Republican or Democrat?

BillW -IMO, money is only part of the equation. If it were money, why would you have a Kennedy, a Bush, or a Rockefeller running for office? The key to what politicians want is POWER!

BillW, Yes, it's not only money, but that's what makes the politician's world go around. Without it, they don't have a chance of running their very expensive campaigns. To get that money, they must play 'you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours.' Many of those donors get legislative favoritism, and that ends up costing the taxpayer and the average voter. c.i.

In many regards, the dominant two party system cancels each other out. Regardless of the party in power they still have to give and take with the minority party in order to push their own agenda. it is about money and power, however, the Democrats have always been a stronger voice for the poor.

Even though his presidency was mixed, LBJ centered all his energies on Civil Rights and improving the lives of the poor. His concession to the conservative party was the Vietnam war. In the end, he left office being blamed for that war. He was a wealthy, brilliant, seasoned politician who strove to change the quality of life for those who were not as fortunate. For this reason, you can call me a bleeding-heart liberal who hemorrhage's...

(I am so glad there is no "valuable", "not valuable" option here, those old abuzz instincts about getting railroaded...)

gala: basically i agree with you, LBJ was handed the war and saw no way out, he did accomplish a great deal for civil rights once stating that by doing so he lost the southern vote.i was no fan of LBJ but thats from my personal history of those days.

Well, technically I am not a Republican for a very simple reason: I am not an American citizen (and there is no GOP in Israel). But if I were American, I certainly would be a Republican.
I consider GOP to be a party of common sense, and that is what I respect in it.

steissd, why is it the party of "common sense"?

gala, dyslexia, I think LBJ didn't run again because the horror of the bombing in Hanoi got to him. It was a spur of the moment thing when he made the announcement in a speech on TV (I was watching and remember the look in his eyes). He realized what he had done - his aides did not even know he was going to make the announcement.

If there actually was some common sense used in our politics -- both sides equally show they are common but haven't much sense.

LW, common sense in regards to politics could easily be considered an oxymoron! I guess you just illustrated one way that is so.

Billw, I haven't gotten to that part of the biography! But at this point, I can tell you that your assessment sounds accurate. I just remember the chants: "Hey, hey LBJ how many kids did you kill today!"

Man, he was a fascinating man. This book is written by one of his aides at the time, Joseph Califano Jr. I have a feeling he shared his desire to step down with people closest to him. The book goes into detail the problems of the time: Vietnam, potential steel strikes, his trying to keep inflation down to lobby his efforts for the New Society. It proves to me, that any presidency is a complcated tangle. The man in charge is most concerned with putting forth their own agenda. Johnson was fixed on improving the lives of the underprivelged, erasing poverty, wiping out the slums.

Moreover, because he was truly compassionate, he inherited the long pent-up anger of the oppressed, hence, Watts.

At one point in the book, he turns to Califano after they've just driven by a disheveled drunk guy in tattered clothing. Johnson turns to Califano, and with his index finger and thumb a hair's breath from one another he says some thing like: We are one step from being that.

steissd, the GOP believes in fiscal resposibility, but that generally means taking care of their "own." The Democratic party can not be accurately judged by the Clinton administration in the sense that he got himself into so much trouble with his nether regions.

Yes, there is wide-spread waste, but I don't see the GOP as common sense, more like a bunch of Right-wing Chrsitans who are touting morality without the honor.

Just slap me if I start to sound like Redheat.

Gala says:



Let me know when you get to that point. I really ought to get the book, what's the name right off hand?

BillW,

The Triumph and Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson, by Joseph A. Califano, Jr.

The book was published in 1991

BillW, by the way, I just finshed a biography on H.L. Menken.

Menken wow what a character, my kinda guy
Theology is the effort to explain the unknowable in terms of the not worth knowing
The trouble with Communism is the Communists, just as the trouble with Christianity is the Christians.
In this world of sin and sorrow there is always something to be thankful for. As for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican

dyslexia, Menken had a first-rate mind. What was interesting about the biography is it stressed how responsible he was to friends and family. He lived all his life, with the exception of the five or so years he was married, in his birth home. Even during his five years in a different part of Baltimore, he always upheld his financial obligations to his siblings. And, he was unceasingly devoted to his only wife, whom he married when he was in his fifties.

He enjoyed the spectacle of American politics and never hesitated to find a way to portray it as a circus.

he certainly was a hero of mine in college along with Philip Wylie

These guys are a little about me. Seems I've heard of Menken before; but I'm not sure from where. I don't get quite that deep into politics.

Bill, I think that many things that they advocate: family values, low taxes that encourage development of economy, their stance on the security issues, priority of the U.S. interests over the Third World ones, etc. all this seems to be a derivative of the plain common sense not influentiated by any "politically correct" doctrines. But this is my private vision of their political stances.
BTW, sorry for delay. I went offline around midnight (Israeli time), and your question appeared at 1:25 am.