Where are the Eisenhower Republicans?

[angryfirelord]

Despite the GOP's popularity reaching all-time lows, the party seems to be rather stubborn to changing course. Even with the voices shouting loud and clear on November 4th, the party is facing further weakening by clinging to its neo-conservative policies that were accelerated under Reagan. There are some Ron Paul supporters out there, but their numbers are far too low to make a serious dent in any policy.

But what about the other half of the GOP? The ones that aren't crazy? You may know them as RINOs, liberal-lites, or anything else the extremists can label them. Yet over 50 years ago, the GOP had one of them as our President. Some of the things Eisenhower did included:

-Launching us into the space race
-created the interstate system
-pulled us out of the Korean war
-supported the overruling of "separate but equal" and signed into law two civil rights acts
-warned us about the military industrial complex

Now, I don't know about you, but that's a Republican I can feel good about and know that the Constitution will still remain in one piece. Unfortunately, such a thing seems impossible right now.

http://www.culturekitchen.com/mole333/blog/the_death_of_the_eisenhower_republican

If the GOP wishes to remain relevant in politics, a return to Eisenhower polices, not Reagan policies, would make them much more attractive. But common sense seems to have left the party a long time ago.

[Chipper Chat]

1. Hopefully, the Eisenhower Republicans are now.........

Democrats!
Or at least Independents.

[aquamarina]

2. I met an Eisenhower republican last summer.

She told me she and her entire family were voting for Obama.

[goclark]

3. They deserve the trash they have now

This is their punishment for how evil they have been under Bush and Clinton.

[Laelth]

4. They're called the DLC.

Bill Clinton was the best Republican President since Eisenhower.

:dem:

-Laelth

[YOY]

6. +1.

We haven't seen a real American Leftie since Carter...Obama still is a little young in the game to call.

[dflprincess]

9. I think Eisenhower Republicans were probably more liberal than DLCers

you've never heard a DLC type talk about the military industrial complex - in fact, they're pretty much in bed with it.

[MUAD_DIB]

5. The Eisenhower Republicans are dead and gone.

What few that are left have been marginalized by the FundieConCircus.

[customerserviceguy]

8. That's what I was thinking

the last one was Nelson Rockefeller, and when Ford picked Dole as his running mate instead of Rocky, the last gasp of the Eisenhower Republicans had been breathed,

[Mz Pip]

7. This is purely anecdotal

but a cousin of mine who is about 74 years old and a lifelong Republican admitted to me that the Republicans deserved the defeat they suffered. True conservatives couldn't have been happy with BushCo but some were so tied to the Republican Party that it would have been like divorcing a family member rather than totally cut ties.

Eisenhower spoke of the dangers of the military industrial complex and his words ring true today.

I think many of the Eisenhower type conservatives jumped ship long ago. They weren't into the rabid social conservatism of the current GOP. The last high profile one to leave the party was Lincoln Chaffee, a really decent guy who might have won back his seat if he had just changed his party affiliation from R to I prior to the election in 2006.

James Bovard wrote a book call the Bush Betrayal, that pretty much shreds the Bush government. http://www.amazon.com/Bush-Betrayal-James-Bovard/dp/140396727X It is from a conservative point of view and it is scathing of BushCo.

The GOP has an internal war going on which played out during the election. Anyone who knows anything about Republican politics should have known that a McCain/Palin ticket made about as much sense as a Ben Nelson/Al Sharpton Ticket for the Dems. It dodn't make sense and that contributed to their defeat.

[struggle4progress]

10. Anybody old enough to vote for Eisenhower in 52 is at least 78 now ...

but 78 in the US is average life expectancy

So the sort answer to your question is: many of the Eisenhower Republicans are dead, and the rest are quite old

I know somebody who voted for Eisenhower in 52: he's 90 now -- and he's voted Democratic for the last fifty years

[YewNork]

11. I think we have their swing votes, right now

They've finally realized that they can't support the GOP because they're too far to the right

[Moondog]

12. In cemeteries or nursing homes.

[pbrower2a]

13. Whatever they are...

They aren't Republicans anymore.

Let's contrast Eisenhower with Dubya:

1. Eisenhower was one of the most shining examples of military service in American history. Dubya bailed out of flight training because he apparently had other ideas of how to "fly".

2. Eisenhower got us out of the Korean War; Dubya got us into a war in Iraq because of a lie.

3. Dubya won the South and lost New England, the Middle Atlantic region, and the Pacific Coast. Eisenhower lost the South but won New England, the Middle Atlantic region, and the Pacific Coast region.

4. Eisenhower exemplified the one virtue that one most associates with conservatism at its best: caution. Dubya?

5. Eisenhower said exactly what he meant and meant everything that he said. Dubya's associates sought nice ways to make nasty policies seem innocuous.

6. Eisenhower let Senator Joe McCarthy blow up politically. Dubya rode every manifestation of right-wing demagoguery whenever it offered any seeming, if ephemeral advantage.

[lk9550]

14. Nowhere

They've all gone the way of the dodo