GOP Is Losing Grip On Core Business Vote

[TeddyKGB]

Source: The Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON -- The Republican Party, known since the late 19th century as the party of business, is losing its lock on that title.

New evidence suggests a potentially historic shift in the Republican Party's identity -- what strategists call its "brand." The votes of many disgruntled fiscal conservatives and other lapsed Republicans are now up for grabs, which could alter U.S. politics in the 2008 elections and beyond.

Some business leaders are drifting away from the party because of the war in Iraq, the growing federal debt and a conservative social agenda they don't share. In manufacturing sectors such as the auto industry, some Republicans want direct government help with soaring health-care costs, which Republicans in Washington have been reluctant to provide. And some business people want more government action on global warming, arguing that a bolder plan is not only inevitable, but could spur new industries...

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119127620102645595.html

[Vinca]

1. It had to happen eventually. Republicans are living under the same

conditions as Democrats. No healthcare is no healthcare is no healthcare.

[FormerRepub]

2. Well-deserved defection

The Republican Party sowed the seeds of their (hopefully) coming period of wandering in the wildnerness when they allowed social conservatives to begin calling the shots. Ronald Reagan disappointed them because he was smart enough to insist that Republican moderates largely retain control of his government. Bush II wasn't that savvy. G.W. has pursued what his dad referred to as "voodoo economics". I am so relieved that so many others are beginning to see more clearly what has happened to our country. I just hope it isn't too late.

[Joe1942]

24. they allowed social conservatives to begin calling the shots.

You've hit the nail on the head. The Arlington Group is in control of the RP. That's why so many of us have walked out and will be voting Democrat in 2008. The Arlington Group represents the Evangelicals who walked out of the Democratic Party to follow George Wallace and his American Independent Party. After Wallace lost, Dobson became a speech writer for Richard Nixon. Nixon gave them what they wanted, a Holy Crusade aka the War On Drugs, and they now run the RP.

[Aristus]

36. Welcome to DU, Joe1942!

:hi:

We welcome everybody! I used to be a soft, non-committal Republican, voting for Bush Sr. in 1988 and 1992. Since 1994, I've been a radicalized, hard-core liberal Democrat. We're glad to have you here. B-)

[riqster]

3. Go to the article and check out the graphs

Every one shows that Dems are perceived as better fiscal stewards than Reeps.

Also, this quote from Greenspan is priceless: Today's Republican party has "fundamentally been focusing on how to maintain political power, and my question is, for what purpose?"

The blind squirrel found a PILE of acorns there, right enough.

[Joe1942]

25. and my question is, for what purpose?

To establish an American Theocracy.

[riqster]

38. Some of them, maybe

...the rest just want power, or are lemmings.

[Rydz777]

4. I have suggested in other posts that the Republican Party is

going the way of the Whigs (their predecessors), i.e. extinction. However, this means that they have to find a new home, either a new party or drift into the Democratic Party and bring some of their predispositions with them.

There are already plenty of people in the Democratic Party who are stuck in the status-quo and comfortable with the present establishment, comfortable with globalization and comfortable with the neo-con concept of the U.S. as policeman of the world. I was disheartened when in the last debate the three leading Democratic candidates for President all refused to promise withdrawal from Iraq even as far ahead as the year 2013.

[Demeter]

5. Who Would Want The Stinking Rich, Amoral Capitalists?

They would have to develop some kind of tolerance, if not a social consciousness, and give up the Ayn Rand, and be taxed on their excessive wealth, to fit into the Democratic standards.


As they no doubt have discovered, you can't BUY yourself a ruling party, and you can try renting one, but in a representative democracy, you are going to HAVE TO look out for your fellow citizens, and if you don't, you can't be an American, let alone a Democrat. And the theft from the commonwealth will have to stop. The hoarding of capital will have to stop. The starving of labor will have to stop.

All those lessons that FDR taught will have to be learned and applied. Everything the Capitalists lived by was a lie, a trap that they have fallen into.

A Cognitive Dissonance moment of a generation.

[Joe1942]

23. Everything the Capitalists lived by was a lie,

72 million Democrats and only 55 million Republicans yet Republicans win. Maybe it's time to change your message.

[loudsue]

7. That's what I'm worried about, Rydz. With the defections to the DLC branch

of the Dem party, where in the hell can us liberals go to form OUR own party. The republicans have already spread like a cancer into our party.

It is LIBERAL ideas that break out of the mold, and come up with the type of ideas that help to support the PEOPLE that make up a country....ANY country. Conservatives are ALWAYS the ones that hold on to old ways, out of FEAR of change, even when the old ways are suffocatingly WRONG.

There is actually a good place in government for conservatives, because sometimes liberals want change just for the sake of change, which also doesn't work well. It takes THINKING, WELL EDUCATED people, in any country, to strike a balance between the old and the new. And today's republican party thinks stupidity, and lack of learning, (except for the wealthiest kids) are the proper "place" for the masses, so the wealthy can properly be served.

It is under LIBERAL governments, with education for all, that people tend to prosper. And now, it looks like we're just going to end up with all the old republicans in the Dem party.

Screw that!

[C_U_L8R]

6. biggest deficit ever

republican fiscal responsibility is more than a myth... it's a lie

[gratuitous]

8. Gee, the business have-nots are straying, too?

Well, in the relentless media narrative, this can only be good news for the GOP, and bad news for Democrats. Reason to be supplied later . . .

[Toots]

9. You would think they would be Gung Ho on Universal Health care

Why should that burdon fall on business? It would give business a huge huge huge boost to eliminate providing health Insurance for employees. With Universal health Care they would have a healthier employee base as well. People would be able to see a doctor more often and for preventive measures as well. I just don't get it...Propaganda works..

[TechBear_Seattle]

10. Which means...

That the Democratic Party will lunge even further towards the right in a desperate grab for those votes, leaving its once core constituency of labor, environmentalists, civil rights activists and other liberals even further on the "lunatic fringe."

Pardon me for not jumping with joy.

[Fredda Weinberg]

11. I'm more comfortable with saner voices

Pardon me for not indentifying with drama queens when political progress is possible with intelligent responses to real social issues.

[TechBear_Seattle]

12. Since when is kowtowing to corporate interests an "intelligent response"?

Since when is caving in to massive polluters, Big Pharma and the military-industrial complex? And when is turning away from environmental concerns, from civil rights and from diversity dealing with "real social issues"?

Crimeny, is it any wonder why liberals are abandoning the Democratic Party in droves?

[Fredda Weinberg]

20. Kowtowing is an ancient formality meant to smooth relationships

And if I saw HRC turn away from environmental concerns, civil rights or diversity then I'd share your concern. But she's been effective in NYS in public and behind the scenes so I'm not worried.

If you want posturing, then please demonstrate in someone else's name - for effective governance, Democrats must demonstrate grace while prevailing on the issues.

[feloneous cat]

37. However kowtowing in the modern sense is an act of submission...

And I've seen HRC ignore her constituents in regards to the war... She wants to open a bridge or plant a tree, great, but right now what is killing this country is the EXCESSIVE financial burden of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan... assuming that the a-hole in WH doesn't start one with Iran while we're sleeping tonight.

[Lasher]

26. Imagine the glass is half full.

The Republican party has been taken over by neocons and neoliberals. Most of them are happy there. They are the ones I would least want to join forces with.

There are Republicans who, like us, harbor many of their party's pre-Regan values: They want prosperity, oppose unemployment, dislike inflation, don't enjoy paying taxes, etc. Some of them have finally admitted to themselves that it is the Democratic party that best supports these ideals, with the exception of lower taxes. And it is clear that even on that issue, the borrow-and-spend-more policies of the Reaganites has been a total disaster.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20059-2005Apr1.html

These would be people like Senator Jim Webb from Virginia. I for one am overjoyed that he left the Republican party in favor of ours. This is the type of individual who would be most likely to come to us from the dark side, not the insane neocons and neoliberals. We don't have to compromise on our core ideals if we are joined by those who seek what we are promoting already.

To get a better understanding what Republicans used to be like before the disasterous reigns of Saint Ronnie and his disciples, please take a moment to check in on some of Ike's views here:

http://blueworksbetter.com/EisenhowerFlamingLiberal

[midlife_mo_Jo]

16. Agree. Let's see

This is about those business leaders who see the need for the federal government to do something about healthcare, the environment, the soaring national debt, etc. The article says they're more socially liberal.

I say "welcome."

I don't have a problem with capitalism. I just want more oversight and regulation, and a fairer tax code.

[Joe1942]

22. I don't have a problem with capitalism.

You need to get that message out. I've been a lifelong Republican. 2008 will be the first time I vote for a Democrat. There are thousands more just like me. Moderates and libertarians are fleeing the RP. You need to pay attention to why they're leaving the RP.

72 million registered Democrats.
55 million registered Republicans.
Republicans do not win elections. Democrats lose. Why is that?

[DrDan]

13. I guess they are finding the Dems are as easy to buy . . . . eom

[DinahMoeHum]

14. Guess they just don't like hanging around losers. . .

and the Republikkkan Party under Dubya has that unpleasant stench of loser all around it.

:kick:

[Beetwasher]

15. Idiot CEO's

Finally realizing that when Joe Schmo Public does well and has disposable income, he spends more money than than the top .1% and therefore Idiot CEO makes more money. Also finally realizing he will make more money by keeping his healthcare costs down and that ain't done by privatization because that means the healthcare companies are run by greedy, idiot, incompetent pricks like himself.

[CTyankee]

17. Excellent characterization!

I always thought that the business sector would be pretty receptive to universal single payer health care. The auto industry sees Japan whipping our asses and making money off their cars. They know what competition is and we ain't doing it!

[Tommy_Carcetti]

18. Wait a minute....

So the social conservatives are supposedly unhappy with the Republican party because they haven't pushed their agenda enough, and are threatening to go third party in 2008, especially if Rudy is the GOP nominee.

Now, on the other hand, the corporatists/Ayn Randists of the Republican party are unhappy because there's too much emphasis on the social agenda?

Is anyone proud to be a Republican these days? Is it possible for the entire Republican Party to implode into nothingness? And who would want the messy leftovers, anyways?

What if somebody threw a (Republican) party and nobody showed up....

[NewJeffCT]

21. Not really, no

I know a lot of Republicans that held their noses and voted Bush in 2004, and mainly because the RW media had so effectively demonized Kerry that they viewed Bush as the lesser of two evils.

[Bandit]

19. I think they are recognizing that Democrats are much easier to manipulate

They don't even have to Bribe them. Just tell them the mean nasty Republicans will say something bad about them.. That should get them to do their wishes.

[Pab Sungenis]

27. My prediction....

...within 8 years the Republican Party as we know it will cease to exist, to be supplanted by a "Conservative" Party, with the more moderate elements of the Republicans scattered amongst the Democrats and numerous third parties.

[maseman]

28. Combine this with the defection of

the religious right (announced yesterday they may support a third party candidate) could mean the end of power for Republicans for years, especially in the White House.

A very good friend of mine was a talk radio host who nearly invented the format 50 years ago. He died last December. He got me into the radio business.

One thing Joe would always say to me is the pendulum always swings back. HE was still alive and on the air during the 2000 and 2004 elections. When I was feeling complete doom and gloom over the elections Joe would get me back on track reminding me that the harder the right pushes to the right the harder the pendulum will swing back to the left.

Joe, I believe you were right all along. Wish you were still here to see it happening.

[catzies]

29. It was a myth to begin with. A myth that deserves to die. N/T

N/T

[AX10]

30. Some execs know that the GOP is bad news for the economy and...

want better for all, other execs just want to be on the winning side, that is all.

[MisterP]

31. translation: U.S. corporate masters ready to switch the color of their puppet

rare blue-furred donkey about to be strangled, taxidermed, "given TRUE life" by puppetteer

[Arugula Latte]

33. And they've got their hands up Hillary's backside already, so to speak.

x(

on edit: I mean that in the sense of puppeteering, you know, where someone's hand makes the puppet do the master's bidding...

[ryanmuegge]

32. Big business interests are far from fiscally conservative.

I don't believe this bullshit for a second.

As someone else has already said, the only reason they're defecting is because they want to be on the winning side.

[Arugula Latte]

34. Good thing for them all those minorities are jumping on the GOP bandwagon...

You know, Hispanics and so forth. That was the plan, right? :rofl:

[DuaneBidoux]

35. My favorite quote (and I hope dem strategists are reading):

Pew found that between 1987 and this year, for example, support for "old-fashioned values about family and marriage" had dropped 11 percentage points. The percentage of those who said gay teachers should be fired dropped 23 points, Pew said. Support for U.S. global engagement and "peace through military strength" also shrank.

But the number of Americans who share some classic Democratic concerns has risen. Three-quarters of the population is worried about growing income inequality, Pew found, while two-thirds favor government-funded health care for all. Support for a government safety net for the poor is at its highest level since 1987, Pew said.

"More striking," Pew concluded, was the change in party identification since 2002. Five years ago, the population was evenly divided -- 43% for each party. This year, Democrats had a 50% to 35% advantage.

[fightthegoodfightnow]

39. ***READ THIS ARTICLE IN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL****

It's amazing to see the WALL STREET JOURNAL say basically what everyone in DU land already knows.

The Republicans have lost it. My jaw literally dropped when I read this front page article in one of the most conservative communities in America.

[bvar22]

40. Easy to explain.

The CEOs of the MegaCorps have discovered that it is as easy to bribe the Democrats as the Republicans.