Have the Republicans abandoned traditional conservative values?
825655
The Noe and Theo Cons have usurped traditional Republican beliefs. You have to wonder what is going on when the John Birch Society is more closely aligned with the Democrats on most issues. Everything bad in the world is Clinton's fault, except for the 8 years of Peace, Prosperity and a Budget surplus.
1168013
Are you kidding?\n\nRepublicans tend to be conservatives (though there are exceptions for sure)....\n\nIn general, conservatives want to "conserve" our Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and strive to keep the government close to the principles upon which it was founded.\n\nBeing a Conservative...I'd like to remove the Commerce Clause though!!!!!
801863
Seriously, that is one thing I noticed a long time ago about Republicans and part of what made me switch parties to democrat. \n\nThere seems to be this mentality in the Republican party to constantly blame ANYTHING or ANYBODY else you can for whatever downfall you see in the country at that moment.\n\nThat could be gays demoralizing our nation to those darn anti-patriot treasonist liberals. LOL
1054650
Traditionally the Republican party has standed for some great ideals.  They came up as a party that stood for a smaller government with less hands in the everyday lives of people.  They have conservative stances on the many moral issues; anti-abortion, anti-gay rights, etc. \n    In the last five years they have changed that face quite a bit. They are currently fighting for their right to wiretap any person's phone without a warrant or just cause.  They want to fund churches with tax dollars, which sounds nice, but there is a reason church and state are seperated, it is a slippery slope to ending up like a fundamentalist goverment like Afghanistan had in the Taliban.  They also are currently trying to amend the Constitution to deny gay marriage, preaching on the sanctity of marriage, but I haven't heard of any legislation to lower the divorce rate of heterosexual couples, so it's really just a front for the Christian conservatives trying to put the Bible in place of the Constitution.  During the current administration's reign the middle class has gotten poorer and the upper class has gotten more tax breaks.  Also the minimum wage hasn't been raised since Bush took office, but everything has gone up in price considerably.  The average minimum rent for a given city is now more than the monthly take home pay for a person on minimum wage.
80629
Small government, fiscal accountability, limited involvement in foreign  wars, slow acceptance of sweeping fiscal, environmental, social, and cultural changes.  I REAL conservative might be someone like ....Theodore Rosevelt or Grover Cleveland, or Hoover, or Coolidge.  The current occupant is NOT a conservative - not with how the Reagan principals have been betrayed and our nation looted.
734948
Yes.\n\nI've been encouraging people to get away from the Big Two parties for years.  And, this year, even though I'm the state PR coordinator for the Constitution Party, I ran on the Republican Party line (because the CP does not yet have a ballot line in Tennessee).\n\nThe GOP did not lift a finger to help my campaign, even though I stand for the same principles that they **claim** to stand for.\n\nThe Republicans use conservative Christians the way a wife-beater promises to "change".  Sadly, the conservatives respond the way the battered wife does:  by trying to "fix" the GOP, instead of getting a divorce.  It won't get better until the true conservatives get away from the Republican Party, which is controlled by the "forces of moderation" (read:  pro-abortion money).\n\nTrue conservatives will find a home in the Constitution Party.  This is especially true with the formation of the CP's National Veterans Coalition.\n\nHopefully, neither of the Big Two parties will have an occupant in the White House in the next administration!
778369
Most of the bands to day tend to lean liberal. Especially if a member of the band is huge on Animal rights.\n\nI do think the Beach Boys are Republicans though!
540693
No, it is not true.  There are people from both parties that do not believe in the gay life style.  However, there are more Republicans who do not believe in it, because Republicans tend to be more conservative and traditional in what they believe.
444113
It's the Republicans that don't like the U.K.. Not every body over here is Conservative. Most of them have a limited, down-home, red-neck, self appointed Christian attitude, since George Bush has been elected. In other words they are not very intelligent Mate. We don't like them either, So don't pay any attention to what they are saying. it's the blind leading the blind. America is going to vote Bush's Congress out real soon, and they will really start running their mouths then.
976267
I'm not sure because I consider myself still young at the age of 25 and have, since I was able to vote, been a conservative Republican.  The older I get I realize I don't care socially about several issues the Republicans do but could never bring myself to vote for a Liberal.  Only time will tell if my ideas or opinioins will change, but I certainly can't see that happening.
338649
Amen.\nIf you are a republican and don't want this war, then you're probably not a conservative republican.
526007
I used to be one of those thinking conservatives. I'm embarrassed to admit I was a Republican for most of my adult life. But with age, comes wisdom (for some of us).\nI turned my back on the Republican party about two years into the Clinton presidency. I got disgusted with the attempts to get Clinton out of office with one so-called "scandal", after another. When one thing didn't work, they went on to the next...for the entire eight years.\nIt's a wonder the man managed to get ANY thing done. Including a "bj".\nAnd yet, get things done, he did. I came to greatly admire the man for persevering those eight years.\nSo, yes. This former thinking conservative got tired of it a long time ago.
26079
Generally, the Republicans, but in certain areas, the trend is reversed.
614886
I think it's that the opposite of liberal is conservative.  Conservatives favor the ways and institutions of the past, and would like to revert to them.  And many republicans are conservatives.  Their ideal is therefor the polar opposite of liberals.  And no, I don't think there's anything wrong with liberals, both keeping an open mind and respecting the past seem like good ideas to me.  That's why I couldn't be a member of the press.  I make too much sense and am too respectful of other peoples opinions.
792300
You'll probably get a couple of different answers such as a former Dem that switched to the republican party. The definition I personally subcribe to is that a neoconservative or the "new" conservative is one that is further right-wing than Reagan, your exclusive, bible thumping, war mongering lunatics that point to what I call "pseudo-patriotism" as the guise for validating their Un-American behavior. The classic example being Bush and his criminal administrtion. So I guess it really depends on which definition you prefer.
945148
The Republican Party has acquired the same attitude most right wing political groups throughout recent history. The Nazi Socialist Party of Pre-war Germany, The right wing fascists of Italy and South America all expressed the jingoistic rhetoric so familiar to the "Family Values" the Republicans have pushed their agenda with for the last six years. They firmly believe that they know what is best for the rest of the people of their country and even the world. They do not try to take into account the knowledge of others, particularly educated people who make it their careers to know these things. They are so convinced that they know what the people need that they will not, and do not take the opinions of others into account, regardless of the expertise of these "other" people. If that is not the earmark of an aristocracy then what is. No matter what you call it, these people have pushed their agenda on the rest of us so often and for so long that it is a fearful thing to see them gain power again, because they will once again try to impose their twisted outlook onto the political scene and drive this country into another effort to resist change. Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Pearl some of the early archetects of the the Republican Neo-Conservative movement expressed that they needed an incident similar to Pearl Harbor (therefore, the 9/11 incident ) to give us the opportunity to bring the Country (USA) in the direction we want it to go. They wrote that 16 yeaars before 9/11. The definition of Time is "the measure of change." Change is inevitable in the nature of things. To fight it is futile. The dinosaurs, and 99% of all species that have ever existed have passed from the reality of existence because they could not adapt. Man is not exempt from that equastion. Liberalism is simply an expression that all the answers are not known. Therefore, trying to adapt to the changing political environment.is imperative, and trying to understand new aspects of the worlds' behavior is a constant part of a politician's responsibility. Failure is an option, it is always an option in politics. learning from failure is a large part of life itself. We must be willing to look for our answers among the peoples of the world. It might not be the best solution for us at this time but it might be the best when looked at in the context of the whole world. We are 5% of the population of the world using 30% of its resouses, how long can that last?.Instead we find the arrogance of the aristioracy constantly trying to halt the march of the political fortunes of the world and force it into its own perception of what is to be. This has driven us to enter into war with Iraq.with an ending that is nothing less then the outcome of the Viet Nam conflict. Total failure! They have not learned even the simplist lessons that cost us the lives of 58,219 of America's finest. Talk to those brave men and women and ask them if the current Republicans are not an aristocrocy.
1094737
That pretty extreme.\nBut does it really matter who's in power (demos or repubs) I can barley distinguish between the 2 parties anymore. After all look at our current president, he behaves a lot more like a democrat than a rebublican, think about it. The size of the government has increased exponentially, spending has went through the roof, he supports the patriot act & the gay marriage amendment, they even attempted to alter the constitution.\nWhat happened to the core republican values? smaller government, fiscal responsibility, lower taxes & family values. Crap, here in Maryland we have a republican governor in a democratic state, he tends to stay just right of the middle of the road, but still manages to stay true to the party's core values and I support him whole heartedly.