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Bullying Behind GOP "Racist" Win
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Audra Shay, accused of endorsing racial slurs and hate, was elected to lead the Young Republicans yesterday. More shocking, reveals John Avlon, were the tactics: sexual innuendos, voter intimidation, near-fisticuffs.
The Young Republicans faced a stark choice at their convention in Indianapolis yesterday as they chose their next leader: a center-right twentysomething interested in greater outreach, or a self-described “true conservative” who is almost 40 and spent last week dealing with Daily Beast reports about her beliefs, which are, at best, often hateful, and at worst, downright racist. The delegates, in a vote of 470-415, chose the latter.
Perhaps less remarkable than the outcome–new Young Republicans Chairman Audra Shay bragged on her Facebook page that she had pledges from the majority of delegate going in–was how the vote played out. Yesterday’s election was closed to members of the press, but The Daily Beast has pulled together an account of the vote, and the runup to it, and the details are shocking. Some highlights:
- Shay’s opponent, Rachel Hoff, was the subject of an ugly sexual innuendo whisper campaign that questioned her reasons for supporting civil unions.
- Shay’s electoral slate, dubbed Team Renewal, battled desperately–some likened it to intimidation–and, ultimately, successfully to block a motion that would have allowed delegates to cast their votes by secret ballot, for fear they’d lose.
- Near-fistfights on the floor, and finally something of a boycott, as some of Hoff’s slate of candidates lower on the ticket chose to remove their names from the ballot after her defeat.
“They just took a vote that may have set the party back 30 years,” said the co-founder of HipHopRepublican.com, Lenny McAllister, speaking from the floor of the Hyatt convention hall. “They just voted for a candidate who has a demonstrated tolerance for racial intolerance. She has joked about lynching and then claimed to be a victim. As a black man, I still don’t see what’s funny about that.”
The Daily Beast’s revelations about the 38-year-old Shay over the past week–most notably, her positive response eight minutes after a friend likened the Obama administration to “a bunch of coons”–hovered over the convention, according to participants. "The convention was chaos because of the controversy," said one delegate. Her younger opponent, Rachel Hoff, became the reform alternative to Shay’s candidacy, but as Hoff got traction, an ugly online whisper campaign against her began. An anonymously built temporary Web site mentions Hoff’s alleged involvement in improperly notarized absentee ballots for South Dakota Senator John Thune, but quickly stoops lower. Hoff’s support for same-sex civil unions seems to be the real scandal, expressed in lil’ Lee Atwater tones:
Unfortunately, it doesn't end there with Hoff: As one of only a very few Young Republicans nationwide in favor of Civil Unions, Rachel Hoff attempted to convince the YRNF in 2007 to adopt a stance IN FAVOR OF CIVIL UNIONS. Although Rachel was not wearing a dress like her female counterparts, but her typical suite (sic), her attempt was met with ridicule and frustration. It was overwhelmingly shot down and left the idea in many delegates minds of: Why would Rachel Hoff support Civil Unions?
Note the all-caps for her stand IN FAVOR OF CIVIL UNIONS, a brave stance entirely consistent with the party’s stated belief in individual freedom (and well short of conservative icon Dick Cheney’s support for gay marriage). And then there’s the weird 1920’s-era anti-feminist dig at her for “not wearing a dress like her female counterparts.” And the last sentence, with all the subtlety of a Tom DeLay sledgehammer. It’s an exceptionally ugly piece of insinuation and propaganda.
Nevertheless, the delegates, ranging in age from 18 to 40, who streamed into the Hyatt Regency ballroom yesterday amid an atmosphere described by one attendee as “dark and tense,” said that Hoff, who served as director of media relations and led the Next Level slate, had a good chance to win. “Very, very close,” was how one delegate termed it in the hours leading up to the vote.
The process, it turned out, took about eight hours, and it was dominated by a parliamentary maneuver to cast ballots privately, rather a verbal roll call. (The irony that the “true conservative” slate was pulling a card check and fighting secret ballots, while they vociferously support mandatory secret ballots for unions, seemed lost on them.) Pandemonium ensued. Fistfights nearly broke out between the two camps, and a Hoff supporter from the Oklahoma delegation, who was handing out fliers protesting Shay’s Facebook comments, had to be physically removed. The high-stakes, high-tension vote reflected an awareness of its now-national implications, and the physical drama between the competing slates' supporters recalled the smoke-filled early-television convention of 1952, featuring skirmishes between Robert Taft's conservatives and Eisenhower's centrist supporters. “I believe that people were intimidated,” said North Carolina delegate John Ross. “Without a secret ballot, many people did not have the opportunity to vote their conscience.”
In the end, Shay, dressed in a sundress, trumped Hoff, who was dressed in a business suit. Calls for party unity were announced and ignored as many of Hoff’s slate then resigned their races rather than lose along factional lines or serve alongside Shay. Already there are talks of reformers, in protest, breaking off to form a new branch of the Young Republicans dedicated to restoring the GOP’s long-lost reputation as the Party of Lincoln. “I am not disappointed, I am not disgruntled–I am disheartened,” said Lenny McAllister. “As I look around the convention I see a room full of many honorable Republicans who want to move this party forward. But Audra Shay is not a leader, she is a divider. It’s a terrible message to send at a time when we have an African-American president and growing diversity across our country.”
John P. Avlon is the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics. He writes a weekly column for The Daily Beast. Previously, he served as chief speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.
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Jacob Bernstein is a senior reporter at The Daily Beast. Previously, he was a features writer at WWD and W Magazine. He has also written for New York magazine, Paper, and The Huffington Post.
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Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
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Jeff Madrick is a contributor to the New York Review of Books and a former economics columnist for the New York Times. He is editor of Challenge Magazine, visiting professor of humanities at Cooper Union, and senior fellow at the New School's Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis. He is the author of Taking America, The End of Affluence (Random House) and The Case for Big Government.
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John P. Avlon writes a column for The Daily Beast and is author of the forthcoming Attack of the Wingnuts, to be published in January by Beast Books. He is also the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics. Previously, he served as chief speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.
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John P. Avlon writes a column for The Daily Beast and is author of the forthcoming Attack of the Wingnuts, to be published in January by Beast Books. He is also the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics. Previously, he served as chief speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.
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John P. Avlon writes a column for The Daily Beast and is author of the forthcoming Attack of the Wingnuts, to be published in January by Beast Books. He is also the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics. Previously, he served as chief speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.
I am bitterly disappointed about the way this vote went--it's too bad they didn't listen to Meghan McCain! Audra Shay doesn't deserve to be the leader of the dog poop collection service in the park.
Note to Daily Beast--get a proof reader to look at articles before they're posted! Too many typos in this one!
The Beast ALWAYS has typos and errors in their articles. Honestly, I don't think anyone proof-reads.
Not that it's a BIG problem, I know what they are trying to say, but it seems a little 'low-rent'.
Sorry - "proof reads" is not hyphenated.
And "low rent" should be in quotation marks and a period should go within the last quotation mark.
Everyone is a critic.
i agree
@wndoom and Harry...
It's hardly fair to chastise JDK-JDK for his making a valid point about the need for proofreading in the Beast's posts.
It isn't being "schoolmarm-ish" or priggish or didactic to hold an on-line publication to higher standards of expression than you would those who proffer a letter to the editor (which is, in effect, what the posters are doing here in their responses to the "articles").
Many other readers, besides JDK, have voiced similar exasperation with The Beast's seeming lack of blue-penciling.
(Don't shoot the messengers.)
wmdoom, I always notice when someone shows some knowledge and interest in coccccorrect usage and grammar. It's refeshing. I just can't believe that so few know anything. I think of the thousands upon thousands of compositions I read when I taught English and journalism -- I marked every error.
In internet communications, I was always a bit on the side of being a gammerian, but after dealing with so many in articulates...
I 2 have lernd to h8 the correctness and joined the lo rent bunch.
@wndoom
While I certainly appreciate a bit of the old "grammar fascism" for basics that should be known, I'm rather less in favor when criticizing minutia and style. Placing punctuation marks within quotation marks is purely stylistic and is often dependent on geography.
All of you just wasted 45 seconds of my life discussing grammar. Please take it somewhere else.
Just one more nail in the GOP coffin. America will not tolerate a far right wing, or left wing for that matter, as a winning party. In over 200 years the success of any candidate or platform in this country has been proportionate to their ability to rule the middle.
And I'm all over Jessica's note to The Daily Beast here. Ms. Brown has put together a slick site that has been successful in a short time and that I enjoy. But the amazing sloppiness of the editorial work on this site takes it down more than a couple of pegs. It often reads with all the grammatical authority of a text message. Newspapers may be dying, but respect for the language shouldn't die with them.
There is no such thing as "Far Left-Wing" since that has now definition of ideals. Nobody is in politics is pushing for Muslim prayer in schools, or abortions for 13 year old girls without parental consent, or civil rights for plants and chickens. Or any other fringe issue that may considered left.
But there are people who want Catholic (oops I mean Christian) prayer in schools, abortions outlawed, and Military action taken to any country that looks at us funny. And of course no taxes ever. That "extreme" right wing is actively represented and encouraged by Republicans and the media.
ex brain,
There is indeed a far left in the U.S., it is the far left that endorses reparations for slavery (not gonna happen), abortions for minors without parental notification (this alongside not giving a kid with a headache an aspirin for fear of law suits). The far left is also the dim witted bunch that thinks that gun control stops crime when all the evidence points in the opposite direction, and that the 1st Amendment clause of "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;" should equal removal of all religion and references to God from the public square. As for your comment on taxes, you should review the Constitution of that as well. Congress (who is the only ones empowered to levy taxes, have the commission to "provide for the common defense and promote the general welfare" not to tax people in Nebraska to pay for a Woodstock Museum in New York. Only left wing liberals are so free with other peoples money.
StellaRay,
Perhaps you need a few courses on US government, since we do not have "rulers" here (except in the case of Obama who has more executive orders than most) we have a "representative democracy", which indicates that most of our citizens are "more ignorant than the average bear", in not rising up to protest being dictated to by a guy with less leadership experience than most Junior Non-Commissioned Officers ("Sergeants" to you civilians) in our Armed Forces.
xbainx,
Of course there is such a thing as "Far left." For instance, my favorite senator, Bernie Sanders, would qualify as such with 95% of Americans. He actually has the balls to call himself a democratic socialist----imagine that in these times. Sanders couldn't win a presidential election with the help of God himself, but he's smart enough and a good enough politician to have found a place outside of the center in our political system.
Thankfully that can be done, as it has been done by more than a couple of wingnuts. But neither Sara Palin or Bernie Sanders will ever be president of this country, and that you can take to the bank.
My point was that as long as the GOP is made mostly of Palin and her ilk, as they are today, they are a long way from regaining power. The media, with their need to create friction and contest would have you believe differently.
But yellow journalism is nothing new, and since the beginning, this country dives for the middle, no matter what kind of cockamaney crap the media tries to sell them.
Old soldier,
I would be so delighted to take more cases in US government, if I currently had the time or money. Luckily for me, I was once able to afford a college education where I majored in Political Science. Does that make me and expert? Nah. But I do know that no one who knows anything about the political history of this country is going to argue with my premise here. American politics are all about the drive to the center, always have been. And you won't find a poli-sci prof anywhere who will disagree.
Having said that, let's take on your next choice nugget. You called me on my use of the word "rule." (to quote myself: "In over 200 years the success of any candidate or platform in this country has been proportionate to their ability to rule the middle.") I'll give you this one, as indeed, a better choice of words would have been..."proportionate to their ability to SPEAK to the middle.)
But from here on, you careen off the tracks. Your idea that Obama has issued more "executive orders than most," finds no traction in the truth. In fact, Obama will really have to boogy to equal the number of George W. Bush's signing statements.
And as for Obama's credentials, I really don't think you want to go there, at least if you're looking to compare him to W, who stridently avoided military service of any kind.
...and talk about pissing away somebody else's money--what a hoot! Just for starters, the last time somebody looked, $12 BILLION was missing--not accounted for--in Iraq, and the belief is that it all went to Halliburton, Blackwater, and other Republican-oriented corporations.
And that's just the stolen part. A couple of hundred BILLION went to outsourcing the war to these same private corporations, much of it on the basis of no-bid contracts.
You know and I know, oldsoldier, that this is only the bare beginning of this story. I've been around awhile, too, and I heard Ike specifically warn us about the Military-Industrial Complex. And Bush & Co lay down for it like a hooker at the gates of an Army post.
And where do you think that Paulson's bailout (continued by Geithner, yes) money came from? The Rethugs fugged up the economy by ignoring controls and then used other people's money to bail it out.
The Republican DoubleSpeak hypocrisy is not to be believed.
You go StellaRay, I couldn't agree more. I'm a big fan of Bernie Sander, By the way, saw him speak in NYC at a Climate Awareness Conference.
To vhaircus,
I'm jealous. I have no opportunity to see Sanders here in the midwest, at least not yet. But I do listen to him almost every Friday on Thom Hartmann, who is equally brilliant.
In fact, both men have schooled me in facts that often silence arguments I have with blue dogs and the right.
As Jules Feiffer said many years ago, "... there is no such thing as a YOUNG Republican."
On the issue of sloppy copy.
Newspapers are dying, folks, because online readers want ever faster, free, 24-hour-news content but don't want to pay for it. If DB's copy really bothers you all that much either volunteer to work as a copy editor once a week or be willing to pay a hefty price for an Internet subscription. Otherwise, quit your moaning.
Like all great public services, the illusion of effortless perfection cost...
The best description I've heard over the years is, "Geezers in golf pants."
On the issue of sloppy copy:
How much does it cost in time and effort to use a spell checker? I appreciate the immediacy of online news, but even this reply was improved automatically by the built-in spell checker.
Minds do not all work the same. The grammar police tend to be quite anal and would tend to dismiss a brilliant essay for one misspelled word. They will whine at every extra consonant and misplaced vowel, but to what end. So that they feel comfortable in their little box knowing that everyone is doing things exactly as they are. I believe that in general it is a "conservative" trait, and that is typically why conservatives tend to walk in lock step on so many issues. Please comment and correct me if I am wrong. Does it really matter how you spell a word as long as it is understood?
One of my favorite quotes for the AR grammar police:
"It is a damn poor mind indeed which can't think of at least two ways to spell any word." Andrew Jackson.
I agree pencilpusher. My posts are not always perfect but I do make an attempt to check my spelling and check for typos, but then I'm just a commenter here. It's not my site, but if it was, I'd clean if up the typos, the spelling and the punctuation.
To Holland---If being a free source of news and opinion is a good excuse for sloppy use of the language, I'd rather pay and see the the correct use of our language preserved. (In any case, we'll all be paying soon, somewhere, somehow, because good investigative journalism will not survive this "free" model.) Furthermore, we learn by what we read in more ways than one, and I think publishers with integrity check themselves in all areas: facts, opinions and language.
And finally, to Etienne, I would not "dismiss a brilliant essay for one misspelled word." But the fact is, articles and essays on this site are often loaded with typos and incorrect spellings and punctuation.
Your opinion that this is a conservative trait is silly. There's not a lot of room on my left, politically. But I'm a great reader, have a love of language and appreciate the care taken by many to do it right. I try to learn from it, as I'm far from perfect in this regard myself.
"Does it really matter how you spell a word as long as it is understood?" I'll answer your question with a question. Would you tell your school age children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews the same thing?
And in my reply to your post, I made a typo myself, despite my efforts to check for them. But that is why professional proof readers are worth their weight in gold. Proof reading is a talent and an expertise. In my years in advertising we employed the best, because when we did it wrong, we always heard about it.
@Etienne: I am not a conservative. However I do find that misspelled words and poor grammar distracts me from the message being conveyed. I don't automatically dismiss the message, but it does influence my opinion of the messenger.
I'm thrilled. Republicans are nasty little thugs and now they can have a little (very little) pity party.
I didn't notice typos but I know from reading Shay's FB comments that she can't spell worth a ----.
LOL As a FORMER Republican I am laughing my tail off! They deserve what they get now and a bigger bunch of uneducated people are not to be found in this country.
Makes it sooooo much easier for Obama to mow them down in 2012! So I say GO Palin and the Racist Shay!!!!
For those unhappy Conservs out there? Whine all you want but your getting just what you deserve for attempting to make the rest of us live in your genetic pool of slime.
I've agreed with Jessica on her "note to Daily Beast" several times in this thread.
But it occurs to me that while I'm doling out criticism, I'm missing an opportunity to say what I really admire about this site.
So here it is. I feel very free commenting here, and have come to understand that only truly uncivil remarks will be scrubbed. This is a huge difference from another site I frequent and enjoy, The Huffington Post.
The Huff Po is the most strictly moderated site on the web. No swearing, although everyone finds a way around that----i.e. a$$ means you know what, and many other creative spellings that leave no doubt as to their intent make it through too, no problem. Huff Po also says no ad hominem attacks, although I've found the only place this rule is enforced is when it's against anything the Huff Po does. Otherwise ad hominem attacks flourish at Huff Po.
I have sent several e-mails to the editorial staff at the Huff Po, begging them to stop scrubbing every critique of their site, and I have done so as a fan of theirs thinking I'd want the same if I had such a good thing going. I also think that many of the moderators on that site have too much power, and remind me of the guy you run into at the airport who has just enough power to make you miserable for five minutes.
I really admire that Ms. Wilcox has left her comment section, comparitively, wide open. She has assumed, and I think correctly for the most part, that most people who take the time to read her articles and comment, are not children who need rules that can't really be enforced anyway, and that she allows an honest back and forth, damn the torpedos.
In short, I SO APPRECIATE that I can make a critical statement about this site and not find it scrubbed. So Ms. Wilcox, despite my aggravation that your site is worth more than the proof reading you alot to it, let me just say you compensate beautifully in other areas.
Stella: The "ad hominem" rule seems to be enforced on HuffPo under the following situations.
1. Anything that is longer than two lines.
2. Most things that express a strong opinion.
Their censorship is ridiculous, and I don't post there anymore.
To roger 37,
Good to know it's not just me feeling this way. It is extremely troubling to witness a progressive site that is more censorial than any right wing nut site I've dared to explore. In fact, I fear that having expressed myself as such here may effect my ability to post there. Oh well, I'll have to take that chance. But needless to say, my fear is NOT a feather in the hat of HP.
Still I hang in there at the Huff Po, I have friends there. For now, I haven't totally given up on them, am crossing my fingers to believe they will come to realize that being first to achieve success in a new category---an on line press---does not mean you'll be there in the end if you don't respect your readers.
Proofreader and proofread. No hyphen. One word.
Thanks, Janet.
There I was posting on the importance of proofreading (correct?) and putting it wrong. But I always try to learn to write the language better and I have always been humble to my deficiencies in this area. But again, if I ran this site as an "on line publisher," I would have to expect way more from myself.
Do you need a job? Because The Daily Beast needs a good copy editor, and if I thought I had the talent for that, I'd so be going after it.
Why is anyone surprised? The GOP "young" are the "worst and the dumbest" if the Young Republicans around this college campus (a Big Ten school) are any indication. It is not an accident that Obama won the ten states with the highest level of education (see Chuck Todd's book, "How Obama Won.")
How does this happen? What could the GOP spin on making this make sense be? This is really sad....
yes-it is sad. and a little bit scary. We are no better or worse than our actions as a country and this is really UGLY. As ugly as the last election cycle. And that was pretty bad....Palin/McCain placed tears in my eyes....We should all be saddened. There is no joy to be felt in this appointment. NONE. Sad....politics of hate and fear continue. What to do? How do we restore, as a people, a sane and compassionate community in the US?
Two movies to look at this week....WOODSTOCK and BIRTH OF A NATION...wanna see how polarized this country can swing? DId you know that the clan, in the early twentieth century, adopted the made up outfits from BIRTH to their already ridiculous Halloween getups? Yes, Hollywood (ie DW Griffiths) helped them come up with their costumes. As for typos, the good journalists are part and parcel, not writing for this blog...no offence meant...this is a portal to major new stories on major publication's sites...no need to make an issue, unless you want to start throwing money at Brown, and I suggest you all throw money at the big newspapers like the W Post, NY Times etc...they have the writers and staff to cover real news.
I have to disagree with you to some extend. This country has never been about compassion, and to say so is misleading. Every group of people who have arrived here that were not White Protestants, have had to fight for what is guaranteed them in the Constitution.
The Republicans love the 50s because this was the beginning of the end for Rich White Male rule. This was the only group of US pop who had it all as a group. People have been trying to gain freedom since this country was stolen.
The real problem is the methods used to garner votes - a divisive method that doesn't contribute to the betterment of the whole and alienates large groups of the electorate. I still don't really know what "platform" the two contestants were proposing to promote their being president. That doesn't seem to be a part of politics these days for the Republicans.
I honestly don't see a way the GOP can pull out of this death spiral.
Of course the conservative movement will always need a home, but how can that home be the Republicans? There are many, many reasonable conservatives shaking their heads today.
I used to consider myself Republican... until I grew up. Now I think political parties in general are useless and places for mental maturbation and the patting of backs. Weak people are the ones entrenched in party politics.
Now the GOP is showing ITS true colors. The future of the party is a racist one. One step forward, ten steps back. It's sad, actually.
I tell you how they could pull out of it.
It would require another 9/11 on Obama's watch. Then they'll be back. They'll still be deeply sick, but they'll be right back in power.
Remember that the National Socialist Party was defeated before it came to power... rose from its ashes on the backs of racism, antiSemitism and nationalism.
Hate is ugly, ugly, ugly.
I wonder how many minorities Lenny McAlister saw when he looked around the room? If it was anything like the Republican Presidential Convention in St. Paul last year it next to none.
Why would anyone be surprised that this racist was elected? Only flamethrowers thrive in today's GOP. I wonder if Shay stood up and openly accused her opponent of palling around with terrorists? Or of being a socialist? It sounds like she took the Karl Rove-approach and had her underlings slime her opponent by questioning her sexuality, which is very reminiscent of the "John McCain fathered an out-of-wedlock black baby" attack in SC in 2000.
Dear Young Republicans,
You pick as your leader a person who is associated with and connected to remarks only the most despicable, morally reprehensible, worthy only of being despised and rejected - things you'd only expect from Klan member - would make.
Politically you are an embarassment.
Humanly, you are a disgrace.
A republican is a republican is a republican !!! These total racists should be the future of a party stuck in the early 1800's !! Hopefully the racist Shay will run for president in 2029 !!!!
Dear Lenny and Rachel, et. al.,
Sorry for the cliche here, but it is time to wake up and smell the coffee. You have about as much chance of reforming the Republican Party right now as you do of sweeping the tide off the sand with a five-bristled broom. You seem like nice, tolerant, open-minded people, just the kind of folks the Democrats would welcome with open arms. Why not make the switch? Seriously, you have much more of a shot to get us to be more fiscally responsible, one of your chief tenets, than to convince your fellow Republicans that it is now time to put out-dated attitudes about race, gays, and feminism behind them.
You no longer belong to the party of Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, Teddy Roosevelt, or even Dwight Eisenhower because that party is gone for good; it is now a repository mostly for disaffected white people who still long for a past when they alone mattered.
Signed,
A friendly Democrat
Dear Dylan111,
Thank you so much for putting so eloquently what many think. It would be a great boon for the Democratic party to encourage and embrace some (only some) of the tenets of the Republican party. I would love our country to become Center-Left (if it isn't already).
Best,
Kmich
It was my pleasure, kmich.
THE HEART is in the CENTER - LEFT of our body ........so should AMERICA be ....................As JESUS was
Kmich: Unfortunately, this country is not Center-Left. It's Center-Right, and the anonymity of the internet lets otherwise silent mean-spirited, selfish bigots to express themselves without looking stupid to people in their immediate presence.
I personally think we are growing more polarized, and the right wingnuts are giving each other enough positive reinforcement that it's leading to monumental screwups like this Young Rethug election.
What that says to me is that we can't relax for a minute, because the swing voter, the ones that win our elections, will be swayed if we do relax. Why do I say that? The same kind of race-baiting, demagoguery, and victimhood rants transformed Germany from a literate, sophisticated society into Nazi Germany in 1933. I'm sure the wingnuts reading these posts will disagree, but I don't think it's a stretch at all.
As a matter of fact, wingers have an active campaign going right now to identify "liberals" as Nazis. This DoubleSpeak is designed to obscure the historical antecedents of the Right Wing.
CENTER-LEFT is the HUMANE position
Dylan111
Well-said.
I second the thank you ---
Well said.
Signed,
Independent Voter
DYLAN111 the Democrats are fiscally responsibl as shown by the CLINTONs........have you forgotten that the REPUBLICANS have used all the surpls and lft us with a deficit ????
ALSO, do not be fooled by the term fiscal conservative............with the Economy as it is THE GOV SHOULD BE as LARGE as POSSIBLE..............CONSUMERS are broke and are saving,,,,,,,,,,,,,,we do not need to learn anything from the present Repubs..........
The ROLE of the GOV is to HELP people...............they want to dismantle all the social securities and safety nets............NEVER BELIEVE THEM
What do you expect, young people make worse decisions than old people. Why even bother with a group of people under 40? There may be some wisdom behind this though...
"They just took a vote that may have set the party back 30 years," - maybe they were trying to avoid most of Jimmy Carter's term? Also, they just dodged 2 recessions.
A little racial and gender inequity is the price- they could just nominate Palin and put Michael Steele in as the VP in 2012 and everybody is happy. Even liberals can see how forward thinking that is.
there is nothing forward thinking about having a creationist as president, and a figurehead as v.p.
'young people make worse decisions than old people'
This is a false premise. Age and experience do not always equate to wisdom. Although you can point to many examples of youth acting unwisely, I can point to many examples of young people who have worked hard, struggled, and have come out the victor in their lives. These struggles have given them great wisdom.
I can also point to stubborn members of an older generation whose bad experiences beat them into submission, where they now have hardened belief sets and positions.
Retaining the ability to adapt to changing life circumstances is wise. It doesn't always come with age.
False, it is a true premise. Also, Palin would have been elected in a landslide if she was a white male- her qualifications are just that strong. Steele is hardly a figurehead, I don't think he is actually black- have you heard him use street slang- it's insulting?
I *think* rickjr82 was joking! You know, "tongue in cheek" or as the younger people say, "snark"...???
"In the end, Shay, dressed in a sundress, trumped Hoff, who was dressed in a business suit."
That sentence seems to be intended to imply that Hoff is serious and Shay is a light-weight - otherwise why is clothing relevant? I find Shay repugnant, but I'm also tired of insinuations about women made via a comment on apparel. If it had been two men, the writer would never have said "Mr. X was wearing a business suit and Mr. Y wore khakis and a polo shirt" - unless, of course, you were writing for GQ.
Did you read the entire article? It was Shay supporters who raised the issue of Hoff preferring pants suits to dresses in a feeble attempt to smear her.
I think the author was noting their wardrobe in reference to the smear campaign against Hoff (that he mentioned earlier), which suggested that since she did not wear a dress, she was probably gay. So it's relevant that Hoff is in a suit and Shay is wearing a girly sundress, but not for the reasons you mention.
You know that's an interesting point. You read the author's notation of wardrobe as his observation that Shay was establishing herself as a "girly girl" (which I didn't see until you pointed it out). Thanks.
I think this comment was meant to build the case that Hoff is a lesbian. It had all the customary subtlety we've come to expect from Republican "thinkers." Note to the editors of future Republican talking points - Let's go with "bull-dyke suits" from now on to insure 100% comprehension of our messaging.
Hoff supports civil unions - The "whisper campaign" conducted by Shay's supporters not so subtly lambasted Hoff's support for civil marriage by implying that Hoff must have a vested interest in the subject. Girly dress vs. suit = code for hetero vs. gay. Definitely Karl Rove-ish.
As a man, I feel it is quite sexist for anyone to attempt to draw any conclusion at all, positive or negative, from their attire.
Just stop mentioning it, it only feeds the flames.
al-nafs,
"As a man," you wouldn't know what it's like to have anyone try to frame you a lesbian, so you should really refrain from commenting yourself.
For a political party that is so entrenched with supposed Christian "family values", the amount of hate associated with the GOP is staggering....
And now we know that Senator Ensign and several other Republican Congressmen live in a house owned by a "secretive'" religious organization known as "The Family" aka the Christian Mafia. The house they live in is designated as a "church" and all the tax exemptions that go with that title.
Want to know more? Here is an interview with the author Jeff Scarlet who lived with this group, The Family for a year:
http://www.alternet.org/rights/87665/?page=1
The GOP has been "hijacked" by religious extremism and hate....
alwaysoptmistic
I heard that on RACHEL and i tell you it really TERRIFIED ME .............because they are nothing but selfish and MEGALOMANIAC TERRORISTs like HITLER and the others they seem to LIKE..as models .
If their ideas are so good and CHRISTIAN then why cannot they come out in the sunshine and proclaim them and persuade the people ??
and I AM one who does not believe like Jefferson that all men are created equal................but i do not have sinister plans and conspiracies up my sleeve.
PEOPLE SHOULD REALLY start THINKING ANEW about these Republicans and the organizations they befriend.
SHOW ME your FRIEND and I will say WHO YOU ARE !!!!
I just went on that site.....................I had heard about this FAMILY and Clinton last year..............But what I did not know was the NATIONAL PRAYER etc............
It sounds so PHONEY to bring religion in this fashion .............
the politicians have for about 30 years decided to bring back religion , almost ENFORCING it in so many different ways.................
THE FOUNDING FATHERS were more DEIST than religious.
AND a word of ADVICE to all Religions..................CLEAN UP your DOGMAS and CLAIMS before expecting kids to really believe .............!!!
the FAMILY senators commiting adultery with such applomb...........KIDS do not be fooled. BELIEVE IN GOD and GOOD and the GOlden RULE
Frankly, it's fine with me. Anything the Republicans do to weaken themselves is all to the good. They can be as self-destructive and bigoted as they like -- it will only speed along their deterioration. And their grand long-ago history? It's just that -- history.
I completely agree. Bush started their downward spiral, and the idiots have been on parade ever since! I think this is just ht beginning of their demise. Though i am pretty liberal, i think it would be nice to see a new party emerge that is a bit conservative without the hatred, racism and ignorance that the GOP is known for. That might be a nice balance. I feel the Republican party did have a great history, of people that were considered very liberal and modern for their times, however, now they want to hold on to those old ideas, and not move forward in their thinking. Lets all evolve a bit...oh yeah...i forgot, that is another thing they don't believe in!
Rachel Hoff - I hope you and Meghan McCain hook up and create a new party of centerist conservatives. What was formerly the Repbulican party has been taken over by fear and hate.
This is your real opportunity - to shape a new future. America cannot be better with the delusional but loud voice of Rush, the ineffectual scattered ramblings of Steele and the hateful and nasty self-aggrandizing Shay leading the way.
Face it - they've won the title of 'Republican' and are re-shaping it to be mean and nasty and small, selfish and racist and hurtful. Let it go. Build a new conservative party that uses sense and reason. Give this liberal democrat something meaningful to challenge my thinking, to debate,and to find solutions with. Let this putrid version of the 'Repbulican' party sink into the abyss of its own making.
Please - use your considerable energy and talent as young people to invent your own political party, don't squander it trying to reform hateful liars- it's just not worth it.
This is great advice. You should start a dissenting party and challenge your own party's leaders when they're going retrograde. You are probably the Republican's greatest hope for becoming relevant again, and you're young enough to take a long-term view. That's a more productive approach than the "oppose everything the Democrats do and damn the consequences to the country" approach of your elders in the party.
Either that, or come on over and join the sane folk.
HATE and FEAR have been created by those who wanted to DIVIDE and CONQUER the American PEOPLE so they could each create a niche market RADIO TALK show and later Cable to CONDITION their listeners as the PAVLOV DOG.with their talking points etc.....and mailings
Fortunately, the Liberals are not at fault here................they do not believe i n HATRED and FEARmongering.
and you Republican youngsters should know that this is not for the good of the COUNTRY.....................our soldiers are dying in 2 wars your leaders started because of that FEAR and HATRED..............
when will you be ASHAMED of YOUR PARTY ????
Yes, yes, yes! Great post!
Peopel with any sense of decency are just going to avoid the Republican Party. It's ugly, full of angry, bitter whites, motivated by greed racism and fundamentalism. That's the kind of people they appeal to, and that's what they got. They are so rigidly conservative that they only look back to the past, and no longer have any vision for the future, and automatically oppose any change.
YOU are so right mcmchugh99...............ever since Palin entered the campaign in Sept 08 the HATRED and attacks have again Created a HORRIBLE atmosphere .................which is being continued now again as the ATTACK DOG PALIN will CONTINUE what she started from DAY one of her NATIONAL appearance.
America is going to become the LAUGHING stock of the world..........with these tactics.
HAVE THEY NO SHAME ????
The young republicans are only emulating the old republicans who embrace hate, and racial bigotry. The history of republicans has not changed, from Eisenhower to Nixon to Reagan, to the Bush's, racism has always been a tool to keep the races divided. The majority of the American people have spoken. Racism will not be on the agenda again. The change has already began, unfortunately the republicans have yet to realize it.
YOU are wise indeed and speak the truth.............they are even more hateful now that they have lost and that this poor Obama is trying so hard ..........to fix their mess.................they probably did it on purpose..............let the black man clean it up ???!!!
sorry but this is how it looks like to me...................
"Without a secret ballot, many people did not have the opportunity to vote their conscience."
What kind of person keeps their conscience a secret?
I thought GOP stood for Grumpy Old People
I guess it can also stand for
Growing Old Prematurely
ByeGeorge posted: "What kind of person keeps their conscience a secret?"
Innuendo and shunning are the social controls of hyper-Conservatives.
If this is the future of the Republican Party, God help us all. We will be going backwards and the mere name of the Republicans will be a clear division of the country.
Her election "May have set the party back 30 years"?
The GOP's been stuck in 30-years-ago (frankly, the Dark Ages) for the last 30 years. It's called "The Reagan Revolution".
Bunch of mean, greedy, racist religious nutjobs totally divorced from reality. Look at what that party is electing! Bachmann, Palin (72% of Republicans want her to run for president and would vote for her!), bunch of men who live together in some freakish religioun household (while cheating on their wives)...
That party is downright creepy at this point. Repubs really need an exorcism!
Which luckily, Bobby Jindal can supply...
Yeah, Bobby has "experience" in that field. The only problem is, he endorsed Shay.
But since that might be blowing up, you can expect Jindal to reverse field very quickly, and Shay and anyone else in the area will get tossed under the bus.
coolplum:
Which luckily, Bobby Jindal can supply...
*dies*
PLEASE GOD................let them drown in their hatred.
This may very well be the last nail in the Republican Party coffin. Speaking as an Independent voter It is a sad day for the country.
Despite Peggy Noonan's assertion earlier this week (in her article against Palin) that "They mean to rebuild a great party. They need to do it on solid ground", apparently this part of the GOP didn't hear her.
The election of Shay is another stain on The Party of No and proof-positive that racism is alive, well and 'okay' with Republicans. "Only whites need apply" to Young Republicans.
I am so not surprised by this - it sounds like Shay took her cues from old school rethugs like Lee Atwater, KKKarl Rove and a filthy Colorado guy, Dick Wadhams.
I think this vote bespeaks what the younger members of the party are really about - keeping racism alive and seemingly believing that they're better than anyone not 'white & right'.
I hope this vote helps to sink the current Republican party and at some point, I hope a more Goldwater type conservative party will emerge.
Jesus, "Dick Wadhams?" Does somebody really have that name? What's his story?
Yep, that's his real name and he's Colorado's own version of Rove. A lot of folks just call him DickWad - totally original, right?
Anyhoo, he's the smear merchant behind a lot of the dirty Colorado politics - would never run himself, but is happy to be the mastermind behind the scene.
Before the Democratic convention in Denver there was an article written by Dick Wadhams (Colorado Republican Party Chairman) in 5280 Magazine in which he stated the convention would be a "Circus" plus other derrogatory verbiage. He's a snide jerk. Not sure if he is still the party chair or not. I was so pleased when the convention went off without a hitch.
At 38 years of age, Miss Shays could hardly be described as 'young'.
I'm 29. I'm young. You wouldn't see me trying to date a 38 year old woman.
The Republicans continue their narrow-minded quest for extreme right-wing ideological purity. This is precisely what has already marginalized this band of ignorant, bigoted, redneck racists. Audra Shay fits right in. Let them pursue their self-destructive mission all the way to irrelevancy & oblivion.
Who is the more neurotic.Shay or Coulter?
Aren't Shay's tactics the same ones being used by the *old republican* leaders? Haven't we seen racism coming from republican congressmen and senators in their ridiculous tweets their campaign ads, their speeches for MSM consumption, and even on the floor of Congress? Most people learned a long time ago that children mimic their elders.
Amazing that there are still people so ignorant that they continue to teach their children to be bigoted and racist. These young republicans are part of the next generation who will grow older with the mindset of the last century, when it was ok to lynch, slander and degrate people simply based on their skin color or sexual preference. Groups such as this one should be ignored and judged as a setback to the human race, but I'll bet you that their republican parents are "so proud"!
Tick Tock....Gallup...Quinnipiac....Rasmussen.....Voters now trust the Gop more than Dems on 8 of ten issues....Obama sinking.......Tick Tock.....
What, are you saying you agree with Shay? First of all, Obama isn't "sinking"--his approval is still considerably high--much higher than W. the idiot's at this stage in his Presidency; second of all, as much doubt or uncertainties that Americans may feel about Obama, they know in their hearts that the GOP (or KKK, if you want) is NO alternative. Just look at this shambles of a "Party"--it has become the repository of bigots, grunts, ignorants of one stripe and color. I have been arguing for quite a while that this "Party" belongs in the fringes, and reasonable, moderate conservatives like Megan McCain need to form a new Party. They will come around to this sooner or later; we will see this in this decade still.
Five Thirty Eight disagrees. Thanks for playing.
Tick Tock, countdown to the death of America. Long may it tick. Very long.
And you call yourself American? You are a treasonous vile traitor and should be sent to gitmo with the other terrorists. It goes to show what cowards the rethugs are.
As an African-American, I can't describe the painful feeling of loving a country that considers me less of a person because of the color of my skin. But I did and I do. I have always loved my country. I have always been proud to be an American despite the slavery my ancestors endured.
Then there is YOU. Always at the top, oppressing others. Greedily holding onto power using dissention and lies. Now you're not at the top anymore and where's your patriotism? Here it is:
"Five Thirty Eight disagrees. Thanks for playing.
Tick Tock, countdown to the death of America. Long may it tick. Very long. "
I wonder do you seriously call yourself Christian? Maybe it's the sect that worships Satan because you sir and those like you are EVIL!!
I see. You predict disaster and failure just so you can feel as though you are right.
Great. No wonder your party is failing.
I don't want doomsayers to be in charge of helping to guide my nation's future. I want positive happy people in positions of power.
This election should come as know surprise to anyone. This hate monger is the main stream of the Confederate republican party. This election showed that these people use the same lies & destructive methods on their own as they do with Democrats.
The Confederate republican party has been transformed into the KKK of the 21st century. What is left of the party is bigoted, anti immigration, anti black, anti everything that is not what they believe in & will lie cheat & steal to get what they need & want. This new Confederate republican KKK party will do anything to win an election & have proved that time & time again. This new Confederate KKK republican party could care less about the U.S. & it's constitution.
People on the left have called for a Progressive party to be formed & I am 100% behind such a movement but on the other side I think the republican party out to break away from the religious/fraudulent/bigoted/sex abusive/ party that has become the main stream republican party.
Yes a three party system one being socially to the left, one being fiscally to the right & one being religious, bigoted, anti everything that helps people & everything hateful would be just fine. If these Confederate hate mongers are so sure they are the main stream then they should stand up & be honest. They should stand before the country & admit what & who they are & stop hiding behind the label of the "old republican party"
You mean the "old republiKlan party ?"
THEY do Not know HONESTY...............at least the Klan are honest
Thank you.
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