Remember Reagan Democrats? Ready for Obama Republicans?

[Grace62]

Geez, Romney has got nothing in Michigan. He's trying to paint Santorum as pro-union, even though his record is not worker friendly. Santorum is trying to do a dance with workers in Michigan, but it's not working.

“I have no problem with private-sector unions,” the former Pennsylvania senator said. “From my perspective, unions are frankly one of those median institutions and have served in America a legitimate purpose over time in the private sector. I don’t feel quite as warm and fuzzy about public sector unions.”

Unions respond:

Jack Shea, the head of the Allegheny County Labor Council, said, "I can't remember him being an ally to labor ever,” adding, “Just by voting against the minimum wage twelve times—it was seared in our minds.” [...]

Rick Bloomingdale, the president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, told me Santorum “will go whatever way the wind blows.” Bill Ehman, a local steelworkers union chief agreed: “I’ll be honest with you. He was pretty much like he is now. A political whore.”

http://www.dailykos.com/

Any reason blue collar workers should feel warm and cozy about Rick Santorum? I'm open to suggestions.
We already know they aren't into Mitt.

2012 - year of Obama Republicans?

[Ted King]

I don't know if that will work for Santorum (given his record, it seems unlikely that it will), but politically it's a smart move to at least try to portray himself as a blue-collar loving populist - especially in contrast to the economic elitism of Romney.

If he (Santorum) were to get the nomination, and if he could get traction with the blue-collar loving populist message, it would probably be one of the few things that could give him even a remote chance of beating Obama.

[SDGuy]

Grace62 wrote:
...2012 - year of Obama Republicans?

I fully expect that this year...I may even be one of them...the current "Republicans" are not the Party they were even 15 years ago. To be honest, I haven't been paying attention to the Republican Primaries and keeping up with who the candidates are - I figure by the time California's turn comes, it'll already be fait accompli...

[mattkime]

>>Any reason blue collar workers should feel warm and cozy

aside from the sweater vest?

[Grace62]

SDGuy wrote:
[quote=Grace62]
...2012 - year of Obama Republicans?

I fully expect that this year...I may even be one of them...the current "Republicans" are not the Party they were even 15 years ago. To be honest, I haven't been paying attention to the Republican Primaries and keeping up with who the candidates are - I figure by the time California's turn comes, it'll already be fait accompli...
Are you saying you might vote for Obama after voting for McCain in '08? That's awesome, if so. I'm running into that a lot lately.

Yes I absolutely agree that the GOP has changed a lot, but it's been a gradual thing. Was just talking about this with GOP friends, who feel like the choice they have is uber-corporate, nothing else matters, out of touch Mitt Romney, or an extreme social conservative with whom they also have little in common. There is a lot of disappointment to be sure.

[hal]

SDGuy wrote:
[quote=Grace62]
...2012 - year of Obama Republicans?

I fully expect that this year...I may even be one of them...the current "Republicans" are not the Party they were even 15 years ago. To be honest, I haven't been paying attention to the Republican Primaries and keeping up with who the candidates are - I figure by the time California's turn comes, it'll already be fait accompli...
You're a Goldwater styled repub - right? Geez, this is amazing to hear. But I suppose a lot of CA repubs (fiscally conservative while not being insanely socially conservative) will be leaning the same way if it comes down to Obama vs Santorum.

[SDGuy]

hal wrote:
...fiscally conservative while not being insanely socially conservative...

That's pretty much it in a nutshell - the "Republicans" decided to jettison even pretending to be fiscally conservative years ago, and I don't believe religion belongs in politics - so, today's "Republicans" don't leave much left to offer...oh, that and being a Federal Employee also sways things a bit...

[BCam]

Let me relate a personal story on this subject of "old" vs "new" Republicans.

Years ago, back in the late 70s, I had the chance to become personal friends with a US Senator. He was a Republican, and I was not, but that didn't seem to matter much. He became quite successful in Washington. But after serving several terms, he decided not to run for reelection. I called his office and asked the obvious question, "Why?"

The answer surprised me. Remember, this was in the late 90s. He felt that politics was shifting to polar positions rather than consensus. People were no longer talking WITH one another to solve problems, they were beginning to talk AT each other. The work of the Senate was becoming more about political parties and less about the American people.

By chance one night, he met another Senator in the empty Senate Dining Room. My friend confided his doubts about what could be achieved in the Senate and why. The other Senator listened, and surprisingly agreed. Since the other Senator was a Democrat, and since he had been elected at the same time my friend had, he offered to not run for re-election as well.

"We came in together. We came from each party. We balanced each other out. Let's go out together." A hand shake, and history happens.

But the thing I have always remembered, and SDGuy has reminded me of, is that these two men saw the future roaring at them like a freight train nearly 20 years ago. They saw the futility of giving up consensus problem solving for meager political gain and empty talking points. These two men went to Washington intent upon doing good for their country. The system began to change in such a way that they could no longer meet the obligations of their Senatorial oaths. These men had the clarity to understand what was happening and what was going to happen. They also had the courage to not play that game.

These men are true American heroes.

PS: For those of you with HBO ...

On last night's "Real Time with Bill Maher", author Alexandra Wentworth talked about growing up in Washington DC as a young girl in the late 60s/early 70s. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton now lives in the same house Wentworth grew up in. Wentworth told a story about Henry Kissinger giving her piggy-back rides while swimming in their backyard pool. Yes, that Henry Kissinger. The man, Alexandra's mother had warned her and her brothers about, who had tapped their phones fearing their father might be a spy for England. But that was back in the day when you still could hold separate your "professional" life and your "personal" life. Back in the day when people talked WITH each other at cordial cocktail parties and backyard BBQs, not AT each other via sound bites on cable TV and blogs.

Bottom line, yes, all politics has changed in the last 20 years, but the Republican Party sold its soul to the religious right for political gain - and what we have now is the result.

[Acer]

Is the soul-selling even handed, as in the Dems and the Repubs are equally polar? I submit that it's the Repubs that went polar. Ted Kennedy in his worst days was never as intransigent as today's run-of-the-mill Republicans. The most liberal thing the Dems have done in 30 years is Obamacare, and that was a retread of a Republican plan.

Anyway, I'm for finding the solution that solves the problem, if it's a liberal or conservative solution, so be it as long as it works. What I absolutely detest is when the facts about a problem are bent, to put it politely, to support a pre-determined solution. For example, top-down government is bad, addressing global climate change will require top-down government to address, therefore "global climate change is a lie."

[Grace62]

Acer wrote:

Anyway, I'm for finding the solution that solves the problem, if it's a liberal or conservative solution, so be it as long as it works. What I absolutely detest is when the facts about a problem are bent, to put it politely, to support a pre-determined solution. For example, top-down government is bad, addressing global climate change will require top-down government to address, therefore "global climate change is a lie."

Amen to that.

an article on this topic that might resonate:
How Mitt's emotion deficit is doing him in


Two reasons Mitt Romney can't get traction with the GOP:

1. His history of using evidence instead of partisan politics to make decisions, as with "Romneycare."

2. The fact that he doesn't hate liberals enough. He doesn't hate liberals at all, he's not that kind of emotional thinker. But he knows he has to do that hate talk in order to excite the base, and that just makes him look worse, because it's fake.