Priebus: Huckabee a ‘Model’ for GOP

[MR2]

Interesting perspective on GOP acceptance.

Priebus: Huckabee a ‘Model’ for GOP



Earlier today, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus pushed back at critics who have questioned his continued support for Senator Rob Portman, the Ohio Republican who came out in support of gay marriage last week.

“When someone asks me ‘Are you going to cut off funding for Rob Portman?’ I think it’s just ridiculous,” Priebus told a group of reporters Friday during a briefing at National Review’s Washington, D.C., office. “He’s a good Republican. I think it’s also normal and decent to still support a person that you agree with on 99 percent of the issues.”

But Priebus says his support of Portman doesn’t signal a policy shift within the party’s platform. “Yes, we’re still a pro-life party. Yes, we still defend our platform on marriage,” he said. He emphasized, however, that Republicans must also sound “reasonable” to voters who disagree.

Priebus cited former governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas as an example of someone who could be “a model for a lot of people in our party” in terms of discussing issues like marriage and abortion. “I always tell people: Listen to Governor Mike Huckabee,” he said. “I don’t know anyone that talks about them any better.”

A number of leading social conservatives have complained that Priebus and the RNC risk alienating a large portion of the GOP base by supporting pro-gay-marriage Republicans such as Portman. “This is a critical issue, and to act like it’s just no big deal is just wrong,” said Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage.

[ZonieDiver]

My only problem with Portman in this regard is that it took discovering a dearly loved one was gay for him to change his view. What about other people's 'dearly loved ones'? Don't they count?

As for Huckabee, well, he never was my 'huckleberry'. I think they should talk Fred out of his reverse mortgage shilling and get him back in it.

Yeah, that's the ticket.

The Republican Party is on the fast track to oblivion. Bring back the Whigs, sez I.

(Oh, and I still say they need to get Priebus to change his names - both of them. He still sounds like a character in the first Star Trek movie.)

[Trapper John]

MO: As long as the Republican party continues to push its social conservative agenda it will continue it's path towards irrelevance.

Why these are even issues for political debate is just beyond my understanding. I have always thought (mistakenly apparently) that the Republican party stood for personal liberty. I still believe that this philosophy resonates well with most Americans.

Unfortunately, as long as the Repubs proselytize at the alter of the social conservatives it will hasten the progression to a one-party system and then we can say good-bye to any sense of personal liberty.

[Swerley]

Originally Posted by Trapper John

Unfortunately, as long as the Repubs proselytize at the alter of the social conservatives it will hasten the progression to a one-party system and then we can say good-bye to any sense of personal liberty.

I think you hit the nail on the head with that last sentence. The two parties are becoming so similar in the sense of control they want it's ridiculous. They're more out to get each other than making America a better place to live. It's unfortunate how big the 2 parties got, because we are a 2 party system, which is hardly fair in my eyes. I was hoping the Libertarian would gain 5% in the presidential election to get equal government funding, but that failed to happen as well.

[Stargazer]

Originally Posted by Trapper John

MO: As long as the Republican party continues to push its social conservative agenda it will continue it's path towards irrelevance.

Why these are even issues for political debate is just beyond my understanding. I have always thought (mistakenly apparently) that the Republican party stood for personal liberty. I still believe that this philosophy resonates well with most Americans.

Do they 'push' a social conversative agenda or get bullied into a conversation? What legislation is the Republican Party proposing that is socially conservative?

I am an independent but from my viewpoint, I don't see the social views of the conservatives anymore extreme than those of liberals. Both are about intolerance and threaten individual liberty.

For my standpoint, the Republicans are losing the marketing war. They should take a page from the President. Promise what the masses what to hear but follow your own agenda. Afterall, they are mere peasants --means to an end.

[Trapper John]

Originally Posted by Stargazer

For my standpoint, the Republicans are losing the marketing war. They should take a page from the President. Promise what the masses what [want] to hear but follow your own agenda. Afterall, they are mere peasants --means to an end.

There, I fixed it for ya. Or, at least I hope that I did. Otherwise we are going to have a serious disagreement of principle.

[Stargazer]

Originally Posted by Trapper John

There, I fixed it for ya. Or, at least I hope that I did. Otherwise we are going to have a serious disagreement of principle.

Yes, you did kind Sir. Thank you. My apology, as I need to slow down or not post when in a hurry.

[Dusty]

Portman's weak.

[ZonieDiver]

Originally Posted by Dusty

Portman's weak.

Who's strong?

[Dusty]

Originally Posted by ZonieDiver

Who's strong?

Anybody who refuses to abandon core beliefs under pressure.

What libs consider progressive is ulcerating America's social skeleton to the point to where one day simple honesty will be devalued.

Many libs are there, already.

[ZonieDiver]

Originally Posted by Dusty

Anybody who refuses to abandon core beliefs under pressure.

What libs consider progressive is ulcerating America's social skeleton to the point to where one day simple honesty will be devalued.

Many libs are there, already.

Okay, I'll rephrase. Who among the current potential Republican candidates for POTUS do you consider to be 'strong'?

And... how 'electable' might they be against potential Democrat candidates, whomever he or SHE may be?

Thanks in advance.

[Dusty]

Originally Posted by ZonieDiver

Okay, I'll rephrase. Who among the current potential Republican candidates for POTUS do you consider to be 'strong'?

And... how 'electable' might they be against potential Democrat candidates, whomever he or SHE may be?

Thanks in advance.

Paul, Cruz or Ryan.

[The Reaper]

There aren't any.

The media will see to that.

How long do you think a Republican Senator would last who had been taking trips out of the country with a campaign donor to have sex with underage prostitutes?

Or one who had a female assistant drown in his car after he fled a DUI car accident?

McCain and Romney had serious hatchet jobs attempted on them, largely baseless, with the complicity of the media. Yet the Dem candidates face very little such slander.

TR

[Trapper John]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

There aren't any.

The media will see to that.

How long do you think a Republican Senator would last who had been taking trips out of the country with a campaign donor to have sex with underage prostitutes?

Or one who had a female assistant drown in his car after he fled a DUI car accident?

McCain and Romney had serious hatchet jobs attempted on them, largely baseless, with the complicity of the media. Yet the Dem candidates face very little such slander.

TR

And that is the sad truth, Bro!

[Dusty]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

There aren't any.

The media will see to that.
TR

Good point.

There may be enough time between now and 2016 for even the complacent, ignorant and ambivalent to realize that Obama's designs work no better for us than they do for socio-communist countries.

We need a Reaganesque candidate, and we need to combat from a conservative stance, not a fruitless hands-across-the-aise platform of capitulation.

Some of the mainstream propagandists are become irrelevant as the popularity of rightwingers rises-hope it's a trend.