Why do Republicans run from squirrels? Because they’re nuts… But if Republicans were to ask me for advice to fix their party, …. this is what I would tell them…..
As Republicans, they need to do three things to get back on track. Number one, they have got to stop defending the kind of spending and out-of-control spending that they would never tolerate on the other side. You know, when voters are saying that they trust Democrats more to cut their taxes [and] control spending, that tells everyone that something is wrong with the Republican Party. They’ve got to match their actions with their rhetoric.
Number two, they’ve got to stop defending the kinds of corruption they would rightfully criticize in the other party. The week before the election, their most senior senator got convicted on federal charges – and that’s only the latest example. Each time that happens it tells everyone that something is wrong with the Republican Party. Again, they’ve got to match their actions with their rhetoric.
Number three, they have got to be the party that offers real solutions to the problems that American voters, American families are worried about. They don’t need to abandon their conservative principles; they just can’t be the ‘party of no.’ Instead they need to offer real solutions on how to make health care more affordable, and on the economic challenges facing families, as well as on the international threats.
If they want my help, hopefully they can find someone Republican enough in Bridgeville or Senate District One of Wilmington, whose actions will prove the wisdom of these words…
kavips 
16 comments
Comments feed for this article
December 15, 2008 at 8:06 am
anonone
There is no wisdom in those words. 66% of repubs still think Bush is doing a good job. Palin has massive party approval.
You can’t take the blue from the sky, kavips. The repub party will always be what it is, no matter what you wish, dream, or hope it could be.
Give it up. As James Carville said, “When your opponent is drowning, throw the son of a bitch an anvil.”
The repubs deserve nothing less.
December 15, 2008 at 2:09 pm
David
Gov. Palin has massive approval because she is good. She is everything an objective person could want in a leader.
Let’s get to the post. After the first line, I questioned whether to take my time to read it, but I did. I agree with it. I would take exception that the Republicans defended any corruption especially Senator Stevens. I fault Republican voters for not dumping him in the primary because the nature of the evidence suggested a conviction was likely (the Dems in LA did the same with Jefferson to their loss). It was not like Delay’s case where he would likely not be convicted. I think the nature of the evidence counts. Show me the defenses of Stevens and I will go along with that one as well.
I think some Republicans abandoned changing the system thinking they were better than the Democrats. We can control it better. They found out that they were people with the same weaknesses the Democrats had before them. We have to change the system not just the people. President-elect Obama seems to understand that, but I don’t think enough others in either party do to have fundamental reform.
I do believe we need a vibrant two or more party nation. In fact, I think we work better with multiple parties beyond two. The GOP has failed itself and the American people in the ways you listed and those are just for starters.
December 15, 2008 at 3:22 pm
anonone
“Gov. Palin has massive approval because she is good. She is everything an objective person could want in a leader.”
Except honest.
Except experienced.
Except educated.
Except intelligent
Except having any integrity.
Yes, I can see how she is the perfect repub leader for you.
December 15, 2008 at 6:24 pm
David
Her honesty is beyond question. Her intelligence does not need to be defended.
Superior education credentials have never been a leadership credential–in fact it has absolutely no bearing. A person should be intelligent and educated either by research or schooling, but how they get the education is not what matters. Was Gates a great business and technology graduate? Look at our best leaders and our worst. You will find no relation between the two. Who did a better job affecting change Kennedy or Johnson? Who got Johnson into Nam? Kennedy’s brain trust. Lincoln or Buchanun a better President?
As for her integrity, I would compare it to any of her critics. She is attacked by the slime of politics and you believe it over every objective evidence because of your ideological bent. It is ok to say that you don’t want her because she is wrong on the issues as you see them, but don’t pretend it is anything else.
December 15, 2008 at 10:41 pm
anonone
She lied constantly throughout her campaign. A bi-partisan report found that she abused her power as governor.
Lincoln was incredibly well-educated. He could debate for hours. When asked, Palin couldn’t recall a single thing that she read. She can’t speak without a teleprompter or note cards.
You can have her, and I hope that she is your nominee in 2012. You deserve her.
December 16, 2008 at 3:44 am
kavips
David, she spent $290,000 of Republican donations, that is money people like you gave to help Republican candidates…. on costumes and jewelery. Is that really what one would expect from a honest person?
She traipsed around strangers meeting her in a hotel room, wearing nothing by a towel…. Is that really what one would expect from a honest person?
Is equating Putin looking outside his window and seeing Alaska…”oh, hi there Alaska” count as intelligence that does not need to be defended?
Is not understanding the simple question, “what have you read” a trait we wish all our children to be guilty of? If so, let’s put it on our DSTP.
You can defend Sarah Palin as being hot. You can say she has nice legs for a women of her age. You can say she looks a lot like Tina Fey, all of which are rather flattering… None of those could have been said by your presidential candidate…
But with all the facts now in the open… you can’t say what you just did:
Her honesty is beyond question. Her intelligence does not need to be defended.
And be considered to be any more relevant than Baghdad Bob…………………..
December 16, 2008 at 7:27 am
kavips
And…………………
not even her former running mate…. John McCain…. would give his support to Palin if she were the nominee..
“I can’t” support Palin for President.” he said when asked yesterday…….
December 17, 2008 at 9:20 am
Mike Protack
Let’s see, Biden is a serial liar and plagiarist, Carper has embraced domestic violence, Baker does nothing about the murders in Wimington, Minner as been asleep for how many years?
I willingly accept criticisms on the GOP but come on, the state is a mess and who runs the place? The Democrats.
December 17, 2008 at 7:15 pm
kavips
Let’s see in return Mike… On Biden, …. you called him a serial liar and plagiarist? If you wish me to make it public knowledge… I, who has often been flattering of your campaign, can readily point out to the masses reading this exactly where you too are guilty of those traits. … Neither of those traits are a sin. In fact, as you well know, both are part of the political territory, especially now, when all items are recorded live… AS I SAID, it comes with the territory… But Biden has decreased crime across the entire United States of America, Biden has given abused women a chance at real life, by increasing their right to protection from abusive men… Biden has been there to call out foreign policy mistakes, using his expertise to one, calm the Balkans, and two, warn us all a long time ago that the United States was headed for disaster in Iraq.
Carper embracing domestic violence? Prove it. Remember you said “embracing”…. Prove it… (We all know you can’t) Not even Ms Jane Brady could… all she had was a police report … which gets filed over every call that comes in… and which read the same way whether the spouse was almost killed, or got yelled at for interrupting an important phone call.. It could be either way… So prove it…
Your call on the murders in Wilmington, and on Minner’s four year vacation, both have merits.. And you did not remember to mention that Democrats still have serious flaws when handed the task of shimming open a desk drawer….
But…..
Compared to the sins of the Republican Party… basically that of destroying our economy and forcing us to use $700,000,000,000,000 of our tax dollars to bail out their troubled financial services … even these sullen Democrats might as well be saints….
December 17, 2008 at 9:36 pm
David
She didn’t spend any money as you alleged. The receipts show that it was spent before she would have had a chance and did not amount to what you said.
No one had a problem with those sums of money being spent on Al Gore to remake his image including money on an image consultant. Several Democrats and Bob Barr of the Libertarian Party did the same. President Obama gave lavish gifts including notebook computers and blackberries to his people and spent huge sums on lavish events and concerts to burn money at the end. The most important product you have is the candidate. I am not surprised some consultant was overly ambitious. How that reflects on her, I don’t see it.
December 17, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Mike Protack
Please read Celia Cohen’s book, he admits to the incident. Carper rode it out but he in indeed guilty. Ask Celia.
Mr. Biden. His 100,000 cops is a farce and yes a lie. At most 62,000 cops were manned up. The Violence Against Women Act was declared unconstitutional as a violation of the Interstate Commmerce Clause. Biden was dead wrong on almost every Foreign Policy Issue. Wrong on first Gulf War (against) , was he wrong on the second? (supported), supported partition in Iraq along sectarian lines (bad idea).
Mr Biden said with extreme confidence in two debates this year and last year Sen Obama was not ready to be President. Was he wrong or the usual Joe bluster?
I appreciate your post but as I said Democrats have run this state for years and I would like to hear one area which is going well.
December 18, 2008 at 8:38 am
kavips
Replies:
On Carper: remember you said “embraces”. The time frame you referred to, is twenty seven years ago. Just out of curiosity, I did a flight check around my house and saw nothing in the house older than twenty seven years, that still had any relevancy…
Unfortunately I could find no reference in Celia’s book. In fact, I could not even find Celia’s book. If you own it, apparently you were its sole buyer.
As to Biden number of cops employed, it depends upon whom you want to listen to… The fake think tank, often known by their other name as the Heritage Foundation, puts the number of new cops at 39,617. Yet in 1999 the Justice Department declared the 100,000 cop had been hired.
Therefore the 100,000 target cannot be considered a farce, under the 34 Street Legal Doctrine, which states if a Federally run department endorses a fact, then public opinion can agree not to override that distinction…
The core of the difference is how one wants to determine what “is” means. The Heritage foundation chose to calculate the “normal growth of police forces” that may, or may not have occurred, based on their complicated formula which they cooked up themselves, and subtracted that inflated amount from the numbers of actual police working.
The GAO, came out with an estimate of 88,000 additional officer years were added by Biden’s plan. What is uncontested is that crime dropped during the tenure of the plan, and began to rise after its expiration.
Of course those who stand to lose greatly if Biden and the Democrats are proven right, steadfastly argue that other factors such as the growing Democratically induce economy may have had a bigger influence on lowering crime across this nation…
Likewise your statement on Biden’s Violence Against Women Act being declared “Unconstitutional” is misleading. The proper statement should have read that one section of that act, 13981 was declared unconstitutional. Understanding why requires a brief synopsis of the case that brought it before the Supreme Court.
The case resulted over a college football teams gang rape of a young women. A guilty verdict would have eliminated that teams chance of a bowl bid. It was not a case of erroneous accusations, for all the defendants admitted to doing the crime. In fact, they admitted to knowing at the time, that it was a crime. But in that section of Virginia, the ranking of their local team takes precedence over any woman’s rights,… “she wasn’t killed or anything… just had a little sex, that’s all…” and the suit was thrown out. On appeal the verdict was for the woman (as it should be). That again was overturned as Unconstitutional by the Federal District Court of the Fourth District. The Supreme Court, overseen by Rehnquist, simply upheld the fourth court’s decision, by a vote of 5-4. At the core of their argument was the delineation of the power possessed by state courts, and by those overseen by the Federal Justice Department.
If the Federal courts started interfering on rape cases, what limitations would exist to keep them from moving in on those other crimes, given under authority of the US Constitution to be decided solely by the states?
By one vote, the Court felt the slippery slope approached by the Violence Against Woman’s Act, could lead the way for more Federal intrusion into the lives of everyday Americans.
When phrased that way, even I can agree with their decision… But in reference to your original statement, that the court struck down this one clause, does not make Biden a liar or a plagiarist.
And finally, Biden’s statement on Obama, as not being one ready for the presidency? At the times both statements were both made, I too concurred they were true… (All we had to go on was one debate in Nevada in which Obama did not do well.) Obviously from the magnificence with which he has responded to the Republican induced financial crises, even while he is still off duty, and the tremendous choice of talent he has surrounded around himself, it is obvious from the vantage point just one year later, that both myself and Biden were premature in our judgments….
As too the one area of State business that is going well, we have only to look at last years elections and see the entire eradication of the Republican Party as a force in the State of Delaware…
That is the bright star on an otherwise gloomy tree… Made gloomy I might add by the Republican endorsement of corruption and mismanagement within the upper corporate levels…
December 18, 2008 at 8:44 am
kavips
And David, this statement made by you:
She didn’t spend any money as you alleged. The receipts show that it was spent before she would have had a chance and did not amount to what you said.
is either an outright lie, made to stem the mass fleeing of party faithful over to the Libertarian banner, or one simply made out of total ignorance… Are you being TOLD what to say again?
December 19, 2008 at 2:59 pm
White Trash All The Way « kavips
[…] think….. They passed over Mitt Romney and chose her…. meanwhile David Anderson is still singing her praises…… […]
December 30, 2008 at 2:23 pm
David
Well, it is a fact. It has been published in mainstream media sources. It is a fact that she had no influence over the spending. She did not go shopping with anyone. It is an urban legend. The party spent the money before she was nominated. Most of the clothes were not in there sizes and never used by them. The reason most of the clothes had to be returned for sizes was because they weren’t there at the purchase.
Palin was the best asset the team had beside McCain himself. Just like Al Gore’s consultant dressed him, Team McCain wanted her to look “right”. Her image is an important part of the campaign otherwise why was so much media space devoted to her hair, glasses, and clothing. That was what they liked best. If the press thinks it is important, why blame a consultant for playing to it. No matter how much was spent, it would be money well spent certainly a lot better than the blackberry and laptops given away by team Obama.
December 30, 2008 at 2:29 pm
David
If you count police being transferred over to the federal side, we got close to 100,000. Otherwise Mike is closer to right than the Justice Department. Heritage numbers were a little low, but they were basically correct that the growth trends on the local level would have given 70% of the gain anyway. Afterall, most police departments were not going to hire people they couldn’t sustain. They understood that federal funding would disappear and leave them stuck with the bill.
As for crime falling, most of the crime stats were demographic. The numbers of young men who were in the age which commit most crimes were declining. The trend was predicted. You add to the fact that most of the rest of the crime drop could be attributed to the massive drop of crime in NYC and states which passed right to carry laws, it appears the crime bill did absolutely nothing but spend money.