Saturday, December 29, 2007
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Rollins: Reagan Coalition is Done
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Posted by:
Matt Lewis at
10:39 PM
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The NY Times reports that Huckabee adviser Ed Rollins has declared an end to the Reagan coalition:
"It’s gone,” said Ed Rollins, who once worked as President Reagan’s political director and recently became Mr. Huckabee’s national campaign chairman. “The breakup of what was the Reagan coalition — social conservatives, defense conservatives, antitax conservatives — it doesn’t mean a whole lot to people anymore.” “It is a time for a whole new coalition — that is the key,” he said, adding that some part of the original triad might “go by the wayside.”
The very fact that the GOP has not settled on a front-runner yet, almost confirms we are in danger of losing the coalition. In fact, the candidates themselves seem to represent disparate segments of the splintering coalition, with Huckabee, of course, representing the social conservative sphere.
Still, I can't help but wonder if Rollins isn't a bit too premature. This is typical Rollins; very quotable, but not necessarily helpful to his client.
All along, Mitt Romney has wisely run as the only candidate who represents all three legs of the "three legged stool" that is the Republican coalition. For those of us who believe it is imperative to preserve the Reagan coalition, Rollins' pronouncement is almost an argument to vote for Mitt Romney.
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by your passion. Though Fred is a good man and in many ways conservative, he just can't win. He has some spending/immigration/earmark voting skeletons in his closet and he just doesn't have what it will take to win over the voters. Too bad, I think he could prabably make a pretty good president.
But then again, I am blinded by my passion for the best all around candidate to win. Mitt of course. Mitt is the only candidate with the ability to bring the strays back under Reagans tent and beat the liberal dem candidate. Maybe hard to swallow for some, but the truth. Ponder on it! |
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Matt Lewis: right subject, wrong conclusion. The Reagan Coalition, after 27+ years, has of course changed -- at least in proportions if not in composition. Mike Huckabee best represents both the former and the current coalition, having begun his conservative journey as a teenager and governed accordingly as an adult. His presidential campaign stays the course, with a conservative populism that many have forgotten about Reagan because they have been unable to duplicate it.
Romney "sees" himself as representing that coalition, and any honest person can recognize that for him this is only a matter of current convenience not core conviction. |
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The GOP is loosing great tracts of it's coalition. The upper middle classes who dwell in the suburbs want competent and pragmatic govt and have no time for the religious right. The hispanics have gone over immigration. The blue collar Republicans are deserting in droves because of the fears of loosing healthcare and the dramatically widening income gap. So come on red blooded Republicans how do we turn it around. Tack back to the middle. And where does that leave Townhall and Hugh Hewitt? |
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Everybody keeps trying to turn the GOP(Gutted Our Principles)back into a conservative party!....It's over!....Conservatism exited with Ronald Reagan and the Rockefeller Globalist seized control of the party.........Trying to turn Romney,Guiliani,Huckabee, or McCain into a Reagan Conservative is a waste of time. The GOP has no intrest in conservatives or Hunter, Tancredo, and Paul would be all that's left going into the primary. That is why paleocons see neocons as jacobin/liberals..............The Party that called conservatives "BIGOTS" for wanting border security is done! |
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"the social conservatives are tired of Northeastern liberals dominating the party and giving only lip service to our values then ignoring us after they get our votes"
Huffington, Arianna. 17 December 2007. "Huckabee: The GOP's Cynical Use of Religion Has Come Home to Roost"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/huckabee-t he-gops-cynic_b_77165.html
The Republican establishment is tying itself in knots trying to land on a publicly acceptable rationale for their Huckabhorrence (I told you, it's irresistible). Some criticize his "fair tax" plan -- but since when have nutty economic plans ever disqualified a Republican presidential candidate?
No, the real reason is class. As Kevin Drum puts it, "mainstream conservatives are mostly urban sophisticates with a libertarian bent, not rural evangelicals with a social conservative bent. They're happy to talk up NASCAR and pickup trucks in public, but in real life they mostly couldn't care less about either. Ditto for opposing abortion and the odd bit of gay bashing via proxy. But when it comes to Ten Commandments monuments and end times eschatology, they shiver inside just like any mainstream liberal."
As Steve Benen writes at TPM, "The Republican Party's religious right base is supposed to be seen, not heard. Candidates are supposed to pander to this crowd, not actually _come from_ this crowd."
They want their base to be a kind of electoral cicada: wake up every four years, vote, and then go underground and shut-up. |
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Lewis wrote:
" For those of us who believe it is imperative to preserve the Reagan coalition, Rollins' pronouncement is almost an argument to vote for Mitt Romney."
===Mr. Lewis, Are you kidding? the social conservatives are tired of Northeastern liberals dominating the prty and giving only lip service to our values then ignoring us after they get our votes.
Mark my words: if this rich silk stocking massachusetts liberal buys the gop nomination, many social conservatives will be voting third party or staying at home.
I may write in Allen Keyes, whom the GOP has treated with total contempt and disrespect-as they have also have done to Mike Huckabee.
You secularists just keep it up and see what happens in November
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Mitt Romney is nothing like Reagan! Romney is a johnny come lately to social con values how can we trust him when he talks about his faith and shared moral values then turns around and smears his opponents during Christmas?
Mike Huckabee is far more fiscally conservative than people give him credit for - just look at his campaign. Romney's spent nearly $ 30 mil & Huckabee has spent under $2 mil. Huckabee cut taxes over 90 times. Huckabee balanced his budget & returned extra money to the people. Huckabee signed the "No New Taxes Pledge". Huckabee supports completely throwing out the unfair income tax system & replacing it with the simple FairTax. Huckabee supports actually reducing the size of the FED GOV"T by closing down the IRS.
Huckabee is also more of a defense con - he supports winning the war. He has a specific 9 point plan to secure America starting with the borders first. He supports the military and proposed the Veterans Bill of Rights. He strongly supports our 2nd amendment rights (Romney doesn't), he opposes a North American Union, opposes the NAFTA superhighway, he was an early opponent of the Law of the Sea Treaty, and has always been strong on defending our national sovereignty.
Some people keep dissing his record as governor but his record was pretty stellar. He was widely lauded as one of the best governors in America and was well liked by those in state and admired by many for his exceptional leadership and ability to get things done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b2nNwj_gzw
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Huck is a social conservative and an economic and military liberal. That combination amounts to a 3rd party.
The total number of pure economic and military conservatives is greater than the total number of pure social conservatives. There is a lot of over lap among the 3 groups and that is the heart of the Republican party. People who are in two or three of the groups.
McCain is a military conservative, somewhat of a social conservative and somewhat of a fiscal conservative. He is a maverick in the Rep Party.
Huckabee is even worse than McCain on most issues. He is not someone that we can build a new Republican party around. Worst of all he is clueless on both foreign policy and fiscal policy. Further, he as positioned himself as the "Christian Candidate" that will kill both him and the Party in a general election, especially in the NE and West Coast. |
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No wonder Rollins is saying the coalition is no more. If he were to admit it was still intact, it would mean he's supporting the wrong guy. Yestserday Huck's own advisors said on CNN he has zero foreign policy credentials. His record clearly shows he's no fiscal conservative. I like Fred as an idea guy, but he's no action. I think Mitt has the work ethic, executive experience and skill and history of actually getting things done. Even if Mitt doesn't make it as the GOP nominee, Huck has convinced me that anyone but Huck would be better...and no this has nothing to do with Christianity, and everthing to do with his atrocious record as Governor and compounded with his lack of any semblence of cohesive foreign policy ideas. And that is something America can't afford to have at this stage. |
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"Look, I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I'm not trying to return to Reagan-Bush."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9IJUkYUbvI
at 2:32 |
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Mitt Romney does not in any way, shape or form, represent anything Reagan. Romney, Giuliani, McCain and the Huckster are the furtherst thing from Ronald Reagan - they are RINO's. Take a look at all five top tier candidates at http://www.pinnaclecascade.com and you will see these four pandering wannabees will be crushed by the Dems. That is why the lib media is hellbent on getting one of these four RINO's elected. In fact, a vote for any of these four is a clear vote for the far left.
Fred Thompson is the only clear, 100% true conservative in this race. To think anything otherwise is pure stupidity (lack of knowledge). So go and get educated on the facts.
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Have you been reading the news lately? |
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The Shift in Momentum IS FOR PRESIDENT HUCKABEE in 2008
Mike Huckabee is presidential material and is alone able to defeat Hillary & Obama. I am now convinced that those wealthier donors to Romney's, Giuliani's, and Thompson's campaign have wasted their money and if they continue, are wasting their hard earned money on candidates who do not have voter appeal or substance. As a member of the younger generation, I will tell you point blank, Romney, Giuliani, and Thompson DO NOT connect with us.
ROMENY has run out of gas. He has been the worst investment money could buy. His persecution complex makes him so defensive, weepy and wimpy that he cracks under pressure. . His fake, calculated tears make him look like a BIG WEENIE before now Czar Putin in mother Russia and rest of the world. Romneys negative campaigning reveals his unprofessional desperation and that he is really an unkind angry old man. BOTH Romney's and Giuliani's flip flop past makes them a liability and not an asset for republicans in 2008.
Every time Huckabee is heard his approval amongst Republicans and Democrats increases even WITHOUT major financial support. Just imagine what would happen if he got the major financial support. He is the Republican's secret weapon in the 2008 election. Huckabee's proven leadership can help bring America together as a team.
Huckabee is the BEST candidate because he not only attracts republicans but also democrats to his side without compromising his principles. Both side support is needed to win this election in 2008 and he has it.
WHY HUCKABEE WINS THE NOMINATION and the PRESIDENCY
http://evolutionfacts.townhall.com
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Mitt
My second guess would be Fred |
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I'm glad you guys are finally starting to realize this fact. Quit invoking the name Ronald Reagan. Yes he was a great President, but leave that to the history books, and start coming up with a plan for the future. Look forward, not back. |
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"there is no way in hell that the GOP is gonna give RP the nod. Never gonna happen! This is the only reason I ask you post somehwre else.
He is a ghost as far as the GOP is concerned"
This is precisely why the GOP will not win unless they have someone like Ron Paul as the standard bearer. The Elitists are running the Republican party and now they will not even give Dr Paul or Duncan Hunter a chance to give their views to the American people. Is this the American way??? I think Hunter and Paul should call a news conference to protest!!
Con4Fred....BTW....Dream on!!!:O)) |
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I agree about Duncan Hunter and think he is v. impressive. I admire the fact that he, like Mccain, has actually had a military career, and know he will be able to command the respect of the military. He understands national security issues (he and Mccain are the only ones who have any depth of experience in defense policy). Moreover, Hunter is pro-life (without any double-talk or backtracking). And most importantly, he doesn't seem to have anything phony about him - what you see is what you get.
I'd be interested to know who Duncan Hunter will endorse if he doesn't make it to the end. Any ideas? |
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I respectfully ask RP supporters to take their lovefest to another forum.
Sure, I know you have right to say what you want, and I would fight for that right. Buuuut...
there is no way in hell that the GOP is gonna give RP the nod. Never gonna happen! This is the only reason I ask you post somehwre else.
He is a ghost as far as the GOP is concerned. |
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Tim Russert must be having a hard time sleeping tonight trying to figure out where to start in the morning. Huckabee will be destroyed tomorrow, five days before the Iowa caucus. He will think Mitt Romney is running positve ads after Russert is done with his record from this week alone. |
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The Keating Five (or Keating Five Scandal) refers to a Congressional scandal related to the collapse of most of the Savings and Loan institutions in the United States in the late 1980s. JOHN McCAIN was one of the KEATING FIVE.
In 1989, the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association of Irvine, Calif., collapsed. Lincoln's chairman, Charles H. Keating Jr., was faulted for the thrift's failure. Keating, however, told the House Banking Committee that the FHLBB and its former chief Edwin J. Gray were pursuing a vendetta against him. Gray testified that several U.S. senators had approached him and requested that he ease off on the Lincoln investigation. It came out that these senators had been beneficiaries of $1.3 million (collective total) in campaign contributions from Keating.
This allegation set off a series of investigations by the California government, the United States Department of Justice, and the Senate Ethics Committee. The ethics committee's investigation focused on five senators: Alan Cranston (D-CA); Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ); John Glenn (D-OH); John McCain (R-AZ); and Donald W. Riegle, Jr. (D-MI), who became known as the keating five.
McCAIN AND ROMNEY are both members of the CFR and are both like Huckabee...i.e. Liberal flipp-floppers and already FOX NEWS is going to make sure the American people do not hear Dr Ron Paul or Duncan Hunter in the Fox Debates...so there really is not choice except to take it to the American people which is what the Ron Paul people will do. By not giving Dr Paul the opportunity to express his views... this will only make Paul supporters like myself more determined...!! |
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The Keating Five (or Keating Five Scandal) refers to a Congressional scandal related to the collapse of most of the Savings and Loan institutions in the United States in the late 1980s. JOHN McCAIN was one of the KEATING FIVE.
In 1989, the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association of Irvine, Calif., collapsed. Lincoln's chairman, Charles H. Keating Jr., was faulted for the thrift's failure. Keating, however, told the House Banking Committee that the FHLBB and its former chief Edwin J. Gray were pursuing a vendetta against him. Gray testified that several U.S. senators had approached him and requested that he ease off on the Lincoln investigation. It came out that these senators had been beneficiaries of $1.3 million (collective total) in campaign contributions from Keating.
This allegation set off a series of investigations by the California government, the United States Department of Justice, and the Senate Ethics Committee. The ethics committee's investigation focused on five senators: Alan Cranston (D-CA); Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ); John Glenn (D-OH); John McCain (R-AZ); and Donald W. Riegle, Jr. (D-MI), who became known as the keating five.
McCAIN AND ROMNEY are both members of the CFR and are both like Huckabee...i.e. Liberal flipp-floppers and already FOX NEWS is going to make sure the American people do not hear Dr Ron Paul or Duncan Hunter in the Fox Debates...so there really is not choice except to take it to the American people which is what the Ron Paul people will do. By not giving Dr Paul the opportunity to express his views... this will only make Paul supporters like myself more determined...!! |
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Rollins is grasping at straws because Huckabee will not be accepted by fiscal or defense conservatives. If social conservatives would look past Huckabee's religion and inspect his record of poor ethical standards, I doubt he'd have them either.
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I consider myself a social conservative and a Baptist, but I am NOT supporting Huckabee. In my opinion when I see Huckabee, I smell peanuts just like I did back in 1976 when another Baptist was running for and suprisingly, as least to me, won the Presidency. He ended up being the WORST president during my lifetime of more than 60 years. I like Duncan Hunter and can't understand why more people don't support him. His views are the best of all the Republican candidates and he hasn't flip-flopped on any issues. He's strong on the War, Immigration and the Social Issues like Right to Life and One man One woman marriage. I will vote for him in our primary. |
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Thanks for posting this. It is a real wakeup call to the trobles we are creating for ourselves.
Honestly I am shocked to see what Rollins said. I hope the warning comes in time to stop the breakdown of the coalition.
We can't have Reagan. We need a candidate that can forge a new path, and become legendary in their own right. However, we, meaning all three parts of the Reagan coalition can still have each other's support. We should seek eachothers support, because each of the three legs of that coalition naturaly provide needed support to the others.
Mitt Romney is the candidate who had the wisdom to recognize this. He is the one I support, however if he doesn't make it, I am personally going to work to ensure that the nominee does not alienate any part of Reagans coalition. Rollins is now anathema to me. I hope Huckabee cuts him off and fast. As little as I think of Huckabee at this point having a guy like Rollins on his staff brings him even lower. He is like a fall angel that has from Reagan's team. |
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With all due respect, the Gipper was never a RINO, so please don't dirty his good name by comparing Mitt to him.
Mitt is NOT a Reagan Conservative, not by a longshot.
The only 2 people in this race that could be considered Reagan-like is Duncan and Fred. Duncan has no money, organization, or support. Fred has all three, and he can win.
For a Strong Conservative go with Fred, the rest are just populist soul sucking RINO's! |
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