Totally agree on the fiscal conservatisim

McCain said tax cuts for the top 5% he will pay for everything by eliminating earmarks

Obama said tax cuts for the other 95% and explained how he will pay for things via offsets

and not suprisingly Obama won

It remains to be seen whether Obama keeps his promise but if he gets close to a balanced budget like Clinton did I honestly see no reason any fiscal conservative would stay in the Republican party.

Enough of that I am 110% on board with McDonnell for governor

Two year of Obamanomics is all we need to re-ignite the base and welcome our dazed and confused bretheren of the left into the newly invigorated flock.

Buyer’s remorse will set in a lot sooner though.

I wanted to say this flag is as much a warning to over-reaching Dems as it is to those Republicans who have failed to heed the core tenants of this party:

fiscal responsibility, individual liberty, and government accountability

I think what is missing here is your target. I know that you have been disappointed by the turn the GOP took in the last 8 years, but I also know that the aspects of the GOP you disagree with are not limited to the big-government folks in the White House. They had plenty of support from the Republicans in the Congress as well.

Therefore, I would argue that your target is misplaced. Before the GOP can be the pirates on a liberal Congressional sea, the GOP needs to decide if it stands for big or small government, more or less spending, politicization of civil service jobs, or not, corruption, or fighting corruption. It seems to me that your first target should be ousting the individuals in your midst who run under the GOP banner but act like drunken sailors. Once you have swabbed the deck of these corrupt and corrupting barnacles it will be much easier for the GOP to find its bearings, form a message – which is supported by the membership – and attack the other party.

Until then all the GOP seems to offer is empty statements about the very issues you hold dear.

Novamiddleman, what I said was that the GOP needs to actually support candidates that will actually deliver on the promise of lower taxes and smaller government. What did Obama run on? Tax cuts for the Middle Class! That was an attractive “message” for a whole lot of voters. But … why would anyone expect the GOP to deliver on that promise when they failed to do so when they had the opportunity to do so – especially in Virginia and local politics? At least the DEMS offer voters “HOPE” for change. The GOP has already proven they will not deliver and they continue to back RINOs instead of CHANGING their behavior such that any voter might actually have any real reason to HOPE for change.

Sarah Palin excitied a lot of conservatives because SHE offered HOPE for change becuase she offered a TRACK RECORD of taking on the GOP and any other corruption she found.

J. R., I don’t think an apology from you or the leadership of the GOP is really important, nor would I believe it if offered. I am simply discussing the topic. I am pointing out my views. I don’t need an apology, I am hoping perhaps that those of you that want to stick with the losing path the GOP has been following might begin to reconsider the failed strategies of the GOP leadership and begin to realize that the GOP has to CHANGE the way they act – and they need to rid themselves of RINOs, instead of laying out a road map that has its destination as “more moderate”, (i.e. more Liberal) – to pander to voters that do not share the core principles of the Republican Party.

Here is a novel idea – how about convicing voters that the core priniples of the Republina Party are better than the Socialism, huge governmen, and higher taxes the Democratic Party offers?

How about convincing people that the GOP will actually deliver on the promised they make – after the election?

Having John McCain and george Bush ram through the Wall Strret bailout bill is NOT the path forward.

Votes matter.

So, I introduce Competent Conservatism to the fold.

This philosophy:

-is absolutely fiscally conservative, requiring a rate of growth of government no larger than the rate of population growth

-espouses a ruthless auditing of government for waste and pork

-seeks innovation in government to give people good service for less cost

-keeps its promises, period

-aggressively uses the web and other means to be instantly reactive and sensitive to the needs of constituents. This is important especially in the suburbs where people want less taxes but effective govt

-enforces laws and roots out corruption ruthlessly.

Thoughts?

If we’re moving right on fiscal matters, I think that’s a winning proposition.

I think you guys believe that if we return to our conservative roots we will start winning again.

This assumes one of two things.

1. Conservatives are staying home.
2. People that would normally vote Republican are voting Democrat

I find either one of those scenarios very hard to believe.

For scenario 1:

I don’t know any conservatives that would rather have democrats in power

For scenario 2:

If people are voting for democrats already do you think moving the party to the right is going to make them suddenly become republicans?

For me it doesn’t get any clearer than that

Go McDonnel

I think I’ve spelled out pretty clearly in my recent posts and comments that I agree with you, for the most part.

Stall’s defeat, though, had many factors.

Nope.

But they did:

1. Support unconstitutional regional taxing authorities in NORVA and Tidewater. Kilgore ran on a platform of creating regional taxing authorities, Kaine opposed them. Kaine got my vote because of this.

2. Voting for a massive increase in the state budget and spending.

3. Failed to provide a real solution for transportation that wasn’t really a speculative economic development scheme instead of traffic congestion relief and prioritizing state spending such that new taxes, tolls, and fees were always being supported by the GOP leadership.

4. Failed to amend the state Constitution to protect the Transportation Trust Fund.

5. Failed to reduce the size of the state government.

6. Supported a many RINOs and openly act ed like “Moderates” instead of sticking to core Republican Party prinicples.

Meanwhile the GOP and President George Bush also increased the size and scope of the Federal Government, running up MASSIVE debt to pay for massive Federal spending. That and spending billions to continue a war in Iraq that was more about spending U.S. Tax Dollars for “nation building” and not defending the United States from Terrorists – to include a failure to close our borders due to “free trade” that wasn’t really fair trade – and cost Americans jobs.

In addition, many Americans belive that President Bush lied about the reasons for “invading” Iraq (I still feel we Liberated Iraq, not invaded it, but I am in the minority with this viewpoint) and therefore he lost the TRUST of the American people in the GOP.

Meanwhile, special interests continued to get their way and it appeared to many Conservatives that corruption was allowed to become rampant under the watch of the GOP.

The same is true in Virignia with Dominion Power and rate hikes. Lobbyists seem to win and the citizens pay.

Locally, local governments raped homeowners by spending the equity in their over priced housing bubble homes, instead of lower tax rates to offset sky rocketing increases in assessments. And the General Assembly failed to cap the maximum increase to no more than a 5% increase each year.

The list goes on … but you get the picture.

Results:

2001 Earley was a conservative
2005 Kilgore was a conservative
2006 Allen was a huge conservative
2007 Senate Conservatives in VB/HR and others

Closer to home:

RINO Senator Marty Willimams was tossed out of power after 12 years – and with a HUGE war chest and Brian Kirwin as his campaign manager.

Conservative Tricia Stall was half heartedly supported by the sulking RINO side of the GOP and Brian Kirwin’s campaign attacks on Tricia Stall were used by the Democrats to help Senator John Miller defeat Tricia Stall. Pat Murphy changed sides from supporting Tricia’s campaign to supporting Miller’s campaign. Mike Wade was in open warfare with the RINO powers that be. Bob McDonnel and Bill Bolling did come to the aid of Tricia Stall, but the GOP as a whole did not rally behind her.

Why?

Unelected regional government being crammed down our throats by the GOP and the Dems, but the GOP was out front in support of the unaccontable Regional taxing/government agenda (SB 668 and HB 3202).

Why? Because of the money donated by the business lobby to buy a YES Vote on all-appointed regional government.

Face it, the 2002 and 2007 regional transportation train wrecks have a great deal to do with the citizens of Virginia firing the GOP.

You see, it wasn’t the sales pitch of the campigh that mattered to many of the “conservative base”. It was what the GOP did when they were voting that mattered.