The American Spectator

Reader Mail

The Short Goodbye

11.13.06 @ 12:01AM

(Page 2 of 5)

Mr. Hogberg has present an interesting article. I do not doubt his migration stats in the least. I would, however, suggest a different and more realistic interpretation. Yes, folks do often leave the high tax and cost of living solid blue states for the lower tax and lower cost of living, usually more red or purple states. That is certainly what has happened here in New Hampshire. I would dispute, however, that the new arrivals benefit the GOP. More often than not, these folks are just as liberal as they always have been. The result is a fairly solid red state moving toward the Dems as the new arrivals demand the same services and policies that they had where they used to live and work. They, of course, want that all while maintaining the new low taxes and cost of living. It certainly has happened in New Hampshire, which is now really a blue state. It certainly happened in Oregon with the refugees from California. I would argue that is also why Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Montana, Wyoming, etc. are now no longer solid GOP bastions up and down the ticket. As for Florida, the solid Democrat areas are majority populated by the refugees from the high tax northern and rust belt states (see Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Palm Beach, etc.).

I maintain that this migration that Mr. Hogberg notes is decidedly NOT an unmixed blessing.
-- Ken Shreve

As long as self-described conservatives vote for liberals (23% for ultra-leftist Sherrod Brown in OH) and chameleon "conservative" Democrats (leftist in conservative verbal drag) the conservative movement is a sham. Those so-called conservatives who voted against Santorum, Talent, Allen, Burns and DeWine are either totally ignorant or so juvenile that they have put the country's safety in the hands of Muslim appeasers.

For those who think Arkansas is a "red state" wake-up and look at who runs the state. Arkansas is a solidly blue state. It may vote for Republican Presidents, but the state is a bastion of corrupt tax and tax Democrats. As far as 2008, if the GOP follows the lead of the testosterone challenged Nation Review and jumps on the McCain bandwagon we're doomed to seeing Rodham-Clinton/Obama in the White House.
-- Michael Tomlinson
Crownsville, Maryland

The last thing the Republican Party should do now is despair. This is only a house-cleaning and brighter days will return (there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and no it isn't the headlight of an oncoming train). Americans in general are "against the war" in Iraq not because the U.S. was wrong in deposing Saddam, but because it has taken so long and cost so much and we lost some damn good people, without an end in sight. If military operations in Iraq had been more aggressive, focused, and ruthless, and had we kept 300,000 (or more) ground troops in Iraq instead of 140,000 this mess would have been mopped up a long time ago and the President's poll numbers would have been sufficient to carry the day on November 7. This is hardly a liberal position. In reference to Don Rumsfeld, we needed another MacArthur, but got another McNamara with predictable results.

Americans in general, and conservative Americans in particular, were mad as hell at the Republican Party prior to election day and the Republican leadership has only itself to blame. I have voted Republican in the past because I wanted social security reform, tax cuts, fiscal restraint, a balanced budget, accountability and CHARACTER in my elected representatives. I instead received a half-assed effort on social security, tax cuts that will expire in a few years (never to return, either), runaway spending, an ineffectual and incompetent Speaker of the House and a blatantly corrupt House Majority Leader, a Senator who pledged "term limits" when first elected (in 1988) and now running for his fourth term, naturally (of course) found to be in bed with a sleazy lobbyist, a senior Republican congressman cruising for gay sex with teenage pages, and only a partial victory in our quest for sanity on the Supreme Court. The worst of it, though, was the sense that the powers-that-be in the Republican Party didn't even care to listen.

We just need to get back to basics and demand that Republicans who win our vote should act like Republicans once they arrive in Washington. As far as the new Senate is concerned, remember that there are a lot of liberal Democrat Senators in conservative states who are up for re-election in 2008 and 2010 and they will be facing the electoral wrath of conservatives who are "down" (at the moment) but not "out" by any means.

And, as for Virginia Senator-to-be James Webb, if history is any guide he'll get mad at some perceived slight and resign in protest (again) after a few months in office. Some things never change.
-- Daniel McNamee
Somerville, New Jersey

The pitcher has thrown the ball, it's a real slow hanging curve ball. Newt hasn't even chosen his bat yet, but he will walk up to the plate and knock it out of the park. He's waiting to see the nonsense the Democrats propose, and how far south the economy goes before he makes his move. I'd be willing to bet my nice home in the suburbs that Newt will be the next Reagan. He's the smartest man in the room, and he will take Hillary down with no problem. Keep your chins up.
-- John P.
Elmhurst, Illinois

DEAR JOHN
Re: Philip Klein's Leave Boehner Behind:

I write in agreement that we should have no talk of compromise with the Democrats at this point. Bush has gone wobbly and Cheney is muzzled. Supporting Mike Pence is a good move, it will definitely consolidate the base and keep our ideology pure. We should stand on principles not pragmatism. Who gives a damn if the American voters just overwhelmingly decided to throw us out of power. We all know, but don't want to speak it too loudly in public, that the average American watches too much of the wrong kind of television. It's like Rush said the other day, they weren't "ideologically prepared" for the conservative revolution and No Child Left Behind isn't going to help them get any smarter and vote for us. Democracy is nice, but last Tuesday's election clearly demonstrated its limitations. Does it really have to have a place in the conservative agenda?...
-- Pablo Americano
(Paul Griffin)

That Mr. Boehner even believes that he should be minority leader indicates that the Republicans not only have lost their way, but that they, like their opposition, believe that Americans have no memory. Have we reached the point where neither the Republicans nor Dems can do anything but insult us with such in-your-face, arrogant, lame choices?
-- C. Kenna Amos
Princeton, West Virginia

Mr. Klein makes a very convincing case for leaving John Boehner behind when the new GOP leadership takes over in January. I am totally convinced. I am considerably less sanguine about giving the Minority Leader post to Mr. Pence. Mr. Klein makes note of Mr. Boehner being a leader at the time that the education bill will come up for re-authorization and his conflict of interest on the issue. Mr. Pence has the identical type of conflict on the immigration issue. He is the author and dedicated devotee of an illegal alien amnesty program that he is trying to deny is amnesty at all. Surely we can find someone with the fiscal conservative principles and small government inclination, but without the sell out on illegal alien amnesty.
-- Ken Shreve

This guy is a total loss, If the Republicans go with leadership of his caliber again you can begin to assume right now that the best we are looking at for the future is 2016. Specter, Pompous Giuliani, RINO McCain, Boehner, Romney, and a few other jerks who think they are Presidential bound had better join the Democrats, they sure as hell will not be voted for as Republicans, never again. If they did not get the message this year they certainly will in 2008.
-- PapaMac (Gordon Macaulay)

You are exactly right, he is the problem. Thanks for pointing this out. If we had more pences, we would need few fences. If you get my drift.
-- unsigned

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Taxes, Education, Health Care, John Boehner, Bill Clinton, Television, Social Security, Environment, Constitution, Law, Supreme Court, Military, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, NATO, Africa, North Korea, Conservatism, Immigration, Energy, Oil