Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Personal Asides: The Next Republican Presidential Campaign Better Re-Tool to Recapture the Fast Fleeing Reagan Democrats.

borderfence


George Will who likes to begin most political discussions by recalling quotations from Pliny the Younger, is not very strong willed where social policy is concerned. Once a pro-lifer, he now yearns for dialogue that does not begin or end on the issue of abortion—something like the genial discussions he has with George Stephanopoulos on Sunday mornings. But George has drifted far, far away from the days when he was living in Champaign, Illinois and worked as a speech-writer for Sen. Gordon Allott (R-Colorado). He is extremely sophisticated and yearns for the days when men discussed topics like the ancient Greeks. Accordingly, he has moved away from his once understanding of social movements. His most recent column expresses a sense of gratification that conservatives are getting more sophisticated and are not so hot and bothered about abortion.

Will’s weariness with old-tie evangelical and conservative Catholic conservatives (he is neither) is a danger signal for those of us who want to overcome the odds that a Democrat will win the presidency next year. George W. Bush may be excused for moving away from the conservative faith, due to the heat he has been getting from the media over Iraq. While he has remained firm on abortion, Bush looks for all the world like a squishy moderate, reconsidering his once firm stand against global warming, vetoing only two bills in his entire time in the presidency with neither having anything to do with fiscal solvency. Bush is a big government conservative who is, frankly, getting burned out…all the while the grassroots are getting burned up. A final outrage—which indicates he’s burned out—was his recent statement that those conservatives who oppose his immigration bill are not interested in the well-being of America.

While I respect Bush for his toughness on Iraq and his clear-headed nomination of two great Supreme Court justices (although we inestimably helped him by fighting against Harriet Miers), I must concede that he is far from the model that the party must emulate in the future if it is to rekindle the flame with Reagan Democrats. I think several things have to happen for that coalition to be resurrected. Three things come to mind.

First, the American presidential candidate must definitely adopt a strong position on immigration that sets as its first priority the up-building of border security before consideration of anything else. The candidate must be fore-square on the 14th amendment and its application to the rights of anchor babies. No one with any knowledge of American history can deny that the 14th was added to readjust inequities to African Americans, stating that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States.”

It was adopted so that the states could not deny citizenship to blacks born in the United States. Since there was no serious immigration to the country, the authors saw no need to further elucidate. But the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” was intended to exclude from citizenship persons born in America whose allegiance to the nation was not complete i.e. children of diplomatic foreign nationals who were born here. The American presidential candidate must risk alienation from the squeamish liberal media and other publics by saying that by not addressing the abuse, funds that state and local governments must provide to anchor babies is a virtual tax on U.S. citizens to subsidize illegal aliens.

Second, the American presidential candidate must explain the destruction wrought by the VAT tax by foreign governments which simply substitute high rates for high tariff rates, thereby erecting high border barriers against competition from U. S. goods…with the result that most foreign countries still have “de facto” tariffs pitted against us that are as high or higher than the tariffs of 40 years ago.

Third, the American presidential candidate will condemn President Bush’s latest concession that allows Mexican trucks for the first time to have full and open access to our highways, roads and bridges—in contradistinction to Bill Clinton’s program to keep Mexican trucks off our highways but for a 25-mile commercial zone north of the border.

These are only three…but they are three initial proposals that can begin to woo the Reagan Democrats back to the fold. I suspect the one who enunciates these things…I can imagine that Fred Thompson could do the best job…will rebuild a coalition that is essential to election.

8 comments:

  1. Tom,

    John MCain's speech linked below to my blogsite is the real deal.

    If John MCain can get Ted Kennedy to do an honest day's work, imagine what he could do for America!


    http://hickeysite.blogspot.com/2007/06/john-mccain-paradigm-for-american.html

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  2. In a lot of reading I have done, it appears that a Bush strategy was to replace the social conservative base with a Hispanic base. This has not worked because Bush has lost one and has never gained the other.

    The economy is also very important for the Reagan Democrats. They have seen their jobs and standard of living sacrificed on the alter of trade deals and an open border philosophy while they see the money changers on Wall Street rake in ever bigger profits and bonuses and corporate american build every bigger reserves.

    They have also seen their income eroded by high energy prices ie the prices of Gasoline, natural gas, and heating oil. On of the stated potential benefits about getting rid of Saadam was to pay for it with Iraq's oil revenue along with the lowering of the price of oil because Iraq's oil would be in now friendly hands. This did NOT happen and the price of oil and gasoline has shot up. Bush and the big corporate boys are seen by the Reagan Democrats as a friend of the oil industry who has consolidated the companies down to a monopolistic few, who have cut down on refining capacity by closing refineries to squeeze the supply to boost the price resulting in record profits. Also unregulated hedge funds have jumped in with petronoia and have jacked up the futures price of energy so that any little concern jacks up the price of energy on a moment's notice. Again the Reagan Democrats bear the burden over the country clubbers. What the Republicans have to realize again and again is that there are not enough Republicans in the country club to elect a dog catcher!

    As Peggy Noonan has said, Bush is really tearing apart the grand Reagan coalition and is making many people very angry in the process. What is so upsetting is his blindsighted arrogance about it all!

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  3. Simply put, McCain is on the wrong side of the immigration debate. His hot headed arrogance about it has proceeded to torpedo his campaign. Getting photographed with Ted Kennedy makes any Republican VOMIT!!!!!

    What was he thinking?

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  4. Lawrence,

    John McCain is taking a courageous and effective lead away from the other fumblers. Much like his commitment to the kids in Iraq and dedication to getting that job done with honor, John McCain is actually doing something about the problem of illegal immigration - the other kids on the sidelines are waiting for someone to give them some direction - remember only suckers beef - winners get things done.

    1986 was an Amnesty and travesty - McCain proposes to document the undocumented, fine those who have violated immigration laws, IDENTIFY undocumented aliens with criminal backgrounds, but more importantly give hope to the many who want to make America their home.

    Immigration Laws will be enforced and solid people who want to be Americans will not need to be afraid.

    McCain is leading and Democrats are following the man in his move to the White House. Give him a hard look again.

    Now, Lawrence, Ronald Reagan had a pretty strong stomach - one that could get things done.

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  5. Let's see, we have a group of people doing anything they can to find work in the USA, generally being a socially conservative lot, and paying Social Security Taxes for American Citizens that have already died. These are the kind of people the Republican Party wants to keep out of America?

    How about sending down recruiters with double-decker buses to get about 10x the current number of immigrants from Latin America into this country so we have someone to do the heavy lifting?

    Our economy is booming, unemployment and inflation are at historic lows, and we want Republicans to try to screw it up? Why not leave Democrats to be the party of terrible economic policy and think of some way to get more immigrants into the country and let the bon temps roulez.

    JBP

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  6. Come on John Powers just how naive can you be? The hispanic population came up here and end up being net takers from the government in the form of free medical care, free education, housing subsidies, incarceration expense, etc. Income taxes are note paid. 92% of hispanics vote DEMOCRATIC...WHY because the Democratic party is always handing out the FREEBIES like Blagos health care for kids, or no child left behind, etc. When they take over a community like Cicero, Aurora, or Elgin, they overcrowd the dwellings in code breaking violation and lower the value of the property and rents in the area and yet with their many children they get expensive bi-lingual education and clamor for more state subsidies. And for those "legal" ones they AUTOMATICALLY qualify for AFFIRMATIVE ACTION in the name of set asides. Just look at the hispanic affirmative action on the website of Navy Pier. John stop for a moment and really look at what is going on! In California they took Orange County a former Republican Conservative County and turned it DEMOCRATIC. The same for Nassau County,(Long Island) New York. They are quickly doing the same in Illinois counties such as Lake, Kane, and DuPage which are now on the edge of being Democratic. In Aurora when the Hispanics vote, they vote for a LIBERAL.... yes John a LIBERAL, Chappalavia. Stop being naive John. Study each area where they became the majority and see ulitimately who they voted for. They vote for people who promise them freebies like Luis Guittierez. Then check out the plans and goals of La Raza of Milwaukee.

    Has this country not learned from Slavery that cheap labor is NEVER cheap. In the end someone always pays and that someone is always the ever shrinking American Middle Class!

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  7. Lawrence,

    New Immigrants avoiding taxes like CEO's of Fortune 500 companies are natural Republicans.

    I am 100% in favor of eliminating silly programs like Billingual Education, and affirmative action, as these are the failed programs of the Left.

    But demonizing perhaps the hardest working, most conservative immigrants this country has ever seen is certainly not gaining any Republican votes. The New Immigrants from Poland and Mexico are generally fleeing Leftist economics. Why are we pushing them to join the Left in the USA?

    JBP

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