The Grand Ole Party (Grand Opposition Party). A History of opposition.

Enigma's picture

The Republican Party was formed in 1854 specifically to oppose the Democrats, and for more than 150 years, they have done everything they could to block the Democrat agenda.

In their abuses of power, they have even used threats and military violence to thwart the Democrat Party’s attempts to make this a progressive country.

As you read the following Republican atrocities that span three centuries, imagine if you will, what a far different nation the United States would be had not the Republicans been around to block the Democrats’ efforts.

March 20, 1854 Opponents of Democrats’ pro-slavery policies meet in Ripon, Wisconsin to establish the Republican Party

May 30, 1854 Democrat President Franklin Pierce signs Democrats’ Kansas-Nebraska Act, expanding slavery into U.S. territories; opponents unite to form the Republican Party

June 16, 1854 Newspaper editor Horace Greeley calls on opponents of slavery to unite in the Republican Party

July 6, 1854 First state Republican Party officially organized in Jackson, Michigan, to oppose Democrats’ pro-slavery policies

February 11, 1856 Republican Montgomery Blair argues before U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of his client, the slave Dred Scott; later served in President Lincoln’s Cabinet

February 22, 1856 First national meeting of the Republican Party, in Pittsburgh, to coordinate opposition to Democrats’ pro-slavery policies

March 27, 1856 First meeting of Republican National Committee in Washington, DC to oppose Democrats’ pro-slavery policies

May 22, 1856 For denouncing Democrats’ pro-slavery policy, Republican U.S. Senator Charles Sumner (R-MA) is beaten nearly to death on floor of Senate by U.S. Rep. Preston Brooks (D-SC), takes three years to recover

March 6, 1857 Republican Supreme Court Justice John McLean issues strenuous dissent from decision by 7 Democrats in infamous Dred Scott case that African-Americans had no rights “which any white man was bound to respect”

June 26, 1857 Abraham Lincoln declares Republican position that slavery is “cruelly wrong,” while Democrats “cultivate and excite hatred” for blacks

October 13, 1858 During Lincoln-Douglas debates, U.S. Senator Stephen Douglas (D-IL) states: “I do not regard the Negro as my equal, and positively deny that he is my brother, or any kin to me whatever”; Douglas became Democratic Party’s 1860 presidential nominee

October 25, 1858 U.S. Senator William Seward (R-NY) describes Democratic Party as “inextricably committed to the designs of the slaveholders”; as President Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of State, helped draft Emancipation Proclamation

June 4, 1860 Republican U.S. Senator Charles Sumner (R-MA) delivers his classic address, The Barbarism of Slavery

April 7, 1862 President Lincoln concludes treaty with Britain for suppression of slave trade

April 16, 1862 President Lincoln signs bill abolishing slavery in District of Columbia; in Congress, 99% of Republicans vote yes, 83% of Democrats vote no

July 2, 1862 U.S. Rep. Justin Morrill (R-VT) wins passage of Land Grant Act, establishing colleges open to African-Americans, including such students as George Washington Carver

July 17, 1862 Over unanimous Democrat opposition, Republican Congress passes Confiscation Act stating that slaves of the Confederacy “shall be forever free”

August 19, 1862 Republican newspaper editor Horace Greeley writes Prayer of Twenty Millions, calling on President Lincoln to declare emancipation

August 25, 1862 President Abraham Lincoln authorizes enlistment of African-American soldiers in U.S. Army

September 22, 1862 Republican President Abraham Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation

January 1, 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, implementing the Republicans’ Confiscation Act of 1862, takes effect

February 9, 1864 Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton deliver over 100,000 signatures to U.S. Senate supporting Republicans’ plans for constitutional amendment to ban slavery

June 15, 1864 Republican Congress votes equal pay for African-American troops serving in U.S. Army during Civil War

June 28, 1864 Republican majority in Congress repeals Fugitive Slave Acts

October 29, 1864 African-American abolitionist Sojourner Truth says of President Lincoln: “I never was treated by anyone with more kindness and cordiality than were shown to me by that great and good man”

January 31, 1865 13th Amendment banning slavery passed by U.S. House with unanimous Republican support, intense Democrat opposition

March 3, 1865 Republican Congress establishes Freedmen’s Bureau to provide health care, education, and technical assistance to emancipated slaves

April 8, 1865 13th Amendment banning slavery passed by U.S. Senate with 100% Republican support, 63% Democrat opposition

June 19, 1865 On “Juneteenth,” U.S. troops land in Galveston, TX to enforce ban on slavery that had been declared more than two years before by the Emancipation Proclamation

November 22, 1865 Republicans denounce Democrat legislature of Mississippi for enacting “black codes,” which institutionalized racial discrimination

December 6, 1865 Republican Party’s 13th Amendment, banning slavery, is ratified

February 5, 1866 U.S. Rep. Thaddeus Stevens (R-PA) introduces legislation, successfully opposed by Democrat President Andrew Johnson, to implement “40 acres and a mule” relief by distributing land to former slaves

April 9, 1866 Republican Congress overrides Democrat President Johnson’s veto; Civil Rights Act of 1866, conferring rights of citizenship on African-Americans, becomes law

April 19, 1866 Thousands assemble in Washington, DC to celebrate Republican Party’s abolition of slavery

May 10, 1866 U.S. House passes Republicans’ 14th Amendment guaranteeing due process and equal protection of the laws to all citizens; 100% of Democrats vote no

June 8, 1866 U.S. Senate passes Republicans’ 14th Amendment guaranteeing due process and equal protection of the law to all citizens; 94% of Republicans vote yes and 100% of Democrats vote no

July 16, 1866 Republican Congress overrides Democrat President Andrew Johnson’s veto of Freedman's Bureau Act, which protected former slaves from “black codes” denying their rights

July 28, 1866 Republican Congress authorizes formation of the Buffalo Soldiers, two regiments of African-American cavalrymen

July 30, 1866 Democrat-controlled City of New Orleans orders police to storm racially-integrated Republican meeting; raid kills 40 and wounds more than 150

January 8, 1867 Republicans override Democrat President Andrew Johnson’s veto of law granting voting rights to African-Americans in D.C.

July 19, 1867 Republican Congress overrides Democrat President Andrew Johnson’s veto of legislation protecting voting rights of African-Americans

March 30, 1868 Republicans begin impeachment trial of Democrat President Andrew Johnson, who declared: “This is a country for white men, and by God, as long as I am President, it shall be a government of white men”

May 20, 1868 Republican National Convention marks debut of African-American politicians on national stage; two – Pinckney Pinchback and James Harris – attend as delegates, and several serve as presidential electors

September 3, 1868 25 African-Americans in Georgia legislature, all Republicans, expelled by Democrat majority; later reinstated by Republican Congress

September 12, 1868 Civil rights activist Tunis Campbell and all other African-Americans in Georgia Senate, every one a Republican, expelled by Democrat majority; would later be reinstated by Republican Congress

September 28, 1868 Democrats in Opelousas, Louisiana murder nearly 300 African-Americans who tried to prevent an assault against a Republican newspaper editor

October 7, 1868 Republicans denounce Democratic Party’s national campaign theme: “This is a white man’s country: Let white men rule”

October 22, 1868 While campaigning for re-election, Republican U.S. Rep. James Hinds (R-AR) is assassinated by Democrat terrorists who organized as the Ku Klux Klan

November 3, 1868 Republican Ulysses Grant defeats Democrat Horatio Seymour in presidential election; Seymour had denounced Emancipation Proclamation

December 10, 1869 Republican Gov. John Campbell of Wyoming Territory signs FIRST-in-nation law granting women right to vote and to hold public office

February 3, 1870 After passing House with 98% Republican support and 97% Democrat opposition, Republicans’ 15th Amendment is ratified, granting vote to all Americans regardless of race

May 19, 1870 African-American John Langston, law professor and future Republican Congressman from Virginia, delivers influential speech supporting President Ulysses Grant’s civil rights policies

May 31, 1870 President U.S. Grant signs Republicans’ Enforcement Act, providing stiff penalties for depriving any American’s civil rights

June 22, 1870 Republican Congress creates U.S. Department of Justice, to safeguard the civil rights of African-Americans against Democrats in the South

September 6, 1870 Women vote in Wyoming, in FIRST election after women’s suffrage signed into law by Republican Gov. John Campbell

February 28, 1871 Republican Congress passes Enforcement Act providing federal protection for African-American voters

March 22, 1871 Spartansburg Republican newspaper denounces Ku Klux Klan campaign to eradicate the Republican Party in South Carolina

April 20, 1871 Republican Congress enacts the Ku Klux Klan Act, outlawing Democratic Party-affiliated terrorist groups which oppressed African-Americans

October 10, 1871 Following warnings by Philadelphia Democrats against black voting, African-American Republican civil rights activist Octavius Catto murdered by Democratic Party operative; his military funeral was attended by thousands

October 18, 1871 After violence against Republicans in South Carolina, President Ulysses Grant deploys U.S. troops to combat Democrat terrorists who formed the Ku Klux Klan

November 18, 1872 Susan B. Anthony arrested for voting, after boasting to Elizabeth Cady Stanton that she voted for “the Republican ticket, straight”

January 17, 1874 Armed Democrats seize Texas state government, ending Republican efforts to racially integrate government

September 14, 1874 Democrat white supremacists seize Louisiana statehouse in attempt to overthrow racially-integrated administration of Republican Governor William Kellogg; 27 killed

March 1, 1875 Civil Rights Act of 1875, guaranteeing access to public accommodations without regard to race, signed by Republican President U.S. Grant; passed with 92% Republican support over 100% Democrat opposition

September 20, 1876 Former state Attorney General Robert Ingersoll (R-IL) tells veterans: “Every man that loved slavery better than liberty was a Democrat… I am a Republican because it is the only free party that ever existed”

January 10, 1878 U.S. Senator Aaron Sargent (R-CA) introduces Susan B. Anthony amendment for women’s suffrage; Democrat-controlled Senate defeated it 4 times before election of Republican House and Senate guaranteed its approval in 1919

July 14, 1884 Republicans criticize Democratic Party’s nomination of racist U.S. Senator Thomas Hendricks (D-IN) for vice president; he had voted against the 13th Amendment banning slavery

August 30, 1890 Republican President Benjamin Harrison signs legislation by U.S. Senator Justin Morrill (R-VT) making African-Americans eligible for land-grant colleges in the South

June 7, 1892 In a FIRST for a major U.S. political party, two women – Theresa Jenkins and Cora Carleton – attend Republican National Convention in an official capacity, as alternate delegates

February 8, 1894 Democrat Congress and Democrat President Grover Cleveland join to repeal Republicans’ Enforcement Act, which had enabled African-Americans to vote

December 11, 1895 African-American Republican and former U.S. Rep. Thomas Miller (R-SC) denounces new state constitution written to disenfranchise African-Americans

May 18, 1896 Republican Justice John Marshall Harlan, dissenting from Supreme Court’s notorious Plessy v. Ferguson “separate but equal” decision, declares: “Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens”

December 31, 1898 Republican Theodore Roosevelt becomes Governor of New York; in 1900, he outlawed racial segregation in New York public schools

May 24, 1900 Republicans vote no in referendum for constitutional convention in Virginia, designed to create a new state constitution disenfranchising African-Americans

January 15, 1901 Republican Booker T. Washington protests Alabama Democratic Party’s refusal to permit voting by African-Americans

October 16, 1901 President Theodore Roosevelt invites Booker T. Washington to dine at White House, sparking protests by Democrats across the country

May 29, 1902 Virginia Democrats implement new state constitution, condemned by Republicans as illegal, reducing African-American voter registration by 86%

February 12, 1909 On 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, African-American Republicans and women’s suffragists Ida Wells and Mary Terrell co-found the NAACP

June 18, 1912 African-American Robert Church, founder of Lincoln Leagues to register black voters in Tennessee, attends 1912 Republican National Convention as delegate; eventually serves as delegate at 8 conventions

August 1, 1916 Republican presidential candidate Charles Evans Hughes, former New York Governor and U.S. Supreme Court Justice, endorses women’s suffrage constitutional amendment; he would become Secretary of State and Chief Justice

May 21, 1919 Republican House passes constitutional amendment granting women the vote with 85% of Republicans in favor, but only 54% of Democrats; in Senate, 80% of Republicans would vote yes, but almost half of Democrats no

April 18, 1920 Minnesota’s FIRST-in-the-nation anti-lynching law, promoted by African-American Republican Nellie Francis, signed by Republican Gov. Jacob Preus

August 18, 1920 Republican-authored 19th Amendment, giving women the vote, becomes part of Constitution; 26 of the 36 states to ratify had Republican-controlled legislatures

January 26, 1922 House passes bill authored by U.S. Rep. Leonidas Dyer (R-MO) making lynching a federal crime; Senate Democrats block it with filibuster

June 2, 1924 Republican President Calvin Coolidge signs bill passed by Republican Congress granting U.S. citizenship to all Native Americans

October 3, 1924 Republicans denounce three-time Democrat presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan for defending the Ku Klux Klan at 1924 Democratic National Convention

December 8, 1924 Democratic presidential candidate John W. Davis argues in favor of “separate but equal”

June 12, 1929 First Lady Lou Hoover invites wife of U.S. Rep. Oscar De Priest (R-IL), an African-American, to tea at the White House, sparking protests by Democrats across the country

August 17, 1937 Republicans organize opposition to former Ku Klux Klansman and Democrat U.S. Senator Hugo Black, appointed to U.S. Supreme Court by FDR; his Klan background was hidden until after confirmation

June 24, 1940 Republican Party platform calls for integration of the armed forces; for the balance of his terms in office, FDR refuses to order it

October 20, 1942 60 prominent African-Americans issue Durham Manifesto, calling on southern Democrats to abolish their all-white primaries

April 3, 1944 U.S. Supreme Court strikes down Texas Democratic Party’s “whites only” primary election system

August 8, 1945 Republicans condemn Harry Truman's surprise use of the atomic bomb in Japan. The whining and criticism goes on for years. It begins two days after the Hiroshima bombing, when former Republican President Herbert Hoover writes to a friend that "[t]he use of the atomic bomb, with its indiscriminate killing of women and children, revolts my soul."

February 18, 1946 Appointed by Republican President Calvin Coolidge, federal judge Paul McCormick ends segregation of Mexican-American children in California public schools

July 11, 1952 Republican Party platform condemns “duplicity and insincerity” of Democrats in racial matters

September 30, 1953 Earl Warren, California’s three-term Republican Governor and 1948 Republican vice presidential nominee, nominated to be Chief Justice; wrote landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education

December 8, 1953 Eisenhower administration Asst. Attorney General Lee Rankin argues for plaintiffs in Brown v. Board of Education

May 17, 1954 Chief Justice Earl Warren, three-term Republican Governor (CA) and Republican vice presidential nominee in 1948, wins unanimous support of Supreme Court for school desegregation in Brown v. Board of Education

November 25, 1955 Eisenhower administration bans racial segregation of interstate bus travel

March 12, 1956 Ninety-seven Democrats in Congress condemn Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education, and pledge to continue segregation

June 5, 1956 Republican federal judge Frank Johnson rules in favor of Rosa Parks in decision striking down “blacks in the back of the bus” law

October 19, 1956 On campaign trail, Vice President Richard Nixon vows: “American boys and girls shall sit, side by side, at any school – public or private – with no regard paid to the color of their skin. Segregation, discrimination, and prejudice have no place in America”

November 6, 1956 African-American civil rights leaders Martin Luther King and Ralph Abernathy vote for Republican Dwight Eisenhower for President

September 9, 1957 President Dwight Eisenhower signs Republican Party’s 1957 Civil Rights Act

September 24, 1957 Sparking criticism from Democrats such as Senators John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, President Dwight Eisenhower deploys the 82nd Airborne Division to Little Rock, AR to force Democrat Governor Orval Faubus to integrate public schools

June 23, 1958 President Dwight Eisenhower meets with Martin Luther King and other African-American leaders to discuss plans to advance civil rights

February 4, 1959 President Eisenhower informs Republican leaders of his plan to introduce 1960 Civil Rights Act, despite staunch opposition from many Democrats

May 6, 1960 President Dwight Eisenhower signs Republicans’ Civil Rights Act of 1960, overcoming 125-hour, around-the-clock filibuster by 18 Senate Democrats

July 27, 1960 At Republican National Convention, Vice President and eventual presidential nominee Richard Nixon insists on strong civil rights plank in platform

May 2, 1963 Republicans condemn Democrat sheriff of Birmingham, AL for arresting over 2,000 African-American schoolchildren marching for their civil rights

June 1, 1963 Democrat Governor George Wallace announces defiance of court order issued by Republican federal judge Frank Johnson to integrate University of Alabama

September 29, 1963 Gov. George Wallace (D-AL) defies order by U.S. District Judge Frank Johnson, appointed by President Dwight Eisenhower, to integrate Tuskegee High School

June 9, 1964 Republicans condemn 14-hour filibuster against 1964 Civil Rights Act by U.S. Senator and former Ku Klux Klansman Robert Byrd (D-WV), who still serves in the Senate

June 10, 1964 Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen (R-IL) criticizes Democrat filibuster against 1964 Civil Rights Act, calls on Democrats to stop opposing racial equality

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was introduced and approved by a staggering majority of Republicans in the Senate. The Act was opposed by most southern Democrat senators, several of whom were proud segregationists—one of them being Al Gore Sr. Democrat President Lyndon B. Johnson relied on Illinois Senator Everett Dirkson, the Republican leader from Illinois, to get the Act passed.

June 20, 1964 The Chicago Defender, renowned African-American newspaper, praises Senate Republican Leader Everett Dirksen (R-IL) for leading passage of 1964 Civil Rights Act

March 7, 1965 Police under the command of Democrat Governor George Wallace attack African-Americans demonstrating for voting rights in Selma, AL

March 21, 1965 Republican federal judge Frank Johnson authorizes Martin Luther King’s protest march from Selma to Montgomery, overruling Democrat Governor George Wallace

August 4, 1965 Senate Republican Leader Everett Dirksen (R-IL) overcomes Democrat attempts to block 1965 Voting Rights Act; 94% of Senate Republicans vote for landmark civil right legislation, while 27% of Democrats oppose

August 6, 1965 Voting Rights Act of 1965, abolishing literacy tests and other measures devised by Democrats to prevent African-Americans from voting, signed into law; higher percentage of Republicans than Democrats vote in favor

July 8, 1970 In special message to Congress, President Richard Nixon calls for reversal of policy of forced termination of Native American rights and benefits

September 17, 1971 Former Ku Klux Klan member and Democrat U.S. Senator Hugo Black (D-AL) retires from U.S. Supreme Court; appointed by FDR in 1937, he had defended Klansmen for racial murders

February 19, 1976 President Gerald Ford formally rescinds President Franklin Roosevelt’s notorious Executive Order authorizing internment of over 120,000 Japanese-Americans during WWII

September 15, 1981 President Ronald Reagan establishes the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, to increase African-American participation in federal education programs

June 29, 1982 President Ronald Reagan signs 25-year extension of 1965 Voting Rights Act

August 10, 1988 President Ronald Reagan signs Civil Liberties Act of 1988, compensating Japanese-Americans for deprivation of civil rights and property during World War II internment ordered by FDR

November 21, 1991 President George H. W. Bush signs Civil Rights Act of 1991 to strengthen federal civil rights legislation

August 20, 1996 Bill authored by U.S. Rep. Susan Molinari (R-NY) to prohibit racial discrimination in adoptions, part of Republicans’ Contract With America, becomes law

April 26, 1999 Legislation authored by U.S. Senator Spencer Abraham (R-MI) awarding Congressional Gold Medal to civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks is transmitted to President

January 25, 2001 U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee declares school choice to be “Educational Emancipation”

March 19, 2003 Republican U.S. Representatives of Hispanic and Portuguese descent form Congressional Hispanic Conference

May 23, 2003 U.S. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) introduces bill to establish National Museum of African American History and Culture

February 26, 2004 Hispanic Republican U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-TX) condemns racist comments by U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown (D-FL); she had called Asst. Secretary of State Roger Noriega and several Hispanic Congressmen “a bunch of white men...you all look alike to me”

I should I also point out that The Klu Klux Klan was created by the democrats for the express reason of terrorizing blacks and republicans in the south to prevent them from voting, and that every known Klansman that were members of congress have been democrats.
_________________________________________

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Submitted by dollaradayandfound on Mon, 04/09/2007 - 8:35pm.

If this is the same democratic and republican parties we now have, then I can't help but wonder why nearly all these slave descendents now vote democratic?

Basmati's picture
Submitted by Basmati on Tue, 04/10/2007 - 10:28am.

In light of the myriad of accomplishments listed in enigma's RNC talking point cut-n-paste above, it does make you wonder why they are voting Democratic.

Oh well, President Bush, Sonny Purdue and the Republican party are all working diligently to ensure that these ungrateful Negroes are denied the right to vote.

After all, if they aren't going to show the proper gratitude to Republicans in the first place, why should they be allowed to vote, right?

________________________________________________________
Get your Klanpoints™ today!


Enigma's picture
Submitted by Enigma on Tue, 04/10/2007 - 12:34pm.

Was there and acomplishment on the list that you care to deny as factual?

I'm sorry you are so bitter about how your life has turned out basmati. It really shows.

Despite what you may believe- your station in life was already set and you were a bitter underachiever BEFORE George W. Bush ever became President. I know that you feel it's amazing that someone so stupid (Bush) could become the most powerful human being on planet earth so I would consider examining your premise. This reflective process may provide you with some measure of comfort.

Maybe in your next life you will be more successful. The perhaps you won't feel treated unfairly since in this life you are obviously more intelligent than any Republican on the planet.


Enigma's picture
Submitted by Enigma on Tue, 04/10/2007 - 11:03am.

All of the following people are registered Republicans. ‘They’ also happen to be African-American.

Claude Allen (former White House Domestic Policy Advisor)
J. Kenneth Blackwell (Secretary of State of Ohio, former gubernatorial candidate)
Jennette Bradley (Treasurer of State of Ohio)
Edward Brooke (Senator from Massachusetts)
Janice Rogers Brown (U.S. Court of Appeals)
Blanche K. Bruce (Senator from Mississippi)
Keith Butler (Minister and former US Senatorial candidate from Michigan)
Herman Cain (Businessman)
Octavius Valentine Catto (Civil Rights Activist & Black Baseball Pioneer)
Henry Plummer Cheatham (U.S. Congressman)
Ward Connerly
Oscar Stanton De Priest (Congressman from Illinois)
Clyde Drexler (former basketball player)
Larry Elder (talk radio host and commentator)
Robert Brown Elliott (U.S Congressman)
Ted Hayes (Homeless Activist)
Roy Innis, (founder of CORE, civil rights activist)
Niger Innis (commentator and activist)
Wallace B. Jefferson (Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas)
Alan Keyes
Don King
Yaphet Kotto (Actor)
John Mercer Langston
Jefferson Franklin Long (U.S. Congressman from Georgia)
John Roy Lynch (U.S. Congressman)
Angela McGlowan
Donald McLaurin (local mayor, running for Ohio state representative)
Karl Malone (former basketball player)
Thomas Ezekiel Miller (U.S. Congressman)
Hamid Saleem Mujahid (Faith Investment Club VP)
George Washington Murray (U.S. Congressman)
Charles Edmund Nash (U.S Congressman)
Jesse Owens
Rod Paige (former US Secretary of Education)
Sherman Parker (Missouri state representative, running for U.S. House of Representatives)
Samuel Pierce (HUD Secretary in Reagan Administration)
Colin Powell (former US Secretary of State)
Michael Powell (former head of FCC)
Jesse Lee Peterson (Founder of BOND, Civil rights activist)
Joseph C. Phillips (actor)
Joseph H. Rainey (U.S. Congressman)
Hiram Rhodes Revels (Senator from Mississippi)
Condoleezza Rice (US Secretary of State)
Frances Rice (Chairman of National Black Republican Association)
Jackie Robinson
Vernon Robinson (City Council member running for Congress)
Luc El-Art Severe (Student, Morehouse College; Chairman of Morehouse College Republicans; future Gubernatorial Candidate for GA)
Robert Smalls (U.S. Congressman)
Michael Steele (Lt. Gov. of Maryland, former candidate for the U.S. Senate)
Pinckney Benton Stuart Pinchback (Former Governor of Louisiana)
Lynn Swann (former NFL player, former Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate)
Clarence Thomas (US Supreme Court Justice)
Mary Terrell (Co-founder of the NAACP)
William T. Vernon (Registrar of the Treasury under President Theodore Roosevelt)
Booker T Washington (educator and activist)
Denzel Washington (Actor)
Jimmie Walker (Actor and Comedian)
J.C. Watts (former US Representative from Oklahoma)
Ida Wells (Co-founder of the NAACP)
Armstrong Williams (Radio and television commentator)
Michael L. Williams (Texas Railroad Commissioner)
Walter E. Williams (Author, Commentator, Economist)

I really can’t determine why people vote for a specific party. I feel sure it is because they feel it is what is best for them or their family.

In some cases, like for the ‘Hollywood Elite”, I think there are some who placate a guilty conscious by thinking ‘forced giving’ through higher taxes is somehow “beneficial” to the poor.

I do however now feel that the socioeconomic downtrodden and a host of other disadvantaged Americans, have long been the target of the Democratic give-a-way/enslavement policies and promises. How has that worked out? Those who are disappointed with their station in life will always look for sympathy and a party that will ‘promise’ to make it better at the expense of the more successful ‘transgressors’ who have not had to endure the ‘suffering’. Homeless shelters are full of people waiting for someone else to solve their problems.

Since you are a democrat – why don’t you answer the question and tell us why you are a Democrat.


JeffC's picture
Submitted by JeffC on Tue, 04/10/2007 - 12:13pm.

I do not support extraordinary renditions, torture or pre-emptive wars. Support for any of these issues is enough for me not to support the political party which embraces them and all are supported by the Republican Party.

I do support international treaties, arms control, the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, dialog with international adversaries, the Geneva Conventions and the right of habeas corpus. None of these issues are supported by the Republican Party and most are actively rejected by the Party.

Although not a deal breaker, I support pay-as-you-go fiscal responsibility which, of course, is a Democratic Party platform. The Republicans started out with a $200 billion budget surplus from Clinton and over the course of 6 years as driven that down and within the next month or two will have added more than $3 trillion to the national debt. Take out the Iraq war and that still leaves $2.54 trillion in new debt.

Many of the positions which I hold used to be cornerstones of conservatism. This administration strikes me as far more radical than conservative and I believe that is to the detriment of the Republican Party. I believe this point of view is now reflected in the polls and in the past election. I believe it will be reflected in the 2008 election also.

The Democratic Party was seized by radicals and paid a colossal price over the last 30 years.

Are you not concerned that the radical right was gained control of the Republican Party and that the Party may have to endure a similar fate?


Git Real's picture
Submitted by Git Real on Tue, 04/10/2007 - 1:25pm.

Many of the positions which I hold used to be cornerstones of conservatism.

So you too were a Republican before Bush took over. Heck..I'd a never guessed that.

The Democratic Party was seized by radicals and paid a colossal price over the last 30 years.

You've got that right. When do you think they'll start shedding those radicals? Get rid of them and you just might get me if the Conservative Movement of the future is in the Democrat Party.

Are you not concerned that the radical right was gained control of the Republican Party and that the Party may have to endure a similar fate?

Yup... that's why the Conservatives have been fleeing from the Republican Party. As the "R's" have drifted left many of us have been left behind. Take the war out of the equation and I see a merger taking place in the future.

Jeff & Git... bound together by Conservatism. Who'd a ever thunk it? Eye-wink

Where's Bas fit in?
________

You may not be at war with Islam, but Islam is at war with you!


JeffC's picture
Submitted by JeffC on Tue, 04/10/2007 - 2:00pm.

We've already started shedding our crazies! Whether you like Kerry, Gore and Clinton or not, they ain't McGovern and Dukakis. Both parties are full of nuts but ours are no longer in control of the party.

Its a long long way to the election. As I see it as an observer, the two most interesting things are whether the D's can stop Hillary, an almost certain general election loser, and whether the R's are going to fracture from its religious base. Stories to follow along with.

I'm sure we'll have lots more to say during the year. I'm pulling for Fred Thompson for your side, undecided about mine, leaning toward Richardson but not thinking he has much of a chance, liking Edwards, wishing Gore would get in (yes, really) Obama looks like VP stuff. It promises to be interesting.


WakeUp's picture
Submitted by WakeUp on Tue, 04/10/2007 - 2:50pm.

Namely, Pelosi, Dean and Reid. Obama can do good for your party, but he really needs to be the VP.

I like your thoughts on conservatism. The far right and lefts have both parties hurting. For me, I like the Fred Thompson idea.


JeffC's picture
Submitted by JeffC on Tue, 04/10/2007 - 4:56pm.

Yep Wakeup I agree, surprisingly enough. Not much enamored with Pelosi at all. Dean's a good money raiser and good where he is. Reid is about as uncharismatic as you can get. Certainly not a rabble rousing leader. And we've got a lot of rabble to rouse. We can dump a lot of the MoveOn guys too. In my considered opinion they hurt more than they help. As bad as the SwiftBoaters...


Enigma's picture
Submitted by Enigma on Tue, 04/10/2007 - 2:14pm.

Richardson would get my vote.


Basmati's picture
Submitted by Basmati on Tue, 04/10/2007 - 1:54pm.

Where's Bas fit in? Why, right smack dab in the middle of the center, where I've been all along, thanks for asking!

Seriously though, I concur with Jeff's opinion that the Dems were essentially taken over by radical elements during the Vietnam war, specifically during the 1972 election cycle. In much the same way, the Republicans were taken over by fringe elements in 1994 (remember the "Contract On America"?)

Bill Clinton did a lot towards neutralizing the fringe elements of the left beginning in 1992 (from "Sistah Souljah" onward). The Republicans have yet to clean house of their excesses, so the voters are doing it for them. It's heartening to see (if you're a Democrat, that is) the incredible trendlines towards party identification since the 2004 election: the future is limitless for Democrats, and for the Republicans, well, they had better start rolling out their Ohio/Florida "Block The Vote" pilot program initiatives nationwide and soon if they want any semblance of a chance of staunching the losses of 2006.

The terrible truth is that Democrats are terrible campaigners and terrific in office, with the reverse true of Republicans (terrific campaigners but terrible governance). The Repubs have to pander to their base to win elections but that more often than not alienates the majority of Americans.

We live in interesting times!
________________________________________________________
Get your Klanpoints™ today!


Enigma's picture
Submitted by Enigma on Tue, 04/10/2007 - 1:13pm.

I am concerned greatly about both the 'radical right' and the 'radical left'. I currently only see one side being left unchecked.

Politics, when successful, is played between the '35's' if you will.

I love hearing anyone (on either side of the political spectrum) talking about fiscal responsibilty. I am going to assume that you understand what the debt is, where it comes from, and what it curently is as a percentage of the Gross national Product, GNP. I would bet that as a percentage the national debt is lower than 90% of the people reading this blogs family debt is. The national debt has actually exceeded the GNP/GDP and at times (right after the Louisianna Purchase for example) the National Debt has had foreign ownership as high as 70%.

The National Debt grew at a rate of 42% under your father's administration and at a rate of 34% under GWBush's fist term. Hummm. Slower than any of the last 5 administrations.

The National Debt is also a smaller percentage of the GNP under Bush than under Clinton. Hummmmm.Smaller growth than any of the last five administrations - including Bush Sr., of course.
Please check here for the figures

But on a more somber note, I think the most insensitive and irrational thoughts I have ever seen you espouse are these:

"I do not support extraordinary renditions, torture or pre-emptive wars. Support for any of these issues is enough for me not to support the political party which embraces them and all are supported by the Republican Party." Please click below for the entire story but recall this vote? I do. I also recall much condemnation by McCain and others. Click below:

"The House vote was 308 to 122, with 107 Republicans lining up along with almost every Democrat behind Representative John P. Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat ...."

Come on Jeff, aren't those who 'tortured' others serving jail time?

Do you just ASSUME that since they were in the military they were Republicans because such a huge percentage of the military is?

As for the narrow victory that (at the time 'we' enjoyed) the Democrats had last November, it really should not be mistaken as a 'landslide' or a 'mandate' if you do - it's at your own(our) peril.

Finally, best of all, I loved your statement that "Many of the positions which I hold used to be cornerstones of conservatism." Come on Jeff, help me take back our party - come be a Republican with me and let's re-establish those conservative values!

Thanks for taking a bite.

Enigma


JeffC's picture
Submitted by JeffC on Tue, 04/10/2007 - 1:49pm.

I agree on fiscal conservatism. However the trends for Democrats and republicans have reversed over the last thirty years and now the Democrats seem to be the party of fiscal responsibility.

Citing John McCain is not persuasive. He is rejected by most of the party and, in my opinion, does not stand a chance of being nominated. The Dems are going to beat you guys up with these issues, splintering your side. Divide and conquer.

However, given the politics, I still believe that the R's are fracturing while the D's are coalesing. I don't know many Republicans who are happy with the field of candidates and I believe this is borne out by the polling. To me, your candidates look politically flawed and it reminds me of the Dem's of yesteryear. I'm not taking a position on their positions, I'm just analysing. My anlysis right now is that Fred Thompson is a dark horse who could really rally the R's. On the other hand, Hillary could fracture the D's just as easily. And if she gets the nomination, I don't think she has a prayer of winning.

As for mandate, No way. What the D's won in the last election was an opportunity.


Enigma's picture
Submitted by Enigma on Tue, 04/10/2007 - 2:13pm.

McCain was only one of the 107 Republican votes I cited.

Regardless, it’s just politics Eye-wink Most people do not turn in to the seething hate filled moron's that basmati is and call for censorship of a lifelong veteran for something they have done many times over.

Also, I do like the church comments you made to $. (Geez, how defensive is that poor guy.) I do not attend church but your church sounds like a good one.

Anyway, did you see my blog of 'trivia' about standing guard at Robbins AFB for your dad's entourage and being part of his Quick Reaction Package initiative?

It’s a small world after all ….


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