Quote:
Originally Posted by nittanyalum
Unfortunately the current GOP climate doesn't make room for "moderates" and I think that's a bad step for the party. Steele basically chased him not just out of the GOP but into the Dems (vs. going Ind like Lieberman) by pretty much guaranteeing that the party wouldn't be giving him any support in his reelection since he voted for the stimulus bill. Specter's been a good Senator for the state, Pennsylvanians will be smart to reelect him, whatever party, for their own good.
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I would argue that anyone who voted for the stimulus bill is not a moderate and DEFINITELY not a conservative.
Moderates, in general, face a lot of problems in the American political system because they don't receive support from their own parties or any funding from lobbyists and interest groups. To make that problem exclusive to the GOP is very close-minded. The GOP's big problem is the public perception of the Bush presidency, not their lack of moderate representatives. I do think that power will begin to re-align in 2010 when people don't see a positive upswing in the economy (most forecasts are shifting that back to 2014). Americans want change that can happen in 2 years, not 20. This mindset is the same thing that damned the Bush administration (in my humble opinion) and it is this mindset that will do the same to the democrats (maybe not Obama though.)