Honest inquiry into Conservative beliefs & support of Bush

A number of you say Bush is not a Conservative and I agree, but they still voted for him. Why not just stay home? Why vote for a guy who is not going to deliver? I admit I voted for Kerry while holding my nose, but I knew he would suck up and give me what I basically wanted in the way of policy. Bush doesn't seem to be offering anything that anyone wants, yet he lives in the White House.

Fishin' - I agree that Kerry was a poor choice for the Dem's and it's a shame it seems to always come down to a choice of extremes. Whatever happened to moderation and compromise?

All parties entering must leave their guns and knives at the door , thank you.

I am from the more liberal side of the political fence, but have always had sympathy with some conservative view points. What I don't understand is why conservatives are so supportive of what I consider Bush's liberal agenda.

I always thought that fiscal responsibility, smaller gov't, and minding our own business were important themes in Conservative platform. So why can Bush basically bankrupt the country with some idea that he is going to free the world and Conservatives applaud this?. It sounds more like a half-baked liberal cause to me: "Hey man, I have a groovy idea, like let's empty the treasury and free the world." -??

If you're referring to me... I'm openly conservative... and proud of it.

Green Witch wrote:

Fishin' - I agree that Kerry was a poor choice for the Dem's and it's a shame it seems to always come down to a choice of extremes. Whatever happened to moderation and compromise?

In this case I think the Democrats (the "Official" party types) over-estimated the resentment against Bush and expected more fallout from the 2000 election fiasco and groups like Moveon.org got a lot of the rank-and-file folks thinking they were a larger group than they were. The net result being, IMO, a feeling that they could win with a candidate that was farther from the center than they might have gone with otherwise. They came close but ultimately failed.

Overall what I find more interesting about the election is that the Dem and Rep Parties have been seen as the standard bearers for the moderate liberal and moderate conservative positions and other parties (Greens, Labor, Libertarian, Reform, etc..) were seen as "the extremists". In this last election the 3rd parties basically didn't show up in the voting. I'd guess that that won't happen again for a while. The disgust with the 2 major parties is driving the moderates out of both. We may see a shift where the Dem and Rep Parties are the extremist parties and the 3rd parties become the center.

How could we possibly benefit from posting in this thread? You say you want to know why we think what we do and ask us to respond, leaving our knives at the door, and then preface the thing by ridiculing our viewpoint in the opening post. You didn't leave your knife at the door. You give yourself too much credit when you title this an "honest inquiry." Come back, when you sincerely want to understand us.

Green Witch wrote:

All parties entering must leave their guns and knives at the door , thank you.

I am from the more liberal side of the political fence, but have always had sympathy with some conservative view points. What I don't understand is why conservatives are so supportive of what I consider Bush's liberal agenda.

I always thought that fiscal responsibility, smaller gov't, and minding our own business were important themes in Conservative platform. So why can Bush basically bankrupt the country with some idea that he is going to free the world and Conservatives applaud this?. It sounds more like a half-baked liberal cause to me: "Hey man, I have a groovy idea, like let's empty the treasury and free the world." -??

How could we possibly benefit from posting in this thread? You say you want to know why we think what we do and ask us to respond, leaving our knives at the door, and then preface the thing by ridiculing our viewpoint in the opening post. You didn't leave your knife at the door. You give yourself too much credit when you title this an "honest inquiry." Come back, when you sincerely want to understand us.

Brandon9000 wrote:

Green Witch wrote:

All parties entering must leave their guns and knives at the door , thank you.

I am from the more liberal side of the political fence, but have always had sympathy with some conservative view points. What I don't understand is why conservatives are so supportive of what I consider Bush's liberal agenda.

I always thought that fiscal responsibility, smaller gov't, and minding our own business were important themes in Conservative platform. So why can Bush basically bankrupt the country with some idea that he is going to free the world and Conservatives applaud this?. It sounds more like a half-baked liberal cause to me: "Hey man, I have a groovy idea, like let's empty the treasury and free the world." -??

How could we possibly benefit from posting in this thread? You say you want to know why we think what we do and ask us to respond, leaving our knives at the door, and then preface the thing by ridiculing our viewpoint in the opening post. You didn't leave your knife at the door. You give yourself too much credit when you title this an "honest inquiry." Come back, when you sincerely want to understand us.

Brandon. I was not trying to be mean. I wanted to be upfront with how I viewed the situation... Sorry if I came off as hostile, it was not my intent.

Salient point. This sort of "Discussion" generally is nothing more than a platform for bashing the putatively questioned opposition, whether Dems/liberals or Repubs/conservatives intitiate the "question". Quite clearly, this topic's author begins from a perjorative premis, one predicated on rejection and ridicule, seeking affirmation and backpats from like minded co-ideologists, as opposed to dispassionate, non-partisan exchange of ideas.

I'd say not so much "leave your guns and knives at the door" as "leave your agendas at the door" - however, that likely would be fruitless. Agenda and unwillingness even to consider the opposing viewpoints characterize most political discussions, amature or professional, academic or recreational. That this thread and its ilk might be pursued in the manner so far here evidenced clearly reveals that some folks just don't get it - whether they can't or they won't is immaterial; they just don't. Its not just an American phenomenon, either; conservatisim in many ways is growing throughout the developed world, and Liberalism is suffering backlash brought on by its own policies. This confounds Liberals, leading them to seek an outward cause for what really is an internal flaw resulting in the decline of their electoral success.

With all that said, I'll say I am a conservative with reservations concerning and disputes with much of the policy of The Current Administration, but I see the presently empowered crew as far, far less dangerous to this nation, its constitution, and to the interest of overall long-term global stability than The Opposition.

Yes Brandon I can understand why you voted for Bush- it is very simple - you agree with him and his policies. Perfectly good answer. But I'm not sure that makes you a conservative in the traditional sense or a least not in the sense I have always thought of as conservative. I think many conservatives voted for him and don't agree with him, that's the puzzle I am unraveling. I guess the picture I'm getting is the sad one of we all just vote for the lesser of two evils, and we all have a different view of what evil is.