Not just a slim win, but a huge conservative victory.

[PanzerJaeger]

For you guys in other countries who might only be keeping up with the presidential election: you should know just how big a win this election has been for not just Bush, but conservatives in general.

We now hold the presidency, with a popular vote..

Weve gained a bunch of seats in the senate, which increases our majority...

Weve picked up some seats in the house of representatives, which we already had a majority in...

The power we have now is scary even to me... with the large popular vote, weve got a mandate from the people, and control every part of government except the judicial, and it looks like we will have the supreme court soon as well.

I even heard on the news about the possible death of the democratic party.. a complete overhaul of it. While i doubt that, its obvious the country has moved in a strongly conservative way, stronger than even i could hope!

This could be good or bad... if we rule well, the economy grows, and we win Iraq, then people will look at total conservative rule favorably, but if all goes to hell, we've no one to blame.

I just thought id bring this up, as the congress hasnt been discussed much here yet.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

With more power you'll just screw it up more and there will be a backlash. 8 or so years from now be prepared for a string of democrats.

[drone]

With more power you'll just screw it up more and there will be a backlash. 8 or so years from now be prepared for a string of democrats.

Not even 8 years. The congressional election outlook for 2008 is grim for the GOP. Hopefully McCain wins so it's gridlock, the thought of Hillary/Obama with large majorities in the House and Senate does not fill me with much hope.

[TinCow]

I think Iraq is the key for the Republicans now that they have won the election. Successfully resolve the situation there and they will likely gain a national consensus. If it continues spiralling downwards, the populous will quickly defect and things will got a lot worse at home and abroad. Let's hope for all our sake that they succeed.

[Thoros of Myr]

IF the democrats are able to put together a party that has the ability to capture the majority.

Just now they had every chance to succeed and failed quite badly.

[PanzerJaeger]

They say Reagan changed the Republican party forever, but after Clinton left, the Democrats went right back to their far left ways.

[Templar Knight]

just remember: Power Corrupts

but I look forward to four years of peace and prosperity

[Goofball]

just remember: Power Corrupts

but I look forward to four years of peace and prosperity

*coughs and sends a sip of beer shooting out of his nose*

I'm sorry, did you actually write that with a straight face?

In his last four years, Bush invaded two countries and rode a strong economy into the toilet. How (even in the wildest stretch of the imagination) does that equate to "peace and prosperity?"

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Now that was spoken like a true American TinCow. We need more people with your attitude. Lets get this war over so that we can go back to doing the things at home that need to be done.

[The_Emperor]

Now that was spoken like a true American TinCow. We need more people with your attitude. Lets get this war over so that we can go back to doing the things at home that need to be done.

Like planning the invasions of Iran and Syria? Well lets hope Bush tones it down a little this time around.

[Gawain of Orkeny]

I was complimenting Tincow on his being more concerned with the good of the country than partisan party politics. Take it as you like.

[The_Emperor]

Yes and while I agree that Iraq needs to be sorted out and the troops brought home, I seriously wonder what plans Bush has for the next four years.

But hey I have a right to be concerned after all Tony Blair is so attached to Bush our country will be forced to go along with any new ventures he plans...

It would be great if he decides to have a quiet Presidency focusing on domestic issues, but I am sure you can understand me being nervous about his forgiegn policy plans that will certainly effect us in the UK.

[R'as al Ghul]

I offer my condolences.
Just saw it all on TV...We had a one-party state in Germany, not too long ago.
It can evolve complete and utterly wrong.


R'as

[JAG]

Yes, you always need a strong oposition. Because over here the left wing party - labour - has had NO effective opposition Blair and co have been able to get away with things they should never have, simply because they have such power. I hope for the US sake, the democrats bounce back.

[Templar Knight]

well like I said power corrupts, I hope the Conservatives in Britain get a little bit better and stop pussy footing around

[TinCow]

Now that was spoken like a true American TinCow. We need more people with your attitude. Lets get this war over so that we can go back to doing the things at home that need to be done.

Thanks, I think what a lot of people forget is that we all have to live here. Regardless of who wins ANY election, we need to do our best to improve our nation and make life better. The only way to do this in a civilized society is to work with the system. This means cooperating with whoever is in power, regardless of whether you agree with them, and compromising where necessary. Right now, there is a great deal of animosity between the electorate on both sides. This serves no one at all. We need to heal the wounds and move on.

Those people who say they are considering leaving the country are cowards. The US needs everyone to buckle down and get to work solving our problems now. Stick around and help us, don't bail (physically or mentally).

[pyhhricvictory]

There is no need to leave the country, the DHS will "disappear" political dissenters soon enough.

[Beirut]

Well, I wish y'all Americans the best. Hope everything goes well for you. (Mostly because I live upstairs from you. )

Let me give you the street talk from here in Canada. What people here are saying, in general, is that they cannot believe how stupid the average American is for voting him back into office. There you have it, with no sugar coating.

Personally, I don't hold quite that severe an opinion, but in all honesty I cannot understand your choices. But perhaps this is how it should be. If we all thought alike, we'd be one country. For example, Kerry would have easily taken 90% of the vote had it been held here. That is the extent of our differences.

It's strange looking in from the outside and seeing Bush and what he is doing and has done, and your people's reaction to him. maybe I am beggining to understand, slowly, what you see in him (casting aside the propaganda and oblivious BS banter and sound bites that come from both sides). If I was to nail it down, it's the Average Joe persona of the guy.

I cannot be convinced in any way that Bush's actions in trying to find bin Laden and the war in Iraq are not complete failures in every way. But like the guy next door, standing there with a beer in his hand, promising that he'll finally build that garage "next year", which he's been saying every year, you want to believe him, and you really do hope he'll build it and you'll be happy to see him happy. Bush is that guy, a normal, full of faults but fun at a BBQ kind of guy. And Americans trust the Americanism of that hopeful effort more than the words of any fancy lawyer, who they would rather see drown than show up for drinks.

Bush is simple. And Americans crave simplicity. Not in a bad way, but in an old fashioned way. I don't think Bush represents accomplishment to the Americans, he represents hopeful effort, even blind hopeful effort, which is what so many of us live with every day. One look at Bush and you just know he's having trouble making it through the day just like everyone else. But he really does look like he's trying. And maybe he will build that garage he's been dreaming of. Next year.

In a crazy sort of way, I grudgingly admit that most Americans voted for Bush because they are hopeful. That ain't all bad.

[PanzerJaeger]

It was less his hopefulness, and more Kerry's weakness on defence. All the words in the world dont make up for that record.

And aside from that, the polls show that the #1 issue for the majority of americans was social issues! Who would have thought?

Americans dont like what the democrats stand for socially.. partial birth abortion, gay marrige, God in the Pledge.

It seems the american people still care about morals and values.. and thats solid republican territory.

[ToranagaSama]

Well, I wish y'all Americans the best. Hope everything goes well for you. (Mostly because I live upstairs from you. )

Let me give you the street talk from here in Canada. What people here are saying, in general, is that they cannot believe how stupid the average American is for voting him back into office. There you have it, with no sugar coating.

Personally, I don't hold quite that severe an opinion, but in all honesty I cannot understand your choices. But perhaps this is how it should be. If we all thought alike, we'd be one country. For example, Kerry would have easily taken 90% of the vote had it been held here. That is the extent of our differences.

It's strange looking in from the outside and seeing Bush and what he is doing and has done, and your people's reaction to him. maybe I am beggining to understand, slowly, what you see in him (casting aside the propaganda and oblivious BS banter and sound bites that come from both sides). If I was to nail it down, it's the Average Joe persona of the guy.

I cannot be convinced in any way that Bush's actions in trying to find bin Laden and the war in Iraq are not complete failures in every way. But like the guy next door, standing there with a beer in his hand, promising that he'll finally build that garage "next year", which he's been saying every year, you want to believe him, and you really do hope he'll build it and you'll be happy to see him happy. Bush is that guy, a normal, full of faults but fun at a BBQ kind of guy. And Americans trust the Americanism of that hopeful effort more than the words of any fancy lawyer, who they would rather see drown than show up for drinks.

Bush is simple. And Americans crave simplicity. Not in a bad way, but in an old fashioned way. I don't think Bush represents accomplishment to the Americans, he represents hopeful effort, even blind hopeful effort, which is what so many of us live with every day. One look at Bush and you just know he's having trouble making it through the day just like everyone else. But he really does look like he's trying. And maybe he will build that garage he's been dreaming of. Next year.

In a crazy sort of way, I grudgingly admit that most Americans voted for Bush because they are hopeful. That ain't all bad.

The problem you're having in comprehending our elective results is in viewing them solely from the point of view of the war.

Americans, dare I say it, have greater concerns. THIS fact is more probably what the rest of the world will find so incomprehensible.

Our *internal* politics and concerns weighed larger than a war, which while not going precisely as we all would wish, really isn't personally effecting us in the least. It's all about the personal. A 1000 plus deaths in a nation of ~300 million is, sorry to say, inconsequential. The only true personal concern for the American voter regarding the war is the monetary cost involved. Also, on a personal level, but to a much smaller effective degree, is "would opinion", but the true fact is that the good folks in the Red states really don't give a D about "world opinion".

So, it really came down to *personal* issues. Unless, a non-American can conceive of, and comperhend the *personal* issues of American, the re-election of Bush will be incomprehensible.

An example of the personal is Homosexual Marriage. This is an issue brought to the fore during this election year. Eleven states had Ballot Referendums on the issue, ALL 11 passed *anti-* legislation. Meaning the people of 11 states voted their values, which was against Homosexual Marriage. Note, ALL of those states were Red states, Bush states.

I only cite the issue of Homosexual Marriage, because it is the most glaring *personal* issue, while not necessarily the most important.

The point is to highlight the significant *personal issues* differences between the liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans. This election was about voting your personal issues/personal values, liberal vs conservatives.

The War, for Americans, frankly, was ancillary to these concerns, at worst, and at best, the War was representative of the Conservative and the Liberal.

Bush's election is representative of American majorily defining itself as Conservative, or to be truly accurate, America has rejected the *Fringe* issues, be it Homosexual Marriage or otherwise.

Moving this beyond the Homosexual, just for example, Secularization. Another strong *personal* issue. During the last few years there has been a growing Seculariztion movement; with a good deal of Secular legislation passed around the country. In America, a Secular nation, "Secularization* is being pushed to the extreme. Bush's election is representative of the Majority view against this *extreme* Secularization emanating from the Liberal Left. Again, this is a *Fringe* issue.

There are MANY other *personal* issue of greater or equal concern to Americans as the War.

Unfortunately, I believe the outside world is wholly unaware of Internal American Politics and the significance such to the American people. Consequently, the outside world will view Bush's election solely through the prism of the War, which is contrary to the American view.

It's quite apparent that Bush is *more* representative of majority *personal* issues and values.

Y'all need to stop viewing American through the prism of Iraq.

What I'd like to know is WHY do you all do so, that is view us soley through this prism, as if its all there is to our lives. As if the ONLY relevant and *resultant* differences between Bush and Kerry would be their posture toward the Iraq War.

[Idaho]

Lets get this war over so that we can go back to doing the things at home that need to be done.

4 years later....



Can any of you mods dig out some more gung-ho threads from 4 years ago saying that the US has a clear plan and it'll all be over by xmas?

If they can they will notice numerous posts from me saying that it is a major mistake and will lock the US and the whole region into a destabilising and bloody civil war.

[Kralizec]

I found this gem while looking through the archive, but I figured that the mods wouldn't like another reanimated thread unless there's something new to add to it *coughLemurcough*

The actual link to McCain's letter is here.

I predict that McCain will mince Obama if he's nominated, wich is fine by me. I'm not that opposed to Obama per se, I just think it's lame that most of the stuff he proposes could have come from any generic democrat, yet when he uses it it's suddenly a "message of change".

[Mikeus Caesar]

I predict that McCain will mince Obama if he's nominated, wich is fine by me. I'm not that opposed to Obama per se, I just think it's lame that most of the stuff he proposes could have come from any generic democrat, yet when he uses it it's suddenly a "message of change".

It's only because he's bla-

(USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST)

[Goofball]

The power we have now is scary even to me...

You're right to be scared. I'm glad to hear you say that, and I hope other conservatives share your concern. As a Canadian, I'm speaking from experience. In our election of 1993, we handed the reins of government almost in its entirety to the Liberal Party, handing them 177 seats in the House of Commons, compared to the 80 seats they had prior to the election. The Progressive Conservative Party, Canada's other mainstream political party, was reduced to 2 seats, compared with the 157 seats they had before the election. Not only did this reduce the PC Party below the amount of seats required for "official party status," but it meant that the Liberal Party now controlled 60% of the 295 seats in the Commons, effectively giving them a dictatorship.

Fortunately, the Liberals took a fairly centrist approach to governing, so there wasn't much massive, sweeping, social and political change as there could have been. What did happen was that the ruling Liberals developed a sense that they were above the law and as the ruling elite they could do whatever they wanted. Over the past 11 years, corruption has become an epidemic in the Canadian federal government, and with no real opposition party to keep them in check, the Liberals were able to keep most of it hidden until only recently.

What American conservatives now need to keep in the front of their minds, is that their mandate is much stronger on paper than it is in reality. Although you control all three branches of government, there is still 48% of your population that does not share your conservative morality. In fact, the number is probably much higher than 48%, because there are probably hundreds of thousands of voters who held their noses while they voted for Bush because even though they don't approve of his evangelical morality, they believed he was the President who could "protect" them from the evil terrorists. So to try to legislate conservative morality down the throats of the entire American population now would not only be mean spirited, but would also be political suicide in the future.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Jeez, how much power does the Republican party have? Not as much as you think.

I'm going to say this again:
THE DEMOCRATS HAVE ENOUGH VOTES IN THE SENATE TO BLOCK JUST ABOUT ANYTHING.

[Kaiser of Arabia]

More people voted for bush than any other president. That says alot.

God Bless America. On Election Day, I was Suicidal because I thought Kerry was gonna win.

[Don Corleone]

Please, Capo, STOP WITH THAT PARTICULAR TALKING POINT! If you want to play that numbers game, let me point out to you that Bill Clinton was 10 times more popular than George Washington. After all, he had 10 times the number of votes in his favor. Sheesh.

You know, to get back on point a little, this is the difference between the Republican and Democratic view of the court. Many, many many pro-life support groups would pay boatloads of cash for Bush to put in candidates who come right out and say they'd reverse Roe v. Wade, or any other legal decision that doesn't agree with their views. But the fact is Republicans pick judicially conservative (not necessarily politically conservative) candidates. They don't believe in mandating from the bench, they believe in restricting themselves, and their colleagues, to interpreting law, not implementing it (the executive branch's job) or in extreme cases, inventing it (the legislative branch's job).

And while we bring up pro-life/pro-choice, I think when it comes to the first trimester, the numbers vary widely with how you ask the question. When you get to partial birth abortion, or as the left would prefer to euphamize it (though I fail to see how it does) the dilation & extraction method, you get across the board disgust and contempt, unless of course you're a lobbyist for NARAL or you've taken their money. It really was shocking and enlightening to learn that most Europeans don't realize the abortion fight in this country isn't about the right itself, but the absolute & unrestrictable right. In this country, a school nurse cannot adminsiter an aspirin to a 17 year old high school senior w/ out parental consent, but a 12 year old can go get an abortion without her parent's knowledge. And, despite this fig leaf of 'the health of the mother', the American Medical Association, which is officially on the record as very pro-choice in the first & second term, has come out and issued a 'friend of the court' brief stating that dilation and extraction is never in the best interests of the health of the mother. Yet, unless a republican judicial candidate publicly acknowledges that this producedure is an absolute right enshrined in the constitution, they get Borked without a further word. Seems fair to me.

[Devastatin Dave]

Thought I'd dig up this thread since the fruits are ripening on the vine with the upcoming Supreme Court nominations. Yes, another victory for the Right. God bless America!!!

[Sjakihata]

lol - this thread is kinda old

[Franconicus]

Yes, God bless America. Now that the Conservatives control everything what do they do. Has the country done better since Bush was reelected?