Are Republicans Turning Into Libertarians?

[fhdz]

I thought letting fags marry was the biggest threat? 

To whom, Marty?

[Neil]

I thought letting fags marry was the biggest threat? 

It doesn't always come back to gays.

[garbon]

I thought letting fags marry was the biggest threat? 

Well, you thought like Lit.

[DGuller]

What kind of Libertarian tries to defend torture outside of being exposed to Rand's "novels"?   

Do you want the government to tell you whether you can or can't torture people?

[Sheilbh]

I'm not wholly convinced.  Plus I think it would be electoral suicide for the Republicans.

[Barrister]

our own domestic, left party,  a big minority don't like the increased role unions have, guaranteed votes for example.

or it could be envy.  or memories of bad treatment by a union.

Ironically, my wife the public sector union kingpin, had a very negative perception of the NDP...

[Razgovory]

our own domestic, left party,  a big minority don't like the increased role unions have, guaranteed votes for example.

or it could be envy.  or memories of bad treatment by a union.

Ironically, my wife the public sector union kingpin, had a very negative perception of the NDP...

Well most people have a negative perception of the Nazis.

[KRonn]

Repubs will be fine, just as the Dems were fine after losing the last number of Presidential elections, and losing Congress. Dems changed, and came back while the Repubs couldn't get their act together. We'll see how the Dems do in the next short while as well. We do seem to have some self destructive political parties.

[MadImmortalMan]

I'm not wholly convinced.  Plus I think it would be electoral suicide for the Republicans.

Just because Marty says so doesn't mean the fundies are the numerical core constituency for the GOP. I think it will make them more competitive than they are now, certainly. The demo that will vote for anything so long as fags can't get married was never really that big to begin with, and it's shrinking extremely fast.

[Sheilbh]

Just because Marty says so doesn't mean the fundies are the numerical core constituency for the GOP. I think it will make them more competitive than they are now, certainly. The demo that will vote for anything so long as fags can't get married was never really that big to begin with, and it's shrinking extremely fast.

White Evangelical (or born agains) form a larger part of the GOP vote than Black or union voters do the Democrats.  I read the survey Silver's talking about with the gay issue.  The problem is that while the Republicans inside the beltway seem to believe that the gay thing isn't a winner any more those outside the beltway overwhelming think it either is or that doesn't matter (only 40% 'insiders' in DC think the GOP should oppose gay marriage, while 60-70% think the party should).  Now I agree the Republicans will eventually reconcile themselves to gay marriage.  Except for a few holdouts, though, I don't think it'll happen for another 5-10 years.

While younger Republicans are overwhelmingly disinterested in gay marriage and generally believe in climate change they still, equally overwhelmingly, are pro-life.  So I don't think that issue's ever going to go away.

I also don't think the Republicans will shift to a libertarian foreign policy view any time soon, and if they do they'll renege on it when they're in office.

And, simply put, I think with the exception of the Sarah Palin option the Ron Paul Libertarian one is the most likely to produce kooks and the least likely to win elections.  I think both styles of conservatism have low ceilings.

Edit: Plus who, on a national scale, would you identify with this strand of the party?  The only one I can think of is Mark Sanford who I think could be a very persuasive candidate.  But that's it.

[MadImmortalMan]

Edit: Plus who, on a national scale, would you identify with this strand of the party?  The only one I can think of is Mark Sanford who I think could be a very persuasive candidate.  But that's it.

Can't think of anybody, really. I'd like to think whoever it might be would still be a lot more mainstream than Ron Paul though. 

Hopefully, they're just waiting for someone to emerge.

[DontSayBanana]

interesting that 13% of democrats think Big Unions are the biggest problem.  this gives them the lead.

as it goes against stereotype, anyone have thoughts on this?

Not necessarily; the liberal stereotype is each according to their function, while unions largely promote based on seniority (the "guess what floats to the top" argument).

[Queequeg]

Is it Spellus who thinks all Republicans are party ideologues, and I've been slandering Raz this whole time? 

Spellus has always stood in the front rank of Bush haters.  Maybe now that the Bush administration is over he's transferring his allegiance.

I supported him until around Katrina.  Generally speaking. 

[garbon]

Oh Kanye!

[Queequeg]

Spellus-Speak say : All Republicans support torture.  If Republicans become Libertarians, then Libertarians will support torture.

Is it Spellus who thinks all Republicans are party ideologues, and I've been slandering Raz this whole time? 

I think at this point the ideologues form a much bigger part of the Republican party than their equivalents in the Democratic Party, but that seems pretty obvious .  Interestingly, this rump party is increasingly anti-tax to an extent that not even Bush's party was.

That said, I don't see libertarianism squaring with the batshit Jingonism of Hansmeister or Glenn Beck.  Taxes are needed for military equipment, at the very least.