ADD YOUR COMMENT.... Please provide your name (or screen name) and geographical location.

                          Click here to send comments via e-mail if you experience difficulty with this form.

Reader Comments...

I just love how all you Republicans are running from the brand name of Republican! You guys have spent a lifetime trashing the Liberal label, and you've done more damage to your own label than you have to the Liberals'. Cudos on a job well done!

Iowana

Des Moines, IA Register

[If I wanted to be a Republican I would have registered as such. So don't tactically "you guys" me -- it shows that you wear your unswerving liberalism on your sleeve. -ED]

Thank you!  You just wrote exactly what I have been thinking.  I will no longer support the Republican Party as long as we have leaders such as Snow calling themselves just that.  The Republican Party is turning into Liberal wannabe's and that makes my stomach turn.  Thanks again for a great blog!

Anonymous

Ed, you have expressed the feelings of many of us. When the GOP became "family friendly" and seemed to forget the individual in the '90s I changed my registration. While I do support some GOP candidates and vote for them, sadly it is to vote against the other guy/gal. A party based on Constitutional and libertarian ideas is needed and would win. The PEOPLE are no longer truly represented by either party and without a real change our republic will be lost.

deserttrek

Palm Springs, CA Desert Sun

I really don't see GO as being a part of GOP meaning a d@mn thing since conservative, by it's very definition, means keeping things the same.

Anonymous

[Hopefully, it's not too late to un-change the change so we can get back to keeping things the same.  -ED]

I am in agreement with your point of view, Ed. I am a conservative and have registered as a Republican in the past in order to try to elect conservatives. That no longer seems likely with the current craze of the RNC to 're-brand' the GOP. To be honest, I have never been in a position to donate large sums of money to the RNC...just a few dollars here and there to individual candidates. They aren't losing much in my refusal to donate but they are losing my support in every other way.

I just finished reading David McCullough's "John Adams". His presidency wasn't without it's cabinet level power struggles but it seems that Adams is a role model for us in our own trying times. Adams was not a party loyalist and that's exactly what we need now. We need our elected officials to stand up to the tyrannical power grab that is happening now at the federal level. I don't use the word tyranny lightly. The freedom of the individual is being taken away little by little. The individual will no longer be important and good of the whole, the state, will be more important than any single person.

I hope more people, conservatives and liberals, can wake up and realize the peril of our current times. This is not political and it's not about parties, it's about stopping our out of control government from becoming even more powerful to affect our daily lives. This power grab has been disguised as 'leveling the playing field' and 'fairness'. There's nothing fair about making every citizen equally miserable. There's nothing fair about saddling our future generations with debt that makes them slaves to the state.

As Adams said just before his death, "Independence forever!"

fritzm19

Mansfield, OH News Journal

"Hammer home the points that socialism is not progressive and that it has failed wherever tried and that socialism is a major component of the un-American leftist agenda." I could not agree more. Fritzm19 excellent post. We've been moving toward socialism inch by inch but now socialism is on steroids with Obama and the radical left congressional leadership. I'm thinking about joining Glen Beck's "9-12" coalition. You are probably aware Glenn has made this movement apolitical and based on constitutional principles and values. This is what we need. A grassroots organization based on the principles of individual freedom and liberty and what made this country great. I have observed liberals are far better protesters than conservatives. The squeaky wheel gets greased. Fact is we have them surrounded and we need to offer a real message of hope and change .... individual freedom and liberty and the hell with a totalitarian government!

Golf4

Mansfield, OH News Journal

I think maybe change is needed. all this keeping things the same, and not allowing people to make their own choices is a dying idea.  I think conservative may sound less offensive but is an old belief and the people as a whole want change, look how poor the old ways lead us.

jinjasnap

Green Bay, WI

Did it mention Dodd, Frank, Obama and Clinton were all at the top of the $ list for
AIG, FREDDIE AND FANNIE? That Obama made sure those poor AIG victims got their huge bonuses?

Badchange

St. Cloud, MN Times

[Nah. That would be too relevant. -ED]

Giving money to either arm of the Crown Party is like kicking america in the shorts. Grow up already. Big boys don't abuse others just because they can.

Deminn

Central Northern Minnesota

[That's because things have changed and it's only OK now to take money -- not give it.  Another thing big boys don't do is blame all of their problems on others. -ED]

Wow! Sounds a lot like that new al Qaida training manual! Would you also suggest taking new recruits for a boat ride on the Potomac?

Anonymous

[In the sense that both organizations are poised to make a comeback at almost any cost, I agree with you.  The Potomac is a shovel-ready project unto itself. -ED]

I AGREE WITH YOU. I ALMOST THREW IT OUT TOO, BUT I SAID REPUBLICAN'S HAVE A CHANCE TO STICK TOGETHER, STAND TALL & BEAT THESE CORRUPT & LYING DEMOCRATIC POLITICIANS. I FILLED IT OUT & MAILED IT IN. I'M GIVING MICHAEL STEELE A CHANCE BECAUSE WE HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN. LET'S NOT BLOW IT!!

Bondette

White Plains, NY Journal News

...It's a shame that Republican politicians, (men) over time, have re-invented themselves into what I call "girlie men". They must have removable cojones', because they certainly haven't been taking them to work with them the last several years. And the women, some are just all too quick to fold and appease, to go along just to get along with the democrats out of fear of losing the vote of one of their liberal constituents. I heard from Michael too. But chose not to fill out the questionnaire or donate anything at all.

I also got a call from someone in the GOP. To be polite, I listened to Newt's message. And then when I was asked for a donation, I simply replied, thanks, but no thanks. That I would no longer support any politicians that did not have the courage to stand up for, at least, reasonable conservative views. I'm only one person, the GOP won't miss my donations or votes. However, there are lots of people out there who feel the same as I do!

JoseComoVa

Salinas, CA The Californian

Ed, sorry old buddy, your comments reflect how far you are from the main stream.   Sure, the Republican party reflects many different views including the ultra conservatives, to  those far left of center.  That is what makes it different from the lock stepping Dems who march to the sound of one drummer, the beat is a continual digression to socialism.  Recent news bears that fact out more and more.  We are no longer in a war against terrorist, we are now in an "overseas contingency plan" and those who are responsible fro the 9/11 attacks, bombing of the World Trade Center, and the bombing of the USS Cole naval ship, are now called "human created disasters".  All from the lips of new pres., just more and more of his Muslin convictions.  God help us. 

Anonymous

[If you're saying that I (we all) need to be more conservative, then the point is well taken.  Otherwise, I'm sticking to my original premise -- that the GOP needs to be more conservative and needs to define itself as such. - ED]

Good points! But I come at this from a more basic/historic perspective. I grew up during the 1950's in a Northern Delaware Eisenhower Republican household. The first election I remember following and watching on TV was in 1960, and I remember being in tears when Kennedy won. But as with many of my generation, the 1960's (1968 in particular) changed me forever.

It isn't that the name Republican offends me, but in looking back 40 years at how Nixon eventually entered the White House, I have to ask one basic question: Given the demeanor of the Party since Nixon's "Southern Strategy" took hold, why not be honest and call modern-day Republicans by a name more akin to how they actually behave and win elections? What not call them what too many of them really are?

"DIXIECRATS"?

The Nixon/ (Pat) Buchannen noise machine turned to those Confederate flag-waving "patriots" following passage of the landmark civil rights legislation of the mid-60's. The poster boy for Dixiecrats, Strom Thurmond, became a solid "Republican" and served until beyond dead from South Carolina.

The fear-mongering practices of the "Dixiecrat" soul over the last 4 decades leaves quite a legacy, eh? The tactics have nothing to do with the shining example left by Dwight David Eisenhower; a man who was qualified on several fronts, including his ability as a retired U.S. Army General and war hero to warn us of the military industrial complex. The tactics also, obviously, have nothing to do with that part of President Lincoln's Republican base consisting of Abolitionists (one of which was a Great, Great Grandfather of mine).

Perhaps the new Republican Party chairman can finally set some things straight. Perhaps we can have serious dialogue, without race-baiting, homophobia, and straw man campaign platforms that historians will have a field day with as they examine the political discourse of our lifetime.

radioPete

Wilmington, DE News Journal

[I've got two words for you Pete -- Robert Byrd -ED]

Us Republicans will make a comeback. We just have to stick to the grassroots agenda. I'm about improving our reputation, not changing it to please the liberals. I stand for what I stand for.

RevDrTomDavis

Rochester, NY Democrat/Chronicle

[But how about changing it to please non-liberals? -ED]

Why don't you visit a socialist country and see what one really looks like. Obama a socialist HE AIN'T. But you can keep beat'n that dead horse for the next 4 years if you want everybody to continue to make fun of you.

Larry Walters

Tallahassee, FL Democrat

[And what flavor are the Kool-Aid police recommending today Larry?  I have a daughter in Vermont (gotta drive through Mass. on the way there) so I get to visit socialist republics pretty often.  But you feel free to make fun of me for the next 44 years if you like...that way I'll never have to worry about being able to prove my points about lefties. -ED]

I got one of those surveys, I did not fill it out and just put in the comment section, return to the constitution and stop spending like drunken sailors. I never got another one ever again.

endthefed

St. Cloud, MN Times

If I were a right-wing Republican, I'd be hiding in a corner with my mouth shut. A right-wing Republican administration took a booming economy, record low unemployment and the first budget surplus in thirty years and in eight years turned it into a worldwide depression. You right-wing Y-O's can spin it anyway you want, but 70% of the population thought he was our worst president ever. Hey, McCain didn't want nor did he seek Bush's endorsement. Doens't that tell you something? Obama's plans are already working, so get used to having him in the White House for eight years. And when the best you have to offer is Bobby Jindal and Sarah Palin, then all I can say is..."Hooray for our side"

coachEd

Asbury Park, NJ Press

[Obama's plans are already working..."

Why, did the British Prime Minister watch one of his movies?
Why, did Ahmadinejad say he's sit down for a talk?
Why, did 25 more guys get hired by the Columbus, OH city government?
Why, did all of his appointees send in their tax penalties?
Why, did he quit using teleprompters?
Why, did he finally get his poor kids that doggie he promised them?
Why, did Joe the Schmuck get through a week without a flub?
Why, did the First Lady of Pants Suits stop begging for $ and apologizing?
Why, did Geithner tell the truth?
Why, did the Press Secretary learn to talk?
Why, has Barry-O learned to ride without training wheels?

Sorry, coach, but I'm still not as funny as you. -ED]