Right Leaning Posters

Which of the current crop of republican candidates Do you support? You can pick more than one. And if you want to bereally helpful you'll let me know why. Thank you so much

I would have liked Walker because of his position on unions. Of those remaining no one is perfect across the board. I like Paul and Cruz for their anti statism but as a package I would pick Rubio as the most electable of the ones I also have a positive opinion of.

Thanks for the info, ZZ. No other right-leaning posters?

SOMa is more diverse that this!

librarylady said:
Thanks for the info, ZZ. No other right-leaning posters?
SOMa is more diverse that this!

no one wants to admit they are going to vote in a GOP primary.

My experience is that people generally are more open to sharing information if you're more upfront on why you need the information.

apple44 said:
My experience is that people generally are more open to sharing information if you're more upfront on why you need the information.

Good point! I am trying to wrap my head around WHY thinking reasonable people might support one of this candidates Im going to visit my (very) Republican brother in Vegas next week and I guess I want to do some research No other nefarious reasons

My very Republican sister and husband recently told me they are embarrassed by the nominees. My very right wing fox news father (who used to be a Democrat!) loves Ben Carson. Oy.

ffof said:
My very Republican sister and husband recently told me they are embarrassed by the nominees. My very right wing fox news father (who used to be a Democrat!) loves Ben Carson. Oy.

I wish you peace at Thanksgiving!

ffof said:
My very Republican sister and husband recently told me they are embarrassed by the nominees. My very right wing fox news father (who used to be a Democrat!) loves Ben Carson. Oy.

any time politics comes up at dinner, just say "How 'bout those Mets!"

I find the silence among moderate republicans (heck, conservative republicans!) to be a sign of this great embarrassment over what's become of the GOP.

Apart from the usual suspects (zoinks, eg.) who might believe that busting unions is a quality that a good president needs, there's been a (excuse the term) deafening silence.

Good Lord, Zoinks, why did yer boy Walker fizzle out in such a con circus as the Iowa GOP crowd? Because he's an empty suit. Very much like the rest of the 40-something group of GOP leaders (Rubio, Cruz, Ryan, Paul) swept in by the angry right and with minimal experience, no legislative accomplishments, and frat boy views.

"I make all my staffers read Atlas Shrugged."

Correction: Ryan's been in DC his whole life. Never held a job outside except for months in a family business.

Union busting was one of the main things that made Margaret Thatcher great.

bramzzoinks said:
Union busting was one of the main things that made Margaret Thatcher great.

Yes, among zillions of other qualities. yer boy was harrassed from Day #1 for being a complete *****; campaign scandals, union-busting.

Best part: the guy points to surviving a recall as a measure of strength. What's it mean if you're recalled and you narrowly survive? That's success? It's like "I dug a giant hole but I was able to climb out." You get credit for climbing out, even after you dug the hole?

librarylady said:

apple44 said:
My experience is that people generally are more open to sharing information if you're more upfront on why you need the information.

Good point! I am trying to wrap my head around WHY thinking reasonable people might support one of this candidates Im going to visit my (very) Republican brother in Vegas next week and I guess I want to do some research No other nefarious reasons

I suspect, in the end, it just comes down to partisanship. Republicans choose from their unappealing pool of candidates and Democrats (in some elections) choose from theirs and then we all get together to determine which is the least of two very evil Evils.

GL2 said:

bramzzoinks said:
Union busting was one of the main things that made Margaret Thatcher great.

Yes, among zillions of other qualities. yer boy was harrassed from Day #1 for being a complete *****; campaign scandals, union-busting.
Best part: the guy points to surviving a recall as a measure of strength. What's it mean if you're recalled and you narrowly survive? That's success? It's like "I dug a giant hole but I was able to climb out." You get credit for climbing out, even after you dug the hole?

Since this thread was started to get some level headed input, can we not jump straight into attack mode? You have your own almost 40,000 post thread for that. I would like to hear from a few others, who may be more inclined to post if they know they won't be immediately savaged.

Hey GL2 and I are like an old married couple bickering back and forth about the same thing over and over again endlessly. Each knowing exactly which buttons to push.

I don't consider myself right wing, but most here probably do. This election is, by and large, pointless.

bramzzoinks said:
Hey GL2 and I are like an old married couple bickering back and forth about the same thing over and over again endlessly. Each knowing exactly which buttons to push.

I get that, and you already contributed, but it might put off others who are not as aware of your longstanding repartee.

max_weisenfeld said:

bramzzoinks said:
Hey GL2 and I are like an old married couple bickering back and forth about the same thing over and over again endlessly. Each knowing exactly which buttons to push.

I get that, and you already contributed, but it might put off others who are not as aware of your longstanding repartee.

Thanks Max took the words right out of my fingers stop bickering or I'll send both of you to your rooms Seriously I just want to understand ones rational for supporting candidates I find ludicrous Convince me or at least explain if you can !!

librarylady said:

max_weisenfeld said:

bramzzoinks said:
Hey GL2 and I are like an old married couple bickering back and forth about the same thing over and over again endlessly. Each knowing exactly which buttons to push.

I get that, and you already contributed, but it might put off others who are not as aware of your longstanding repartee.

Thanks Max took the words right out of my fingers stop bickering or I'll send both of you to your rooms Seriously I just want to understand ones rational for supporting candidates I find ludicrous Convince me or at least explaining you can !!

there is no rationale other than "not a Democrat."

"Not a Democrat" is a huge factor. I actually agree with many positions of the Democrats (especially non-economic ones) but voting Democrat just brings so much unacceptable baggage (like germs on a subway) in terms of unions and other ngo's whose primary goal is to perpetuate their job security.

MDonoghue said:
Hmm. I have to ask why any sensible moderate / conservative would even consider posting on here. This is a thread that basically asks, "Please, someone who is dumb enough to consider voting for a Republican, please explain yourself to a bunch of devoted liberals". As someone who could consider voting for one or two of the R's in the race (but certainly not all or any of them), I find the tone of this thread a bit insulting. Is there an R I'm passionate about? No. But are there an R or two that I'd vote for over Hillary? Certainly. I'll leave it at that, since further discussing particulars would likely be pointless in here, which is too bad.

I apologize if I come across that way.I do not consider myself a "liberal". In the olden days I may have even been a "Rockefeller Republican" but I am having a hard time understanding how someone who is intelligent and educated ( as I assume all of MOL posters are) can tolerate MOST (not all) of the current candidates on the Republican side. Just looking for info to help me in my interactions with my brother who got his political start working for Bill Buckley for mayor of NYC before he (my bro)enlisted to go fight in VietNam

My preference is for Rubio or Cruz. I'd assume Fiorina is after a VP nomination and I could foresee supporting that. I would not vote for Christie, though if by some stretch of the imagination it came down to Christie and Clinton, I guess I'd have to reevaluate. I thought Rubio would be polling better at this point so it will be interesting to see this primary race play out.

I'm not sure how much I want to go into my reasoning, as I don't expect to have many posters here in agreement with my political beliefs. Rubio and Cruz most closely represent my values.

All the problems in the world, and the biggest one for zoinks is that 11% of Americans belong to unions?

Were your parents murdered by an organizer when you were a child or something?

And what ever happened to the right to freely associate?

tom said:
All the problems in the world, and the biggest one for zoinks is that 11% of Americans belong to unions?
Were your parents murdered by an organizer when you were a child or something?
And what ever happened to the right to freely associate?

This thread went off the rails!

Point of order without arguing the merits:

"Right to Work" bills tout the right of free association, the right to NOT be compelled to pay union dues. They do not ban unions from existing or organizing. They do ban them from taking money from people who don't want to associate with them. So in the view of their backers they support the notion of free association while compulsory union dues violate it.

I am aware that union folks see it differently, in encouraging their view of a free rider problem, and that employers and employees should be allowed to enter into whatever agreement they want, and they use a free association argument to make their case.

I guess my question is this: if someone considers themselves a moderate, how do they justify a vote for a GOP presidential candidate, which is a vote to turn all three branches of government to a party that isn't at all moderate? A Republican president will essentially mean Tea Party government. The idea that a President Christie or Kasich will "rein in" the Tea Party elements of Congress seems so far off from the likely reality to me.

I'm no fan of Hillary Clinton, and I think in many ways she represents what's wrong with the Democratic Party specifically, and politics in general. She's a hawk, and a supporter of the wealthiest, most elite contributors to her party. But at least she won't be trying to turn Medicare into a voucher program, or Social Security into private retirement accounts. Or talking about building a wall on the Mexican border.

Ooops, I guess I misunderstood the thread title.

ml1 said:
I guess my question is this: if someone considers themselves a moderate, how do they justify a vote for a GOP presidential candidate, which is a vote to turn all three branches of government to a party that isn't at all moderate? A Republican president will essentially mean Tea Party government. The idea that a President Christie or Kasich will "rein in" the Tea Party elements of Congress seems so far off from the likely reality to me.
I'm no fan of Hillary Clinton, and I think in many ways she represents what's wrong with the Democratic Party specifically, and politics in general. She's a hawk, and a supporter of the wealthiest, most elite contributors to her party. But at least she won't be trying to turn Medicare into a voucher program, or Social Security into private retirement accounts. Or talking about building a wall on the Mexican border.

Yeah. She'll just bomb innocent people and funnel money to her cronies. We can live with that! ;-)

ml1 said:
I guess my question is this: if someone considers themselves a moderate, how do they justify a vote for a GOP presidential candidate, which is a vote to turn all three branches of government to a party that isn't at all moderate? A Republican president will essentially mean Tea Party government. The idea that a President Christie or Kasich will "rein in" the Tea Party elements of Congress seems so far off from the likely reality to me.
I'm no fan of Hillary Clinton, and I think in many ways she represents what's wrong with the Democratic Party specifically, and politics in general. She's a hawk, and a supporter of the wealthiest, most elite contributors to her party. But at least she won't be trying to turn Medicare into a voucher program, or Social Security into private retirement accounts. Or talking about building a wall on the Mexican border.

I totally agree.

What bothers me most about the Republican party is that the things they seem to stand for ultimately harm people. What kind of person would not want another person to earn a fair wage, to be able to support their families in a decent way -- and to attempt to do away with an organization that would protect those people from unscrupulous employers? What kind of person would not want their parents' peers -- or even their peers -- to earn a Social Security check in their later years, especially since they've paid into it their entire lives. What kind of person would deny a single parent making minimum wage the assistance to be able to feed their children a healthy meal. What kind of person would deny another human being the ability to be cared for when they're sick? And on and on. I will never understand how someone can wave the flag of Christianity and then believe in everything that Jesus Christ preached against. Yes, Jesus was a socialist.

These are the types of questions I've asked my Republican relatives and acquaintances for years, not just recently, and I never get a real answer. I only get regurgitated sound bites, or railing about "those lousy Democrats", but never a real answer. So I totally understand the OP's question. If you believe these things, please help me understand why. You might shine a light on a subject that I didn't see before. Or, I may not agree with you, you may not sway me toward your way of thinking, but I would be able to understand "why", and I would respect you and your views. But right now, I am only led to wonder what would make you hold these views. To say "I'm not sure how much I want to go into my reasoning, as I don't expect to have many posters here in agreement with my political beliefs" is a total cop-out. If you have valid reasons for your beliefs, own them, be proud of them, and be part of a conversation.