Republicans are quick to distance themselves from GW's presidency but the libertarian-leaning ones who actually hold Bush accountable are very slim compared to those who still think he had the right idea but distance themselves from political poison.
That isn't actually what I meant. A lot of the GOP, most strongly the Tea Party, see Bush Jr....as a RINO.
Yes, I know, but they do.
And Christie's "moderate" status is exactly what he's got going for him. Think about the last few elections in the Republican primaries. McCain was seen as a liberal-leaning senator, a maverick. He got the nomination. Romney was a blue state governor (just like Christie will be) known for his somewhat liberal legislation. See Romneycare. He also got the nomination. This is because despite all the hand-wringing a Republican base might do, they ultimately recognize that they need to actually get their candidate elected into office and that requires winning the general election. Those who are still recalcitrant can be won over enough during the far-right pandering of primaries.
And we all saw how well that went for Romney. Fact is, the party leadership will never allow a moderate Republican to have the nomination for anything less than going full-tilt far-right and worshiping the altar of God, Guns, and Gays. It's a losing strategy, but there are few within the party who want to abandon it.
Anyway, Romney's moderate cred was all the way back in the 90's, for the most part. Christie got called out by the GOP just now. I think it's too soon for people to forget his positions when they get replaced by the party line. His shift will be even more obvious than Romney's was.
As an anti-Republican, I'm not really sure what people see in him besides being a strong establishment candidate, even if he's not nearly as strong as Hillary in that department. I just see him mostly pushed forward because he's got a somewhat friendly history towards immigration (which the GOP believes will help them close the Latino vote) and more moderate, providing a face of "compassionate conservatism" which the party desperately needs to put forward after this latest shellacking.
The GOP's beliefs about the Latino vote are kind of hilarious, and this election has been a very interesting demographic ground for the Latino vote. Before this, most analysts kind of lazily saw the Latino vote as a carbon copy of the Black vote with immigration sympathies: socially conservative, fiscally liberal.
Then this election came along, and now we know quite clearly that Latinos are actually a socially liberal demographic. And you know how skilled the GOP is at swaying those social liberals. Yep, so many social liberals vote Republican. So many.
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Topic: American Election Megathread - It's Over (Read 771389 times)