Hopefully I won't get slammed because there is some duplication in this diary, but I wanted to post a coherent diary on how the true conservaives in this country are ours for the taking.
Ok, I am afraid to get too excited, but things really seem to be falling apart for George with true conservatives. By true conservatives, I mean honestly fiscally conservative, individual liberties conservative, and sensible national security conservative conservatives. We're talking Goldwater conservatives(did you ever think there would come a day when you would long for a Goldwater conservative?).
Prominent conservatives are outraged and they are leaving George Bush behind. I have yet to see decent polling numbers on this, but the antecdotal evidence and public criticism by conservatives is mounting. This could be a very serious problem for BushCo and I do not see a way for them to get them back. In the end, these are patriotic Americans that are just as scared as progressives are about the direction these folks are taking. They are the forgotten Rs that the neo-cons would like to push out of their party, but need desperately to win. Ultimately, this could be the demographic that hands the election to Kerry.
Bob Barr(R) is pissed and it sounds like he is ready to jump ship:
But the concerns for many conservative voters -- concerns that may cause them not to vote for Mr. Bush on Nov. 2 -- fall generally into three categories: fiscal, physical (as in the physical security of our nation) and freedom (as in protecting our civil liberties).
When Bush became president Jan. 20, 2001, he inherited an enviable fiscal situation. Congress, then controlled by his own party, had -- through discipline and tough votes -- whittled down decades of deficit spending under presidents of both parties, so that annual deficits of hundreds of billions of dollars had been transformed to a series of real and projected surpluses. The heavy lifting had been done. All Bush had to do was resist the urge to spend, and he had to exert some pressure on Congress to resist its natural impulses to do the same. Had he done that, he might have gone down in history as the most fiscally conservative president in modern times.
Instead, what we got were record levels of new spending, including nearly double-digit increases in nondefense discretionary spending. We now have deficits exceeding those that the first Republican-controlled Congress in 40 years faced when it convened in January 1995.
The oft-repeated mantra that "the terrorists made us spend more" rings hollow, especially to those who actually understand that increases in nondefense discretionary spending are not the inevitable result of fighting terrorists. It also irritates many conservatives, whether or not they support the war in Iraq, that so much of defense spending is being poured into the black hole of Iraq's internal security, while the security of our own borders goes wanting.
You can also see this in the postings on progressive blogs of parents, neighbors and other conservative family members that are torn over their vote. Some seem to be willing to go to Kerry, but others will not show up or vote for a third party candidate.
From a Conversation With My Republican Father:
And you tell me, at the end of the day, when you sit down at the kitchen table, going through all your bills, what do you do? You try your best to pay them off, balance the budget. That's what we conservative do: balance the budget and save money. That George W just runs around on a spending binge. And he still calls himself a Republican. LBJ should be proud of him. Just look at the deficit! What, five trillions dollars?! Think about the interest we have to pay for that kind of money! A hundred fifty something billion dollars just the interest. You think Donald Trump is going to pay for it? You and I are going to pay for it! That's just outright irresponsible. And don't forget 200 billion dollars, and counting, that he turns into rubbles and body parts in Iraq. And I just don't see an end to it. I mean, what the hell are we doing there? Saddam is going to hell with our money, our pride and our respect. What is left for us? A big government with a big deficit. Don't tell me we are safer because of Bush. I feel cheated because of him. If he can't give me a small government he can't get my vote. Heck, it took that liberal Clinton to balance the budget and I am going to give Kerry a try. I am not happy about voting for a liberal but over my dead body will I vote for Bush."
That's just one example of many posted to that diary entry and we are all seeing it across the board.
So, how best to leverage this anger and dissatisfaction. Well, while it may pay off to try to convince conservatives to vote for Kerry, I would not put excessive amounts of time into it. I would give it an initial shot and then move on to better alternatives.
