Originally posted by: Vic
That's not what I said, but you did do an excellent job of demonstrating the attitude I was talking about. What I did say is that they are (and have been) far more willing to compromise than you give them credit for.
For example:
UHC - yes, if it saves them money while still providing them options. I think the conservatives' biggest concern is a monstrous intrusive mandatory system like what the UK has. And given the massive political power of our military-industrial complex, that's not an unfounded concern.
Which is why Romney squiggles dances and squirms to avoid calling what he accomplished in MA UHC? Conservatives don't want a government healthcare no matter how much it saves them.
Gun control - why do we need more restrictive control laws when they are PROVEN not to work? If you want to take away the peoples' gun rights, you need a reason to do so, and that reason is lacking.
You accurately state the conservative position here. But Obama (like most liberals) is for more restrictions on guns, including hand guns. So how does he speak to conservatives on this issue?
Higher taxes - they want lower spending as well, otherwise they're all for balanced budgets and protecting the middle class.
And Obama plans to raise spending (UHC alone will be megaexpensive), while raising taxes. He plans to roll back the Bush tax cuts.
Abortion on demand - did you miss that vote in South Dakota not long ago? The pro-life movement is as DEAD as the gun control movement.
This is fantasy land. Roe has been chipped away at since it was written to where the test for legal restrictions is merely does it create an undue burden. Abortion and gun control are dead issues??
Affirmative action - Hello? a black man is going to be President of the United States.
Yeah, go and ask the conservatives if they would have supported his getting into Harvard Law School because of affirmative action. AA != racism. You can vote for a black man and still be adamantly opposed to AA, as almost all conservatives are.
Environmental conservation - some of the people most concerned about the environment are hunters and fishermen, who tend to be as conservative as they come.
Conservatives didn't even admit global warming existed until recent years, when they capitulated to the point of admiting some sort of global climate change is in effect with temperatures trending upwards. And that took 99% of the scientists in the world to convince them.
Welfare - it's either that or prisons, and obviously the Bush-Clinton plan of building prisons has had only limited success.
Welfare, prisons, or perhaps a program helping people get educated, and get jobs, but that would require government spending, so its a no-go. These people should just get off their lazy asses and work, right?
It's silly that you argue that conservatives are simultaneously selfish AND against their own self-interest. Seriously, could you be any more disconnected? Your black-and-white world doesn't exist. And I think I can safely say that most of America is sick of leaders who try to pretend that it does.
It's not only black and white, it's all the grey in between. But claiming conservatives and liberals really see eye to eye on the issues and just need someone to unite them is, and I just hate to say it one more time, naive. Yes, discussion can be had on these issues without resorting to ad hominem attacks, but just saying "we can change" over and over doesn't make it so.
How exactly is Obama going to make a Republican vote to repeal Bush tax cuts? What does he say? What can he say? He promises unity when it simply cannot be achieved on the majority of issues. Bush promised he was a uniter also. Fool me once....well, I give you that Obama will never say anything as dumb sounding as that.