Very interested in DUers opinions on this.

Do you believe that the majority of Republicans in congress (House and Senate) REALLY like Bush, and think he is a good leader, or are they just TOEING the party line on most issues?



:)

jumping like it's the titanic

I certainly hope so.

The thing that the republican's have, is that they stick together regardless of what any of them have done. That's the difference between us and them. We think the law should be upheld, even if it's one of our own that have broken it. If we had such disregard for the law as they do, we'd hold the presidency, congress, and senate. They'll stick together, a few will fray, but for the most part, they'll stick it out.

Hopefully, more American's will see the illegal activities of this administration, and the bastards will just be voted out. On the other hand, the bastards have diebold in their pocket, and it doesn't even matter how any of us vote.

I'm sorry I'm such a pessimist, but the past five years haven't helped much. I just feel like we're banging our heads against a brick wall, and no matter what we do, they manage to twist and spin it against us. I'm still fighting though, and I'm not giving up.

Sure they're are some that stick around, but their not loyal lap dogs like alot of people think. If it means their going to lose their jobs because their voters have turn against Bush, their going to disassociate themselves as much as they can with Bush. I think if the heat gets to hot they will run a center republican such as a Rudolph Guiliani or someone of that nature as a presidental candidate in 08 instead of a extreme right winger. Now matter what there aren't a as many extreme right wingers as they would like us to believe, most republican voters are 2 or 3 issues away from voting the other way in my opinion.

One does not "tow" the line, as in towing a car. One "toes" the line, as in standing in military formation.
And yes, I think they genuinely like him, mainly because he is so stupidly inane that he can get away with doing what they, themselves, cannot diplomatically get away with.

No need to get upset.

Well, not much, anyway! I see you as an enormously intelligent person, asking penetrating questions, and, even though there are some posters who don't know the difference, I would hate to see the value of your message derailed by its delivery.
Thanks for your thoughtfulness in considering one of my peeves...

But truth be known, I have never seen that phrase written any other way. Go figure.

It is appropriately spelled now.

:)

On edit: It is one of my favorite (mis)apprehensions that precision in speech leads to precision in thought.

No...I meant it in a purely comical way...and I also stated I resemble that remark. :-)

much like Marley's Ghost dragged the chains of his life's sins throughout eternity.

So I wrote it as I saw it. I never use the phrase myself.

They are such a drag, aren't they?

Most Republican legislators are reprehensible corporate scum lackeys but they ARE intelligent and savvy. They've worked hard to cultivate their political ambitions. I think in the beginning they had high hopes for him but he's turned out to be a big embarrassing albatross around their necks. Unfortunately for them, their party doesn't tolerate dissent like ours does. After the Nixon debacle, the Right really buckled down and imposed message discipline and the expectation of unquestioning loyalty. A lot of these Reps and Senators don't know any other way and you can see the awkwardness and trepidation in those who are trying to distance themselves from him while maintaining their position in the Party. It was quite comical watching Sen. Kyl and Rep. Hayworth here in AZ when Bush came to visit. They practically had to be forced to appear at fundraisers with him.

As far as whether or not they like him personally, I don't know about the rest but it's common knowledge around these parts that McCain despises him. With good reason. All the more puzzling why he'd campaign for him and help him but I refer back to my statement about discipline and expectations.

I think most Republicans pretty much like Bush but I don't think for a second they believe it is his leadership that controls the Administration. They know it's as much or more the people around him then the talking head who sits as President.

That being said I think the real divide is between the Christian Neo-Conservative movement and the fiscal conservatives. One pushes hard for endless war. War against Iraq, terrorism and against the poor here in America. They spend more than any so-called liberal socialist agenda can and starve states and local municipalities while reserving the rewards for certain political donors and allies.

There are some conservatives that despise this. They believe in fiscal conservatism and while they don't agree with social program funding, they also don't agree in no-bid gutting of the treasury by certain corporate interests or the specific pork such as anything suggested by Ted Stevens.

They are silenced though because they know that because of the rise to power of the neo-conservatives and the effective manipulation of the media a move against the Administration would label and tar these conservatives falsely as traitorous liberals and crush their chances to retain many of their brainwashed constituency.

As Republicans, they need to live or die with the current administration because the Administration has painted Republicans and Democrats as entirely different black and white beasts and has effectively eliminated the independence of members of the right.

Some are trying to back away from Bush now on certain issues but they have been so locked into his lengthy run and agenda that it could hurt them greatly with Republican voters and make them vulnerable to Democratic challengers.

Only John McCain has been able to play both sides and retain any sense of credibility but when push comes to shove he usually finds a way to fall in line with the Republican playbook just like everyone else.

So the flaw is this: They like Bush as a person but they know he's not in charge and the actual split is based on policy, not leadership issues anyways. Since after all, they like that Bush's popularity within the party has kept them re-elected and well funded. The problem is that when he goes down, so do they.

Rp

I was just getting a basic head count of opinions, but what you said makes a hell of a lot of sense.

It was more of an "omission" in the poll. I didn't go too in depth.

''conservatives -- in the eisenhower{sp?} sense of the word are probably in the minority these days -- if there are any left.

neo-conservatives fall into several camps with the two most note worthy being the wolfowitz{america as empire and norquist{helping corporations mine washington for tax dollars and tax break}.

social conservatives make/will make alliances with the former in order to increase their power base -- and the corporate wing uses media to manipulate{with permission} the virtuous citizen as tools.


i think it's extremely important to understand the character and psychology of who we're talking about as well as discuss the character of the american people.

He wasn't any different than Bush, just not as blatant about it is all. We had a stock market crash in 1987 and they still talk glowingly of Reagan's economy. I'd have to guess the 1% got their money out before that happened, they usually do. Things are going swimmingly for the true Bush backer, the kind that Republicans in Congress are there to serve. It's the rank and file Republican that you have to wonder about.

The only thing that they really care about is their own power and he's a threat to that right now. With a few exceptions, these people have no core beliefs and no integrity. I don't think they ever really LIKE a person, but only like how a person can be useful to them. They do understand that in order to maintain power, they have to at least maintain the appearance of a united front.

That our country has gone to hell in a handbasket since * TOOK office.

i can't believe that duers actually think that most republicans don't like .g.w

i'm a little dismayed at that.

so they let others (i.e. corporate lobbyists) do their thinking for them . . .

they also let them write our laws, most significantly those that pertain to their particular industries . . .

Fear of campaign contributions drying up . . .

I'm sure they are faithful and support * 100%, even though they might not want to at times, because they think that they might be rewarded well for their loyalty.