:50 am 29. sheesh:

24. Meryl:

You remind me of the hedge fund wives who said they were equally impacted by the economic meltdown because they couldn’t, in good conscience, carry their hostess gifts to parties Bergdorf bags.

Tell you what, the next time a cop pulls you over for no reason other than being Danish, you can chime back in. Until then, you’re whining is nothing more than greed and fear wrapped in ignorance – a nice predictable combination. Hey, how’s that nationalized healthcare in Denmark?

Jun 29, 2009 - 7:56 am 30. Missing the point:

I’m a little surprised no one here seems to see how this isn’t a race/gender issue so much as a class issue. The great bulk of minorities are on the lower end of the income scale, so they vote for the party that offers them the most financially.

All of the Palins, Steeles, and JC Wattses in the world won’t help, either, because they are not viewed as having shared a ‘typical’ minority experience.

The Republican message of ‘pull yourself up by the bootstraps’ doesn’t resonate with the poor because it hasn’t worked for them. So long as conservative economic policy begins and ends with tax cuts (which we all know don’t really help the poor), they have little chance of making inroads with working class minority voters.

Jun 29, 2009 - 7:59 am 31. bobbcat:

I’d like to see this author explain to us just why it is that ‘identity politics’ should be employed in lieu of looking at the issues that are important to minority groups and addressing them in such a way that makes clear how the conservative approach is the best one. Trying to play off the negative side the same way the libs do seems like a foolish approach to me that would likely backfire. The trouble with the Pub leadership, IMO, is how it continually dismisses the minority groups as out of reach; now, that is really foolish.

Jun 29, 2009 - 8:09 am 32. Bilgeman:

Mr. Hawkins:

What you are essentially advocating is that the GOP give up on the idea of America to join the Democrats in enthroning a racialist and religious neo-Yugoslavia.

And it is doomed to failure, because it will naturally follow that White people and Chrisitians will want THEIR own overtly exclusive pressure groups to lobby for their own interests in the eternally aggrieved “minority” free-for-all that our politics will become, and as soon as they form such groups, the media will label them racists.
Can you imagine the howl?

Please try and remember that we are not on a level playing field.

Jun 29, 2009 - 8:38 am 33. jharp:

“Yet Sarah Palin was the best thing to happen to John McCain’s campaign, and Michael Steele has done a better job than most people acknowledge.”

You have go to be joking.

Palin is ignorant and was a horrible choice and sunk whatever remote chance McCain had.

And the only group happy with Steele are the democrats. But then again maybe you’re right, Steele has done a better job of sinking the GOP that most people acknowledge.

Jun 29, 2009 - 8:48 am 34. Octogalore:

I think the main problem here is the title. How about, instead of crass and cynical (and see-through) identity politics, simply doing better outreach to women and minorities? Show how small government policies actually benefit these groups. And promote effective speakers from each of these groups, not to pander, but to put some substance behind the words. This is something the Republican party isn’t doing. If you read Thomas Sowell, you’ll note that he makes this critique of the Reagan admin and subsequent Republican administrations.

One of the reasons McCain didn’t win is that he wasn’t able to make the populist economic argument in a way that reached these groups. It’s not that there wasn’t such an argument to be made. If he had implemented ads with effective female and minority speakers, demonstrating that capitalism works, he’d have had a shot.

Jun 29, 2009 - 8:48 am 35. Strawman:

The Democrat Party appeals to black voters because its all about ant-white hatred.

Many blacks see the Dems as the get even with “whitey” Party.

What we could do is stop accepting and teaching racial hatred towards white people in our schools and media.

And how, pray tell, do you do that when they keep winning control of the schools?

The more control they have, the more hatred of whites and males is going to be taught. If this can’t be rectified by subterfuge, we’re headed for a shooting war. Given that choice, I vote for subterfuge.

Jun 29, 2009 - 8:59 am 36. Mike W.:

“Traditionally, conservatives have been reluctant to fight fire with fire. Why? Because we have internalized Martin Luther King’s belief that people should be judged not “by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” That’s why conservatives tend to find groups like the NAACP and La Raza abhorrent.”

What a pathetic joke. GOP leaders continue to get busted sending each other racist e-mails and pictures of the face of our President on “welfare bucks”, pictures of a White House covered in watermelon, and pictures of a gallery of presidents featuring our current one as a pair of big white eyes on an all black background.

Your trainwreck of a politicial party continues to be steeped in racism and hate, and justifiably, minorities tend to stay away from political parties that emphasize racism and hate.

Also, Democrats didn’t argue that Sarah Palin can’t be an effective leader because she has five children, they argued that she can’t be an effective leader because she’s a moron who doesn’t read and doesn’t understand that Africa is a continent and not a country.

Jun 29, 2009 - 9:19 am 37. Delia:

The ‘Religious Right’ vs. the ‘Religious Left’ have always bewildered me.

Aren’t we supposed to be on the same team?

Jun 29, 2009 - 9:45 am 38. JMH:

The my namesake who authored this piece, you’re wrong. As Whiskey said, it’s hopeless to try and outpander the Democrats, it’s just not possible. Rather than pander to minorities, what the GOP ought to do is use the opportunity of the economic train wreck we’re going through to tar and feather the spoils system the Dems use to fuel their pandering.

Make the case that the affirmitive action/public sector unionism/socialized everything economic policy of the Democrats is unsustainable and will impoverish everybody. Many racists minorities won’t care, they’ll be happy to indulge in the “get whitey” self-descructive behavior they’ve been indulging in for a couple of generations. But some percentage will put their prosperity over their hate. They key is to convince those people that it just ain’t gonna work to keep shafting Old White Guys.

Articulating an economic message about the utter failure of redistributionist government is the way to pry loose the 10% of minority votes the GOP needs.

Perhaps also showing the horrible destruction of the Black family under Democrat rule might help jolt a few Hispanics out of the Dem embrace. Show them modern Black Culture, contrast it to the relative stabilty fifty years ago, and hammer home the message that these are your grandkids if you follow the same racialist path the Wright/Jackson/Farrakhan types led Blacks down. That ought to help too.

Jun 29, 2009 - 9:54 am 39. Professor Guvinoff:

The electoral success of the left comes out of making arguments that sound good, or flatter one’s desire to look good, regardless of their substancial merit, and often in spite of their substancial demerit. If image comes first, forget about substance, it will go under the bus whenever it is politically unconvenient.

The theoretical concept of winning bay adopting the strategy and tactics of the adversary does not apply simply because someone has got to make good, solid arguments, which includes explaining why substance trumps appearance rather than the other way around.

What’s wrong with making an appeal to critical thought and addressing the minorities and asking “Are the democrats really representing you, or just trying to charm you while disredarding your personal interests at the same time?”

You don’t debunk fake arguments by indulging in fakery.
To counter fakery, you need to discredit it, that’s all!
The difficulty of doing things right is not an excuse for doing the easy things instead.

Jun 29, 2009 - 9:55 am 40. jodetoad:

What is the old saying about one who is not liberal in youth has no heart, but one who is not conservative in maturity has no brains? A quote from somebody, can’t recall whom.

The kernel of truth there is that conservatism will appeal to thinking people, rational people, educated people. It is quite true that between abominable education and cultural degradation, our young people are not encouraged or taught to think.

But people of all ages and races will tend to think about a rational message, eventually. If conservatism is true, a glitzy package will only distract from the message. We should be willing to state our case anywhere, but framing it differently for different audiences will make it less believable, not more. People who may find conservatism appealing will be smart enough to be offended. Look at our own reaction to biased media – it angers us, because it insults our intelligence.

My concern is that our population may now be dominated by those susceptible to unthinking popular and emotional appeals. If that is true, we are out of luck anyway. So I guess the question is, do Republicans still believe in the intelligence of the American public? If we do, we should clarify and refine our message so that reasonable people can digest it. If we have lost faith in the American public, it makes more sense to go to iconic figures appealing to pop culture. Frankly, the last election has really shaken my faith in the American public.

If Americans have truly become so unthinkingly reflexive, we are going the way of Roman bread and circuses anyway.

Jun 29, 2009 - 10:10 am 41. blotto:

MikeW: You are the perfect white male liberal who hates his ethnicity, race and gender. You support a party that is becoming more and more a party of the “protected” minorities that has at its core the disenfrancishment of white America and Americans. How do you reconcile that Mike? Are you, like Sotomayor suggests, a white male that is not as smart as a Latina female?

Look at your post: Full of venom and not one citation. Full of lies and not a shred of intellectual integrity. All you offered are worn over ad hominem attacks.

Do you not understand that affirmative action which is the great attraction for blacks to the Dem party is racist in its core against you? I guess you think the recent SCOTUS on Ricci was wrong? Go ahead and defend the idea that merit should be suborned to empathy or someone’s racialist ideals.

I guess you were equally appalled when Obama thought there were 57 states? See I don’t get white males who side with a party that relegates you to the back of the bus both figuratively and in literally.

Jun 29, 2009 - 10:18 am 42. Chuck Pelto:

TO: John Hawkins
RE: I Disagree

We have to face the truth: it’s not just the message — it’s who’s delivering it. — John Hawkins

If we get Bill Clinton to speak like a REAL christian, should we trust him?

We had/have the same problem with our current—IMHO—illigetimate, illegal alien, muslim president.

People, all too often, say one thing and do something else. I mean….look at Obama.

What we need are (1) people who do what they say and (2) people who can recognized such.

The biggest obstacle to all of this is the NEA and the vaunted American public ‘education’ system.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[One of the benefits of a college education is to show the boy its little avail. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson]

P.S. And that was from the 19th Century in which Emerson wrote….

Jun 29, 2009 - 10:23 am 43. AThinkingPerson:

Sheesh, there’s really no need to create a list of liberal attributes. Your inane post (#28) just about sums up the “typical” liberal mindset. Not a pretty picture that you got the opportunity to paint yourself! Good job sheesh (although we know “job” isn’t usually a liberal attribute).

Jun 29, 2009 - 10:35 am 44. tanstaafl:

I’d say you have plenty to work with there. Now, feel free to create your own list about liberals . .

sheesh-y (#28) rhymes with cheese-y (sort of)…

…the persistent ranter with the unstable brain who has, in the past, claimed to receive payment for his “offerings” (rhymes with droppings, sort of) on PJM…

egads, the scariest kind of liberal, there seems to be a lot of them and I sure hope they don’t develop sufficient numbers that they and their ‘dentity politicks completely destroy what’s left of this nation, arms open to all yearning to be free and willing to play by a few rules…

Jun 29, 2009 - 11:10 am 45. Meryl:

Sheesh….the reparations and minority status privileges that are being demanded by “people of color” today are based on minimal FACTS/expisodes of actual mistreatment of them.

It’s all about history….what happened to someone else…what used to happen frequently….98% of which is no longer happening.

If you remove from the libs’ favorite “identity groups” all the individuals who have NOT actually suffered specifically from the things for which they seek reparations, recognition, affirmative action, etc. etc. there wouldn’t be enough people left to sweep the streets of a very small town.

Your beginning point is foundational to “identity politics”: that everything bad that has ever happened is still happening at the same rate and with the same intensity to the same people as it was at its worst. Sorry. That’s crap.

So, you see, my illustration stands. It might take me awhile to find them, but I can just about guarantee you that SOMEWHERE there is a Dane who has been mistreated at some time in the past. (You probably don’t know about the problems with the Norwegians and Danes during the 19th century and how that spilled over into immigration years)…. So if I can find THAT Dane, voila! I’ve got my foundation for being part of a persecuted group.

Jun 29, 2009 - 11:16 am 46. Axey:

===You need to start telling us what you can do for us, not belittling your opponent and using third-grade name-calling tactics.===

Worked for democrats.

Jun 29, 2009 - 11:36 am 47. Delia:

Don’t forget the ‘ugly’ people. They need reparations too. Think about how far back ‘ugly’ people have been treated unfairly and cruelly because of their outer appearance. Think about how many hideous butt fugly people have lost jobs because they are trolls. Not fair? Indeed. -And, ugly still gets discriminated against to this day.

Minorities on the other hand, get discriminated FOR nowadays.

Jun 29, 2009 - 11:37 am 48. Fearsome Comrade:

We could take the immigration issue from the Democrats overnight by supporting the expansion of legal immigration quotas and expedition of the visa process while simultaneously cracking down on illegal immigration. It would do several things:

1. Show law-abiding Hispanics, which are the only ones that can legally vote, that no, we don’t fear them.
2. Show law-abiding Hispanics that yes, we do care about the crime and drug violence in their communities.

We won’t do that because for some bizarre reason, economic protectionism is “conservative” when the resource we’re talking about is labor. I find it absolutely bizarre that conservatives want free trade agreements that allow US companies to export factories, but are 100% against anything that allows them to import workers.

Because, you know, importing the best, brightest, or hardest-working people from other countries would be so damaging to our economy.

Jun 29, 2009 - 11:49 am 49. newton:

I have an even better idea. How about dismantling the GOP? Have a general assembly to dissolve its charter, and let everyone there go where they fit best.

As for the Democrats and the rest of America, they will be joyful to finally have their one-party state – because that’s what they want. Power, above all else. America is their backyard, their laboratory. They can and will do whatever the Hell they please. And let America have a good taste of the one-party state.

Sure, it all will be pink unicorns and rainbows with pots of gold at the other end. But the day will come when Americans will realize there is no such thing as a pot of gold at the other end of the Democrat “rainbow”. And when the Democrats realize that the American people are waking up to their schemes, the result will be too close to the 2009 Iranian and the Cold-War Hungarian uprisings for comfort. When that time comes, Americans will be truly SCREAMING! for an opposition party.

Jun 29, 2009 - 11:57 am 50. lee:

It’s not “pandering” nor “identity politics” to reach out to minorities whose social values are more consistent with GOP values. Most minorities never even heard of “Acorn”. Who helped pass prop 8 in California? Not whites, that’s for sure.

But they vote democrat, because that party lends a sympathetic ear to immigration concerns (while silently voting against things like outright amnesty or driver’s license to illegals) and the poorest of the bunch rely big govt programs, notably welfare. But since many minorities are also small business owners who sell imports from their homeland, there’s a limit to their tolerance to high taxes.

When brain dead losers like “Mike W” post nonsense, of course the PJM community will respond. But in reality, the GOP doesn’t. In my almost 20 years living in this country, I’ve never once had local Republican group reach out to my family and countless other immigrants who populate California. There aren’t many PJM equavelant or conservative / libertarian thinktanks available in other languages to cultivate conservatism among 40,50 year old immigrants who can’t speak English. I doubt many of them even realize what the Stimulus really is. The local Korean newsource that I read are certifiable liberal garbage.

If you don’t fight, then most minorities will continue to vote democrat, who parade around as their guardian party, while failing to improve our lives in any significant manner in reality. Blacks are a lost cause, but think about your chances on a swing state if the GOP gained some modest uptick in Latino and Asian voters.

Jun 29, 2009 - 12:08 pm 51. Mike W.:

The real problem is that the GOP used to be able to win elections with the simple strategy of scaring white Christians into believeing that blacks, Jews and hispanics were going to take their jobs, ruin their neighborhoods and knock up their daughters.

Now the country has reached the point where the number of whites and non-whites is becoming roughly equal, and the above mentioned strategy is backfiring bigtime.

While only a percentage of Fox News-watching whites continue to be terrified of minorities, a huge portion of young whites actually spend time with minorities and understand that the GOP perspective is ignorant and racist, and a huge portion of minorities refuse to vote GOP because they can’t help but remember that the GOP has been winning elections the past 30 years by painting them as an unwelcome enemy.

So the GOP loses smart white people at the same time it loses all minorities. Clearly a strategy for success.

Jun 29, 2009 - 12:22 pm 52. Fearsome Comrade:

The real problem with the Democrats is that they brainwash people into thinking that the only way Republicans win elections is with the simple strategy of scaring white Christians into believeing [sic] that blacks, Jews and hispanics [sic] were going to take their jobs, ruin their neighborhoods and knock up their daughters.

A base that paranoid is hard to reach out to, but we can do it. It makes them vulnerable to lightning strikes like 1980 and 1994.

Jun 29, 2009 - 12:31 pm 53. Delia:

51. Mike W.:

“The real problem is that the GOP used to be able to win elections with the simple strategy of scaring white Christians into believeing that blacks, Jews and hispanics were going to take their jobs, ruin their neighborhoods and knock up their daughters.”

Considering the Liberal Left were KKKers. I laugh in your general direction.

Jun 29, 2009 - 12:52 pm 54. Delia:

P.S. Considering what happens to neighborhoods when they are ‘run’ by black and hispanic people to this day, I’d say that fear was justified.

As far as white women being ‘knocked up’ by minorities. HELLO? DohBama ring-a-ding-ding a bell

Jun 29, 2009 - 12:54 pm 55. Rob Crawford:

“The real problem is that the GOP used to be able to win elections with the simple strategy of scaring white Christians into believeing that blacks, Jews and hispanics were going to take their jobs, ruin their neighborhoods and knock up their daughters.”

You’re clearly a product of public schools. That was the Democrats — the Klan was the militant arm of the Democrat party, remember.

The rest of your dribble is as bass-ackwards as that bit. What a sad, ignorant life you must live.

Jun 29, 2009 - 12:58 pm 56. Pat J:

Look at the last presidential election. THE GOP resorted to fear-mongering because that’s all they had. After all, they couldn’t reflect back on the glorious years of the Bush II administration now could they.

Jun 29, 2009 - 1:03 pm 57. smith:

GOP has no credibility with minorities anymore; they and Democrats have switched sides since the civil rights era.

Jun 29, 2009 - 1:12 pm 58. Panday:

Dan said: “If the Republicans can more effectively use minority groups, they will trick more people into overlooking their lack of good ideas.”

Like lower taxes and smaller government? Terrible ideas, those things. After all, things like Social Security and Medicaid have been run so well, we should believe the government when it says that it can run a nationwide health insurance plan, right?

Dan gets today’s Stupid Comment Award.

Jun 29, 2009 - 1:16 pm 59. Bob Reed:

You can’t trade principles and integrity for votes. Identity politics and the phony doctrine of multi-cultutalism, with all of the associated rationales of situational ethics and moral relativism, are anathema to the Constitution, traditional American values, and everything that conservatives have always stood for; not to mention flying in the face of the America that Dr. King envisioned in 1964…

Actually standing for something will be valued again soon, especially in the wake of Obama and his continuum of ever evolving position…

We can’t sell out to identity politics, or we will become the hypoctites that the Libs are always trying to paint us as!

With all due respect…

Jun 29, 2009 - 1:26 pm 60. Frank:

Careful Mike W. your apt to drown in all that venom. Quick questions though oh enlightened one, please, answer me this: how is it a “huge portion of young whites” can remember the “past 30 years”.

You been messing with time/space continuum knob again?

A factually untenable statement if there ever was one, but typical of the left’s concept of coherence. The liberal insult-in-lieu-of-argumnent debate style is as predictable as the sun rising in the east. You probably will not be able to grasp the reality of this, s o I’ l l t y p e r e a l l y s l o w, here’s a secret: it’s guys like you that make Ann Coulter look like a genius.

Your out of league here son. Now run along back to the sandbox and your intellectual equals. I’m sure they’ll think you’re as clever as you do.

Jun 29, 2009 - 1:28 pm 61. Blarty Blarckleblart:

Women aren’t a “minority” in the U.S., Einstein.

Jun 29, 2009 - 1:31 pm 62. Delia:

People who voted for a giggling, Saudi King bowing, punch drunk, special olympics bowling, Iranian Freedom ignoring, gallows humoring, fly-by-gas-wasting statue of liberty picture taking, ‘uh-uhm-uh’ without telepromptering, party hardying on Wagyū beef eating, 57 states with ‘one to go’, orchid worthy heated glass house while people were freezing in ‘flyover’ country, shouldn’t throw stones at Palin.

Just sayin’.

Jun 29, 2009 - 1:34 pm 63. inspectorudy:

I think this advice to go with the flow is the worst thing that the GOP could do. I KNOW that the messenger is more important than the message. Obama would not have had a prayer if he had been white(Remember Geraldine Ferraro?). His campaign message was a total lie and it is showing us how much a lie everytime he opens his mouth. Our only salvation is for a strong charismatic fiscally conservative leader to come forward and offer us a way out of our collective financial mess that Obama and his syncophants have gotten us into. I watched Rommney Sunday on “Meat the Press” and he did not look ready to stand on Sen. Graham’s neck when it was necessary and I don’t think he has the rock solid core that will be necessary to carry him through the battle ahead. He actually bragged about the over priced healtcare in Mass. like it was a big success.

Jun 29, 2009 - 1:36 pm 64. David H:

All good stuff here.

My two cents: The GOP must win the culture war. We have to regain ownership of the main planks of the conservative platform (i.e., support traditional marriage, emphasize academic excellence over diversity, protect the Constitution, promote entrepeneurship, lower taxes, strengthen the military, reduce Federal administrative overhead) and sell that set of values to *anyone* who will listen. Build the coalition, lead them to victory.

Jun 29, 2009 - 1:48 pm 65. Sonny:

If you don’t think what made conservatism great and is the model for continued greatness in our country, count me out of the Pub party if they start this I.D. polities.

Once you start down this “intellectual” path, there is no turning back. People will forget the essentials of the “American” story and will look for bigger and greater entitlements from their fellow citizens.

I just don’t understand people who want to give up what works for the sake of “wooing” new constituents. Is that what the Founding Fathers did in order to ratity the Constitution?

Jun 29, 2009 - 1:49 pm 66. Delia:

Being Democrat Lite [less taste, more waste], count me out.

Politics as usual on both sides of the ‘isle’ becomes a tiresome, depressing power grab from the people ‘they’ are supposed to be ’serving’.

Government Shmovernment. Ya’ll suck.

Jun 29, 2009 - 2:19 pm 67. Blarty Blarckleblart:

Once you start down this “intellectual” path, there is no turning back.

If Sarah “dinosaurs and people lived at the same time” Palin is your intellectual path, I’d hate to see your stupid path. What is it – Inanimate Carbon Rod?

Jun 29, 2009 - 2:19 pm 68. NukeRidingCowboy:

If Republicans want to appeal to minorities, they can’t do it by pandering the same way Democrats do. Republicans keep trying that and it keeps not working. I don’t even know why they think it would work. Why vote for a fake Democrat when you can get the real thing? Republicans need to approach it by explaining to minorities (and everyone for that matter) why conservative principles will benefit them and how liberal policies have only hurt them. Then, Republicans should actually act like conservatives and implement conservative principles.

Republicans should hammer the left for the DC school voucher case. They need to make the case that the left has declared themselves the protectors of minorities, grabbed their votes, and then kicked minorities to the curb when convenient.

Jun 29, 2009 - 2:27 pm 69. Jacques Tati:

Fundamentally good advice, although I would disagree with parts of your applications of it (e.g., shouldn’t we be a little troubled by the choice of Palin, a mother of two very young children, to run for vice-president? If the kids were all teenagers, it would be less of a problem.).

I think we should hit back hard against the constant “Republicans are bigots” theme of the press and the Democrats, but we should hit back by pointing out that the very standards used by the press and the Democrats are bigoted, rather than accepting certain of those standards and turning them against the Democrats. We need to point out how our standards are fair and theirs are prejudiced.

Jun 29, 2009 - 2:50 pm 70. dark helmet:

HORSE SHIT!

It’s past time to say whay you mean and mean what you say. The hell with who says it as long as it’s an AMERICAN with nothing whoreing or pandering in front of that title.

TRUTH.

Jun 29, 2009 - 3:07 pm 71. dark helmet:

By the way Chuck, the muslim conference in IL canceled due to public attention. Seems the cock roaches are not as brave as they thought they were. Keep up the good fight .

DH

Jun 29, 2009 - 3:16 pm 72. Carlos:

Which “minority” is the Independent Women’s Forum supposed to represent? Last I heard, women outnumbered men in these United States, and conservative women outnumbered liberal women.

Jun 29, 2009 - 3:32 pm 73. Delia:

I find it ironic that the Lefties hate Christians with a passion and yet a good portion of their voting base are ‘Christians/Catholics’.

You lefties might want to calm down that “Christian hatin’ speech” a tidge, because many blacks and hispancs consider themselves ‘Christians’.

Jun 29, 2009 - 3:32 pm 74. Carlos:

Actually, Blarty, “dinosaurs” never lived at all. When he created the universe 6,000 years ago, the Lord just scattered a few “skeletons” around to fool dumbasses like you.

Jun 29, 2009 - 3:36 pm 75. Purple State:

I think this article comes close but still misses a very good point. Conservativism works for all in this country as does the Constitution of the United States. The principles of our Constitution and conservatism are based on God’s Law/Nature’s Law which is the true basis of governance. Conservatives don’t need to alter the principles we stand on, we just need to obtain and support messangers who can help get the message to all those groups who have been swept into identity politics. We can’t expect a rich old white guy using typical republican talking points to have any impact on a single mother, working class union man or any other group. We need to come up with real solutions and organize and promote them within these groups.

Jun 29, 2009 - 3:48 pm 76. Delia:

74. Carlos:

“Actually, Blarty, “dinosaurs” never lived at all. When he created the universe 6,000 years ago, the Lord just scattered a few “skeletons” around to fool dumbasses like you.”

Gaaaaaaaaw! LMFAO! Jurassic humour at its finest. *swipes wee tear*

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAhahahahahahaha!

Oh man. *must compose self* rotfl!

Jun 29, 2009 - 3:59 pm 77. john from cinncinatti:

no on the race based pandering. token minorities… I continue to pay, and earn my own way. because without a doubt, i will have some dumb shit want to make command decisions for me. wait we already have that.
don’t feed me with one fish, teach me how to fish so i will never be hungry. truth to power, if it isn’t the truth then you just got to take that BS on down the road.

Jun 29, 2009 - 4:38 pm 78. sheesh:

45 Meryl . . . ” It might take me awhile to find them, but I can just about guarantee you that SOMEWHERE there is a Dane who has been mistreated at some time in the past.”

Now THAT is some serious gymnastics. Maybe if you look hard enough, you can find a Dane that was black, then you’d have something.

Jun 29, 2009 - 5:07 pm 79. Fantom:

There is an answer to the NAACP and La Raza and AIM. It is called the KKK….. all same same.

The Author, John makes one crucial misjudgement. That minorities will abandon racial politics and embrace a colorblind society. That “consevative’ values will overcome racial voting for the gain of said minority. Empirical evidence says otherwise. I doubt any “outreach” will do much good.

Which leads to one logical conclusion. If minorities reject a colorblind society.. so too must the majority.

Jun 29, 2009 - 6:28 pm 80. Steve:

You can’t reason with abject hatred.

We must dissolve ourselves from the Leftist peoples. They are as despicable and hate filled as their leader.

We must take to the streets and seceede.

Pleaes fly your flags inverted to symbolize distress or don’t fly them at all.

Jun 29, 2009 - 6:51 pm 81. Meryl:

78.sheesh….

Thank you for reinforcing the point underlying everything I’ve said: you don’t consider anyone qualified to “be a victim” unless they’re not white.

Thomas Sowell and Bill Cosby have folks like you for lunch, and I don’t mean as a guest.

Jun 29, 2009 - 6:55 pm 82. Delia:

81. Meryl,

Sheeshers doesn’t realize that when the protag is a perpetual ‘victim’, it becomes a ‘tar baby’ syndrome. The more you try to remove yourselve from it, the more ’stuck’ you are.

Ain’t ‘victimhood’ grand?

BTW: Here are the ‘A-okay’ Racial Epithets 2009:

Trailer trash
Hillbillies
Red Necks
Wiggers
Crackers
Whitey

Etc.

I’m sure ya’ll could come up with a few ‘more’.

When do we stop being afraid of each other?

Jun 29, 2009 - 9:09 pm 83. Delia:

The worst trav is that apples and oranges clash so badly.

I mean, apples? The opiate of crunchgasms. Oranges? The crack of juicygasms.

Why can’t apples and oranges just get along?

Jun 29, 2009 - 10:52 pm 84. MarkD:

We’ve got the Democrats solidly in charge, ten percent unemployment, and deficits that make GWB look like a fiscal conservative. The wheels are already coming off. There is no need to pander.

Jun 30, 2009 - 6:41 am 85. sheesh:

81. Meryl: . . . “. . . you don’t consider anyone qualified to “be a victim” unless they’re not white.”

No, wrong as can be . . . I don’t consider anyone to be a victim unless they’ve been victimized. You tried in vain to present the Danes as victims. Sorry, but I don’t think the Danish people qualify. Simple.

Now Wall Street bankers, there you got some serious victims.

Jun 30, 2009 - 7:05 am 86. Martin in Atlanta:

This issue is among a long list of problems for the GOP. They have so many identity issues and now with the recent scandals, they will be wandering in the woods for quite a while. You can’t campaign on “Christian Family Values” and lose two 2012 hopefuls in two weeks for infidelity. This social platform anchored the base and now the GOP is a joke.

Good luck in the next several decades.

Jun 30, 2009 - 8:01 am 87. dark helmet:

Martin is right. You can’t run on values and not have any. You can run on ZERO values and that you hate America and be elected though as a democrat all the day long with the full support of every communisst leader on earth.

Let those who need to be weeded out join spector and the scum that voted for tax and trade continue to remove themselves. The only ones left will be the only ones needed. I for one look forward to the party that is for America. Not that panders to the lowest common scum invented by socialism. You know…. liberals

Jun 30, 2009 - 9:16 am 88. D'oh!:

Martin, I’ll bet even you had never heard of Barack Obama 8 years ago. Forget “several decades”, it took the American public only 4 years to overcome their media driven hatred of the GOP after the Nixon fiasco – 4 years of Jimmy Carter, that is. Barack Obama makes Jimmy Carter look like the second coming of Dwight Eisenhower. It’s starting to look like the only difference between the people who voted for Obama and the people who didn’t is when they figured out he is a charlatan and a liar (and, of course, whether or not they care that he is).

Jun 30, 2009 - 9:18 am 89. KRB:

I will add my two cents as a black, former Dem. voter, who has voted Rep. for the last 3 election cycles. Don’t pander. Speak up. Where is the Republican Party? Don’t abandon Reagan’s principles. Get into the schools and make sure that our kids know the history of our Founding Fathers, know our pledge, our anthem. There’s a generation and half out there that doesn’t even know about the Boston Tea Party – so there’s no chance that they will understand the current Tea Party movement.
The party also needs to reject elitism, when I see conservative journalists trash Sarah Palin it turns my stomach. She is a hero to me and will hopefully be one to my daughter.

Jun 30, 2009 - 9:30 am 90. Marc Malone:

It really doesn’t matter what stance we take, if we can’t get our message out. The Left controls the information stream: the schools; the media; and increasingly, the courts.

If we play into identity politics, we concede victory to the other side. We cannot win, when we allow the other side to define the debate. This is why we can’t win, because the other side owns the information stream. They define the rules. This is why Pubs play the buy-the-vote game. They’ve conceded victory by conceding the rules of the game.

As for Palin being stupid? Well, for being stupid, she is amazingly accomplished. Somehow, she simply gets the job done, and done right. In AK, she is hated by both the Dems and the Pubs, but the people love her.

As for her not reading? Couric’s question was insulting beyond measure. Palin’s a sitting Governor. Her primary job is to read, read, read. Executives rely on information. When she said she reads them all (the papers), she meant ALL. No one can know everything, and her focus prior to the election was on the things necessary to life in AK. A bit of specialization is in order there.

Palin has it all: family; career; great husband; success. She is a truly happy woman. Conservatives love her for it. Liberals hate her for it. That contrast right there says all you need to know about the difference between Libs and Cons.

Jun 30, 2009 - 11:43 am 91. Delia:

-Not to mention Palin was ten times more qualified and ‘experienced’ than doh-boy and she at the very LEAST knew how many ’states’ are in the freakin’ country.

Jun 30, 2009 - 1:01 pm 92. Horace Wells:

blotto
You are a the classic morono-con. White liberals own all those farms and construction companies that employ illegals? Why do you think that Bush et al. turned a blind eye, no encouraged, illegals; they wanted cheap labor in their fields and around the estate just as much as some CA yuppy wanted a cheap gardener or nanny.

Jun 30, 2009 - 2:35 pm 93. Horace Wells:

Delia, good to see you out practicing your version of identity politics: supporting a candidate cause she is a smug, reactionary dimwit. “I see Russia from my porch!”

Jun 30, 2009 - 2:36 pm 94. sheesh:

91 Delia . . . Do you actually believe that Obama didn’t know how many states there were, or do you continually bring that up for entertainment’s sake? (By the way, read that Vanity Fair article on Palin. It’s quite the tale.)

Jun 30, 2009 - 2:48 pm 95. newton:

Forget identity politics!

Today, the US of A is officially a one-party state.

The GOP should disband at once. The brand is effectively damaged beyond repair. Something better should take its place.

Jun 30, 2009 - 3:27 pm 96. Meryl:

85.Sheesh
“I don’t consider anyone to be a victim unless they’ve been victimized.”

EXACTLY. I AGREE. My using the Danish thing was just to show how silly it is to pretend to be victimized when it’s just normal life you’re complaining about.

AND 99% OF PEOPLE DEMANDING TO BE RECOGNIZED AS VICTIMS TODAY ARE NOT VICTIMS…THEY ARE JUST STUDENTS OF THE POLITICAL LEFT. THAT IS THEIR STARTING POINT AND THEIR ENDING POINT.

I choose NOT to tell the personal stories from people I know personally who personally played the victim against family members, knowing full well they were doing it, up to and including court actions. They just figured out which victim group appealed to them and off they went.

You’ll just have to excuse me if I’m not ready to roll for any more “victims”.

THANK YOU FOR AGREEING WITH ME. Silly boy. It took long enough.

Jun 30, 2009 - 3:57 pm 97. Blarty Blarckleblart:

The GOP should disband at once. The brand is effectively damaged beyond repair. Something better should take its place.

I guarantee you whatever took its place would be better.

Jun 30, 2009 - 3:58 pm 98. sheesh:

96 Meryl . . . When all else is lost, say “that’s what I meant all along.”

Jun 30, 2009 - 5:02 pm 99. sheesh:

Jindal/Ensign/Sanford 2012

Jun 30, 2009 - 7:35 pm 100. Delia:

Sheeshers,

How many times do I have to bring up links? I know you’re not that ‘daft’, so, I figure you’re just being asinine.

Do you like being tiresome for tiresome’s sake? DO YOU?

GAWWWWWWW. FINE.

LINK, here’s your ASSHAT:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpGH02DtIws

Jun 30, 2009 - 9:33 pm 101. Anglo Unity:

There are two ways the Republican leadership (an oxymoron in today’s times) can go. They can stand up for white men – because we’re all they have – or hopefully a new party will arise from their ashes based on constitutionalism and devoid of any religious BS or so-called “moral values.”

Jun 30, 2009 - 10:47 pm 102. misanthropicus:

Re# 10/Cato: [...] Interestingly with respect to women, it’s not all women who hate Sarah Palin, it’s primarily upper-middle and upper middle class women. It’s not so much that she’s conservative, it’s that her success “in spite” of having [...]

Agree – yet I’ll add something that’s often overlooked in the discussion over Palin’s being treated as she is (awfully) by (liberal) women. Stats notwithstanding, my impression is that Palin is not dreaded by A LARGE number of liberal women because she is an “anti-burn-the-bras” type treatening the lesbian/cubicles establishment (since here, Camille Paglia is not dreaded, either), but she is dreaded because she is a potential rallying figure who could topple the hopey-dopey president. And from here comes all the poison agains her -

Jul 1, 2009 - 5:10 am 103. misanthropicus:

RE #29/sheesh: “24. Meryl: [...] Tell you what, the next time a cop pulls you over for no reason other than being Danish, you can chime back in. [...]

Sheeshkebob, you tenured fool @PJM: idiot, Meryl will be pulled over by a cop for being Danish when it will became simply impossible to ignore for anyone (except clowns like your liberal ilk), that people of Danish ancestry are the source of most crimes in this country/society.

And a fleeting thought now… Sheeshkebob, since Spike Lee also uses your type of argument in this matter … are you actually Spike Lee? Your talents and the fact that your mental processes appear to be occur in your cerebellum makes one believe that… interesting, can you come with a few more thoughts?

Jul 1, 2009 - 5:21 am 104. sheesh:

100 Delia . . . I know he said it. But do you really believe that he thinks there are 57 states, or did he just misspeak out of campaign weariness? I think the answer is obvious. Does W. really think it’s important to “put food on your family?” No, he just misspoke.

Jul 1, 2009 - 6:45 am 105. sheesh:

103. misanthropicus: . . . “Sheeshkebob, you tenured fool @PJM: idiot, Meryl will be pulled over by a cop for being Danish when it will became simply impossible to ignore for anyone (except clowns like your liberal ilk), that people of Danish ancestry are the source of most crimes in this country/society.”

So, I guess that makes it OK for cops to pull you over because you’re a male, after all, they commit most of the crime in this country.

First you think, THEN you type.

Jul 1, 2009 - 7:15 am 106. misanthropicus:

RE #104/sheesh: [...] Delia, [...] but do you really believe that he thinks there are 57 states, or did he just misspeak out of campaign weariness? [...]

Luminous Sheeshkebob, do you realy think (you got to prove this, buddy), that Soetoro when admitting that he doesn’t speak Austrian just mispoke out of whatever, or you will admit that Soetoro is a pompous ignoramus who’s simply clueless as to what languages are spoken in Europe (and elsewhere, since here).
Hey, for someone like Soetoro who’s been for years deeply immersed in study at Columbia U, digesting academic achievements like the “Black Venus” and the ebonics theory, this sure won’t be surprising – come, Sheeshkebob shine a light on Soetoro’s “Austrian” language theory, you sure can prove to Delia Soetoro’s edifying knowledge -

Jul 1, 2009 - 7:27 am 107. sheesh:

106 miss anthropicus . . . Yeah, that “pulled over for being male” stung a bit, I know. But before I answer the Austrian thing, let’s address the matter that inspired this particular bit of misdirection on your part . . . Do you believe that Obama actually thinks there are 57 states, or did he just misspeak out of campaign weariness?

It’s a simple question. You’re a simple man. Make an effort. Take a stand. Assert yourself. Show the world you value truth.

Jul 1, 2009 - 8:09 am 108. misanthropicus:

RE #107/sheesh RE #106 “miss anthropicus . . . Yeah, that “pulled over for being male” stung a bit [...] But before I answer the Austrian thing, let’s address [...] Do you believe that Obama actually thinks there are 57 states, or did he just misspeak out of campaign weariness?

Sheeshkebob, resident fool@PJM:
1) I grandly enjoy when I see liberals using in an atack their adversary’s ALLEGED homosexuality – this shows very well how low they regard homosexuality and the homosexual cause – hey, keep slapping y/self baby, but it’s you, baby, and you got to live with it.
2) As far as Soetoro’s hilarious incursions in American political geography and European cultural geography – how could the “57th state” and the “Austrian language” things (amongst so many other inanities) be just “misspoken” when they were uttered by an acknowledged illiterate, liar and fraudster?
Aren’t those idiocies the product of the same mind that, after years of academic immersion at Columbia U (my! my!), have bestowed upon us as a 1987 graduate work the momentous “US-Soviet Nuclear Situation” and the “Post-Colonial, North-South Relationships”?

Sheeshkebob, you sorry meat wiggling on a stick – don’t we have in Soetero’s pronouncements a solid, revealing pattern of ignorance? So, QUED.
Looking forward for hearing from you that I am gay – I love to see liberals drowning.

Jul 1, 2009 - 10:23 am 109. Delia:

Sheeshers, ya just can’t help yourself, can you?

Are you going to give Palin the same free ‘pass’?

If Palin said her ‘Muslim religion’ oops, I’d be on her like white on rice too.

Jul 1, 2009 - 10:24 am 110. Delia:

Sheeshers, he didn’t just say 57 states…

“I think ‘one’ left to go”.

Sorry, dud is a full on MORON.

Jul 1, 2009 - 10:29 am 111. Marc Malone:

sheesh – Actually, Obama meant 57 states… as in there are 57 Muslim States in the world. There are, y’know. That’s where his head was.

Regardless, after his inane speech in Cairo with all its factual errors, I don’t think he misspeaks. I think the facts simply do not matter to him. All that counts is the Narrative.

As for Palin speaking of being able to see Russia from AK, she was emphasizing the proximity of Russia to her State, and thus, Alaskans’ awareness of the importance of foreign affairs. They ARE rather isolated from the rest of the country. The Left just took that phrase and twisted its meaning. In fact, most on the Left are quoting the Tina Fey caricature, rather than Palin’s actual terminology.

Mind you, Palin has not uttered any inaccuracies. Spin, yes. Historical or factual inaccuracies, no. Unlike Biden and Obama.

Jul 1, 2009 - 1:02 pm

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