Glenn Beck's 'restore honor' rally...

[Aramike]

Are you kidding me? Neo-Conservatism has failed. It's why we have a Democratic majority in the house and senate and a Democrat in the White House all at the same time. As a Paleo-Conservative, I find myself completely disheartened by the state of affairs in the Republican Party.

Are YOU kidding me?

That's akin to saying that liberalism had failed when Bush was in office and the Republicans had both houses of Congress. That makes no sense.

In fact, Newt Gingrich, THE face of neoconservatism, is running suprisingly well in early polls. As there are many other options in an anti-incumbent year, this would not only be surprising but outright shocking in a era of failed neoconservatism.

Regardless, I don't find Beck to be instrumental in the "failure" of the last elections. There are people who like him, and there are those who hate him - just like any other talking head.

[Takeda Shingen]

Originally Posted by Aramike

Are YOU kidding me?

That's akin to saying that liberalism had failed when Bush was in office and the Republicans had both houses of Congress.

I think you misunderstand what I was saying. Old liberalism's failure ushered in the 'Republican revolution' of '94, bringing Neo-Conservatism into the mainstream of politics. Now, Clinton was a Houdini of a politician, but outside of the White House, that failure kept the the liberals in the woods, for the most part, until 2006. It was the failure of Neo-Conservatism, in turn, that allowed the new left to come into that same mainstream. And here we are today.

Old liberalism did not fail when the Republicans were in power. It failed before that. It is why they came into power. The same is true for today and the failure of Neo-Conservatism. What I can say about polls is simply that the social-conservative faction of the Republican party, despite it's disasterous rule, remains very powerful, with a near stranglehold on the traditional media outlets. They are the ones you hear, the ones with the loudest voices. However, despite all of the noise they make, I do not believe that they represent the majority of those who call themselves conservatives. They certainly do not speak for me.