Another RINO Bites the Dust

[ClydeR]

Utah Sen. Bob Bennett lost his bid to be nominated for a fourth term Saturday, defeated at the state Republican Party convention amid a strong conservative sentiment that threatens to unseat other establishment-backed Republicans in the months to come.

Bennett, who had spent the past two decades as a respected insider in the Senate, came under fire in recent months for what some claimed were his insufficient conservative bona fides.

More... (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/senate/utah-sen-bob-bennett-loses.html)

We are slowly but surely driving the RINO (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_In_Name_Only)s into the desert and out of the Republican Party.

[Methais]

Let off some steam Bennett.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-tRErs5UcI
http://bigspace.celerity.co.uk/moviedeaths/grabs/commando-bennett-4.jpg

[Cephalopod]

Let off some steam Bennett.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-tRErs5UcI
http://bigspace.celerity.co.uk/moviedeaths/grabs/commando-bennett-4.jpg

This is an amazing post, because I had never heard of 'moviedeaths.com' until I saw it in the watermark for this pic.

Today is the day that Methais changed my life, and not from a surprise goatse'ing.

[Elsymir]

I hear pulling hard to the right is a great way to win The moderate independents!
GO MAN GO

[Parkbandit]

The "moderate" independents gave us Barack Obama.. clearly not the way to go imo.

[Elsymir]

Well, good luck getting elected with 25% of the vote. I'm sure everything will work out.

[Parkbandit]

Well, good luck getting elected with 25% of the vote. I'm sure everything will work out.

Let's see in November...

[Gan]

Really not thrilled seeing the hard right gain such a foothold - unless the hard right will mellow once we get closer to elections.

You cant and wont win the election without the moderate vote. Thinking you can is really fucking stupid.




The "moderate" independents gave us Barack Obama.. clearly not the way to go imo.
I didnt give you Obama and I'm a moderate independent. Apology accepted.

[Drew]

I didnt give you Obama and I'm a moderate independent. Apology accepted.

What tea party ideals do you disagree with? I always thought of you as a small government, lower spending, lower taxes guy.

[Gan]

When did Tea Party enter into the discussion about the far right and moderate independents?

*I'll answer my own question since ClydeR seems to think that a Tea Party Candidate (see OP link) ousting a seated Republican candidate (whom he references as a RINO) represents true Republican values...

If one were to go by the Contract from America (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract_from_America)- the Tea Party platform then one would have to logically deduce that all Tea Party members are RINOS because the Contract from America has no mention of the religious right that has historically been a pillar of the far right GOP platform.

Specifically I can not find any items below that I disagree with. Especially since it leaves religion where it belongs - in church.




The Contract from America lists 10 agenda items that it encourages congressional candidates to follow:[56] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_Party_movement#cite_note-55)[57] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_Party_movement#cite_note-56)
1. Identify constitutionality of every new law: Require each bill to identify the specific provision of the Constitution that gives Congress the power to do what the bill does (82.03%).



2. Reject emissions trading: Stop the "cap and trade" administrative approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants. (72.20%).



3. Demand a balanced federal budget: Begin the Constitutional amendment process to require a balanced budget with a two-thirds majority needed for any tax modification. (69.69%)



4. Simplify the tax system: Adopt a single-rate tax system; eliminate the internal revenue code and replace it with one that is no longer than 4,543 words. (64.90%).



5. Audit federal government agencies for constitutionality: Create a Blue Ribbon taskforce that engages in an audit of federal agencies and programs, assessing their Constitutionality, and identifying duplication, waste, ineffectiveness, and agencies and programs better left for the states or local authorities. (63.37%)



6. Limit annual growth in federal spending: Impose a statutory cap limiting the annual growth in total federal spending to the sum of the inflation rate plus the percentage of population growth. (56.57%).



7. Repeal the health care legislation passed on March 23, 2010: Defund, repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. (56.39%).



8. Pass an 'All-of-the-Above' Energy Policy: Authorize the exploration of additional energy reserves to reduce American dependence on foreign energy sources and reduce regulatory barriers to all other forms of energy creation. (55.5%).



9. Reduce Earmarks: Place a moratorium on all earmarks until the budget is balanced, and then require a 2/3 majority to pass any earmark. (55.47%).



10. Reduce Taxes: Permanently repeal all recent tax increases, including those to the income tax, capital gains tax and estate taxes, currently scheduled to begin in 2011. (53.38%).


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_Party_movement

[Latrinsorm]

Really not thrilled seeing the hard right gain such a foothold - unless the hard right will mellow once we get closer to elections.I am interested to see what will happen with this as well, across the nation. My guess is a strong move to the supposed center - it is difficult, after all, to teach old dogs new tricks.

[Parkbandit]

I didnt give you Obama and I'm a moderate independent. Apology accepted.

You aren't a moderate independent, any more than I am.

[Gan]

You aren't a moderate independent, any more than I am.

I dont support banning gay marriages.

I dont support banning gay anything (its not my position to judge).

I dont support religion in politics (seperation of church and state).

I dont support banning abortion (woman's right to choose), although I really do not prefer the practice on a personal level.

How does that not make me a moderate? It damn sure does not make me a right wing R-Team member.

[Parkbandit]

I dont support banning gay marriages.

I dont support banning gay anything (its not my position to judge).

I dont support religion in politics (seperation of church and state).

I dont support banning abortion (woman's right to choose), although I really do not prefer the practice on a personal level.

How does that not make me a moderate? It damn sure does not make me a right wing R-Team member.

I don't support any of those things.. as well as I am an atheist.. and I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone here who considers me an Independent.

An Independent is someone, in my view, who doesn't have strong political feelings one way or another to the core of the two parties. They mostly vote with who is popular, who is the best talker, who looks the nicest, who their friends say they are voting for, etc... They don't have solid core values or principles that define and guide them. Some recent "Independent" candidates who exemplify their "Party" are Charlie Crist and Arlen Specter.

[ClydeR]

You cant and wont win the election without the moderate vote. Thinking you can is really fucking stupid.

In Utah? I don't think it'll be an issue.

[holocene]

The party must be purified. All non-adherents will be eliminated.

[TheLastShamurai]

The party must be purified. All non-adherents will be eliminated.

Resistance is futile.

[Gan]

I don't support any of those things.. as well as I am an atheist.. and I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone here who considers me an Independent.

An Independent is someone, in my view, who doesn't have strong political feelings one way or another to the core of the two parties. They mostly vote with who is popular, who is the best talker, who looks the nicest, who their friends say they are voting for, etc... They don't have solid core values or principles that define and guide them. Some recent "Independent" candidates who exemplify their "Party" are Charlie Crist and Arlen Specter.

I'm definitly not a 'party man' - simply because I have no issue voting for the right person for the job and not the party they represent. Case in point - up until this last election I supported a Democrat mayor of Houston (Bill White). As an independent voter I enjoy the perogative of not being locked into voting for a shitty candidate simply because he is a member of the political party that I would belong to.

And thinking that politicians are actually capable of holding to a party's core beliefs and values over their own self interest (read self core values and beliefs) is pretty funny. Recent examples would be Charlie Crist and Arlen Specter to name a few.

This is where I would say our definition of 'indendent voter' would differ. My definition means voting for the candidate - not the party.