First Time Voters

[highroadtaker]

From cnn.com:
In early exit polling, first-time voters are breaking overwhelmingly for Sen. Barack Obama. 72 percent report say they voted for Obama, compared with 27 percent for McCain. First-time voters compose 10 percent of the total national electorate thus far.

What does this mean for the future of the Republican Party?

[mfox]

quote:Originally posted by highroadtaker


What does this mean for the future of the Republican Party?

They need to pander more towards the younger crowd, going on MTV, BET, and ect.

[tulsascoot]

quote:Originally posted by mfox

quote:Originally posted by highroadtaker


What does this mean for the future of the Republican Party?

They need to pander more towards the younger crowd, going on MTV, BET, and ect.

Pandering won't work. They'll need to start promoting policies and ideals that actually benefit the whole country, instead of the more affluent and/or religious only.

[cannon_fodder]

quote:Originally posted by tulsascoot


Pandering won't work. They'll need to start promoting policies and ideals that actually benefit the whole country, instead of the more affluent and/or religious only.

Hi.  I'm not affluent.  I'm not religious.  Small government, strong defense, personal freedoms, low taxes, and encouraging business appeal to me.

Those notions should appeal to many people.  They have appealed to most people in the past.  I'm guessing they will again in the future.

Then again, doubling the deficit, starting two now endless wars, infringing on personal freedoms, deteriorating views abroad and trying to legislate discrimination (it's ok to hate gays) is not very appealing.  I imagine those things don't appeal to many other people.  They apparently don't appeal to a majority of people.

The Republicans need to look at the Libertarians, who now represent what Republicans used to stand for.  Just as in 2004 the Howard Dean liberals tried to hijack the Democrats, the fundamentalists have attempted to hijack the Republicans.  They failed in that McCain was dominated, but enough damage was done.

If the Republicans can't figure this out, they will continue to lose.  Which is fine with me.  Either major party falling is OK with me, I hate the 2 party system.

[Conan71]

Libertarians, to gain a more mainstream standing need to drop pot legalization as being an official platform issue if they want to be taken serious.

My views most definitely are more libertarian than what the GOP stands for now.  Long before this election, I'd thought about re-registering as "un-affiliated" but hate to give up my right to vote in the primaries for our national elections since our national votes usually go GOP (at least since Boren and Jones retired).

I'm still not sure I won't change to (I).  The GOP really doesn't represent or act much like what I believe in anymore.

[swake]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

Libertarians, to gain a more mainstream standing need to drop pot legalization as being an official platform issue if they want to be taken serious.

My views most definitely are more libertarian than what the GOP stands for now.  Long before this election, I'd thought about re-registering as "un-affiliated" but hate to give up my right to vote in the primaries for our national elections since our national votes usually go GOP (at least since Boren and Jones retired).

I'm still not sure I won't change to (I).  The GOP really doesn't represent or act much like what I believe in anymore.

The GOP is having a crisis of faith, literally. Fundamentalists have largely taken over the party and they really only give election time lip service to to Reagan/Buckley/Goldwater style classic conservatism.

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by swake

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

Libertarians, to gain a more mainstream standing need to drop pot legalization as being an official platform issue if they want to be taken serious.

My views most definitely are more libertarian than what the GOP stands for now.  Long before this election, I'd thought about re-registering as "un-affiliated" but hate to give up my right to vote in the primaries for our national elections since our national votes usually go GOP (at least since Boren and Jones retired).

I'm still not sure I won't change to (I).  The GOP really doesn't represent or act much like what I believe in anymore.

The GOP is having a crisis of faith, literally. Fundamentalists have largely taken over the party and they really only give election time lip service to to Reagan/Buckley/Goldwater style classic conservatism.

That's not really my entire read on it, I don't think fundies have "taken the party over".  I've not made it a secret I don't like how beholden the GOP has become to the Christian Conservatives.  There are issues which keep showing up in the GOP platform that need to go, i.e. morality issues like gay marriage and abortion.  I can see how it is appearing more and more that it's fundie-dominated because anything else the GOP used to stand for isn't happening in their voting records.

I think the real problem facing the GOP now is disaffected people who view themselves as "Reagan Conservatives" or fiscal conservatives who realize our Senate and HOR candidates went nuts after 2000 and lost all fiscal restraint.  They also allowed a President's entire agenda to go through basically unfettered.  In kind, President Bush never vetoed a bill prior to 2007, yes?

I'm not denying fundie agendas don't bother some of us in the GOP, but I don't really buy that they have taken over the party.

[godboko71]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71
That's not really my entire read on it, I don't think fundies have "taken the party over".  I've not made it a secret I don't like how beholden the GOP has become to the Christian Conservatives.  There are issues which keep showing up in the GOP platform that need to go, i.e. morality issues like gay marriage and abortion.  I can see how it is appearing more and more that it's fundie-dominated because anything else the GOP used to stand for isn't happening in their voting records.

I think the real problem facing the GOP now is disaffected people who view themselves as "Reagan Conservatives" or fiscal conservatives who realize our Senate and HOR candidates went nuts after 2000 and lost all fiscal restraint.  They also allowed a President's entire agenda to go through basically unfettered.  In kind, President Bush never vetoed a bill prior to 2007, yes?

I'm not denying fundie agendas don't bother some of us in the GOP, but I don't really buy that they have taken over the party.

I am going to admit to some ignorance here, because I have never been able to get a real answer. Why does a group who touts about fiscal responsibility and smaller government let moral issues be the basis of almost everything they vote on?

The reason I ask is to have a smaller government you, well can't make more laws that require more people to enforce and or regulate those laws. To that end, supporting more government regulation on marriage, abortion, and any other moral issue, requires more government. Maybe I don't understand the premise of smaller government. It also costs money to enforce these laws and ideals, furthermore your limiting rights of your citizens which to me is the bigger of the crimes.

Sorry if this is not the right post, but since the subject came up I thought I would asks someone that might know.