Money for nothing
Wall Street Journal’s Jackie Calmes writes to day that money from “big business” is shifting away from Republican politics;
New evidence suggests a potentially historic shift in the Republican Party’s identity — what strategists call its “brand.” The votes of many disgruntled fiscal conservatives and other lapsed Republicans are now up for grabs, which could alter U.S. politics in the 2008 elections and beyond.
Some business leaders are drifting away from the party because of the war in Iraq, the growing federal debt and a conservative social agenda they don’t share. In manufacturing sectors such as the auto industry, some Republicans want direct government help with soaring health-care costs, which Republicans in Washington have been reluctant to provide. And some business people want more government action on global warming, arguing that a bolder plan is not only inevitable, but could spur new industries.
In other words, real Conservatives are leaving the fake Conservatives behind. And people who just don’t understand politics and government are going to the Democrats.
New York Times’ Michael Cooper reports that Democrats are surpassing Republicans in the presidential race for cash;
The Democratic presidential candidates continued to raise significantly more money during the last three months than their Republican counterparts, according to official and unofficial third-quarter fund-raising tallies that were released yesterday.
Senator Barack Obama, the Illinois Democrat, raised at least $20 million over the summer, more than $19 million of which could be spent on the primary — showing that he continued to be a formidable fund-raiser. It was unclear whether he still led in fund-raising, as he did this spring, because Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton did not release her tally. (Her aides had said that they expected to raise a similar amount.) John Edwards raised $7 million, and Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico raised $5.2 million.
A race for cash – for what? Name recognition? Which of the Democrats have problems with that? Thanks to the mainstream press, Americans can probably name every one of them. And their agenda is just as easy to recite – get out of Iraq raise taxes and pay for anything a particular audience wants.
No sooner does the Washington Times announce that Obama surpassed Clinton with $20 million, the Post announces that Clinton raised $7 million more. And Reuters quotes Clinton’s campaign manager;
“Hillary wanted you to know that this was our best quarter yet,” her campaign manager, Patty Solis Doyle, said in an e-mail to supporters. “This is the moment when your dedication defied the skeptics.”
Skeptics? Who was skeptical? Was there ever a Clinton donor who turned her or her husband down for money? They take money from every pyramid schemer and Buddist monk that’ll hand it over. So what’s the surprise?
The problem is the candidates’Â ideas. They worry more about our feelings than the realities of the world. They spend more time pandering to any group who’ll listen to their mindless rambling on about how they’ll spend other people’s money (read that: YOUR money) than they do about a plan to actually fix the problems facing us.
They’re at the point where they’re promising to hand over $5000 to every child that escapes the bloody abortionists’ knives – there’s the cradle. Now when are they going to start promising us money for our dead kin?
Money isn’t votes – the Supreme Court says it’s speech – that’s well and good, but the media is reporting it like it’s the election. Me? I’m out of the money donating business. Every time I hand over my cash for my candidate, I get disappointed.
All of those millions of Democrats pouring money into those candidate coffers are going to be disappointed, too, when they discover that they’re pouring money down a dark hole. Hasn’t anyone else noticed that Democrats haven’t bothered to keep ANY of their campaign promises from the midterms – the issues they claim won them a “mandate”? Democrats aren’t in the business of solving problems – they’re in the business of making promises they don’t intend to keep – then excuse it away by saying “everybody does it”.
When I voted for George W. Bush, I knew he’d keep his promises, whether you liked it or not – he hasn’t disappointed me, well, much. I can’t say the same for the Republican crop this year – they change their positions faster than a whip snake. If they win they’ll do it without my money. besides, I’ll need my money to pay taxes if the Democrats win.
