A Question to Americans (Political)

[Jegsimmons]

Ok, first of all:
I don't intend to offend anyone, if anyone seems ofended by this thread i would like him to tell me that and i will do my best to remove the offending parts and will keep in mind to avoid that mistake in future posts.

It's about Republicans. While the first goals of this party were very very good (No Slavery), most goals they seem to have today are based on keeping everything the way it is and to sabotage a real development of society.

wrong, the goal of the republican party is to keep traditional moral values part of mainstream america while promoting economic freedom. Dont not confuse a progressive or NeoConservative as an actual republican (also, for anyone about to pull a 'no true scotsman', shut up.)

It all seems old and a little bit backward.
Now i want to say i am by far not an expert on the matter. I am not republican, i am not even American.

then id probably recommend doing more further research from a non biased information source.

Maybe i am seeing things in this party that aren't there, but that is just my impression for now.

to be fair, thats the majority of american politics.

So what i am basically asking is:
Why is this party getting votes?

because people tend to like traditional values and economic freedom.

This seems quite offensive, but i really am curious.

its not offensive, your asking a legit question.

If their not that bad than i thing they are, then please tell me that (As long as were staying reasonable).

see above.

It just seems, when i am looking at (for example) popular media from America, like tv series or music, then you could get the impression that everybody hates republicans.

there is the problem, the vast majority of the american media is blindly left wing. except for fox obviously. In actuality democrats are just as equally hated if not more so, more people in America consider themselves right winged (republicans are the right winged party) than left winged. Alot come from the counter culture of george bush's administration, just like how you're seeing a huge back lash against Obama (though that may be because Obama is pretty terrible, not to say Bush was a saint or anything)

But they still get many votes.

mostly because most american carry a religious background of some sort and support a freemarket, while alot of republicans in office today are batshit insane (like democrats) we still have quite a few who do truly want to do good and lean more towards a libertarian side, Marco Rubio, Ron Paul, Goldwater (whos dead). and we like a strong military and suppport our troops mentality because it makes us feel not weak, personal responsibility, and fiscal responsibility. Also, guns....but thats a different matter.

I hope anyone can tell me where i am wrong here, or what i am not seeing.

its not wrong to ask a question.

but i must insist, parties are to general to lump a politician in. what you should know is that there are a few types of politicians:

classical liberal and conservative, which are very similar to each other except on a few key issues but both supported limited government rolls for the most part. Closer to libertarian-ism.
Progressive: a type of liberal who fits the stereotype of anti-troop, gun control, hippie who knows jack squat about economics and borders on socialism, anti racist unless its against whites, bans things it doesnt like while legalizing things it does, hypocritical....avoid at all cost and dont listen to them. very authoritarian.
NeoConservative: the progressive of the right, a post cold war execute everyone misinformed imperialist who thinks everyone should be exactly like him. very authoritarian, avoid at all cost, do not talk to.
Libertarian: one who meets classical liberals and conservatives in the middle to support personal freedoms and economic freedom. the extreme form is thought to be anarchy, but is not the case, usually a level headed person, is starting to grow a larger following. i suggest reading up on this.

now thats a more broad description of some political ideals we have here. and unfortunately the majority are NeoCons and Progressives
the democratic party may harbor any above and the republican party may hold any above.
its never black and white and i suggest that you dont let the American media make any decision for you.

 

[doomspore98]

I've been wondering this for a while. A couple of reasons why and here they are

1) President Obama was not the president he promised he would be and republicans and republican news sources (Fox News) have been ripping him to shreds on the smallest of things.

2) The vast majority of Republicans are Christian so they have the christian vote.

3) Many people in the U.S of A don't believe in global climate change or global warming or whatever you call it and therefore vote for the people who don't believe in it either.

4) The Republicans are using a fear mongering of sorts to win votes from the people. If they see anything that has even the most remote thing to do with something they don't believe in they will go to fox news and ask them to do a report on it. People on this site should know especially what fox news can do to something.

And those are the reasons why republicans are still considered politicians.

 

[ShindoL Shill]

also its pretty much a choice of fucked or fucked (we have a similar choice in england every 4 years)

Hey, in Scotland we have a choice between fucked, fucked or Alex Salmond.

 

[LeeHarveyO]

As a Republican I can tell you that the "real social progress" you are talking about is socialism, and the conservatives of America believe in nothing more than a free market system for the economy and a reduced government size in order to maintain the freedoms that we as Americans share. As Obama has proven he doesn't really give a shit about our freedoms and is attempting to mandate that all Americans must buy health care.

4) The Republicans are using a fear mongering of sorts to win votes from the people. If they see anything that has even the most remote thing to do with something they don't believe in they will go to fox news and ask them to do a report on it. People on this site should know especially what fox news can do to something.

Maybe you should pay attention so more of Obama's speeches, he is the one fear mongering, like the whole if we don't pass the stimulus the economy will completely collapse bullshit. But on the other hand yes the Republicans do fear monger, both sides do its called politics.

 

[Warforger]

Ok, first of all:
I don't intend to offend anyone, if anyone seems ofended by this thread i would like him to tell me that and i will do my best to remove the offending parts and will keep in mind to avoid that mistake in future posts.

It's about Republicans. While the first goals of this party were very very good (No Slavery), most goals they seem to have today are based on keeping everything the way it is and to sabotage a real development of society.
It all seems old and a little bit backward.
Now i want to say i am by far not an expert on the matter. I am not republican, i am not even American.
Maybe i am seeing things in this party that aren't there, but that is just my impression for now.

The same reason people vote for radical Christian parties in Europe that are even more racist and crazier than the Republican party. Because they're that Conservative.

So what i am basically asking is:
Why is this party getting votes?

Ok first off I'm going to assume your country has many parties representing different ideologies. In America there are many different factions and ideologies which both parties organize into their coalition, thus people from the same party may not necessarily agree with each other which is most apparent with the Democrats than the Republicans with their remnants of their old Southern Conservative backing (which is rather ironic because they were founded by Southern Conservatives). In General the Democrats threw the women's rights advocates on board along with Minority rights groups along with the number of Liberals who support them, while the Republicans took in the Conservatives.

Secondly right now they're not they're just getting a candidate put forth, and the one's who is winning is Mitt Romney who I admire for being the most competent of the bunch.

This seems quite offensive, but i really am curious. If their not that bad than i thing they are, then please tell me that (As long as were staying reasonable).
It just seems, when i am looking at (for example) popular media from America, like tv series or music, then you could get the impression that everybody hates republicans.
But they still get many votes.

That is because they're mainly from California specifically Hollywood, thus they have a strong liberal leaning. States like Tennessee, South Carolina aren't cultural centers. Although that's not to say Conservatives don't come from California and Liberals don't come from the South, in fact Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon are from California while Bill Clinton is from Arkansas, Jimmy Carter from Georgia and Linden B. Johnson from Texas (I'm hoping he's not too obscure oversea's though, if you don't know him he was basically the President who pushed all of Kennedy's idea's through for Civil Rights healthcare and more)

I hope anyone can tell me where i am wrong here, or what i am not seeing.

This is because the average person on the gaming sites tends to be a sheltered middle class liberal, thus you don't get so much input from the Republican voters.

 

[liquidsolid]

A lot of Republicans believe in traditional values or traditionalism and find anything new or progressive to be threatening to their comfortable way of life. It appears as if a lot of people hate Republicans because there aren't that many of them on the internet. There is not so much a liberal bias on the internet as there is more liberals expressing their viewpoint. The same goes for television shows and other forms of media.

The ones who are fundamentalist Christians like Rick Santorum offen say things that come across as offensive or backwards. It seems as if they are largely in charge of the party lately.

There is a similar but different movement called Libertarianism that offers a secular view of society based on freedoms and rights which does not adhere to traditional values and openly embraces people of all races, creeds, and sexual orientation. I am one of those. I don't like people telling me what to do. Especially crybaby liberals or bible thumping conservatives.

 

[Nuke_em_05]

I'm republican in that I am conservative, I am conservative in that I believe the Government should spend less money, therefore tax less, and stay out of everyone's business.

The original idea for the U.S. was that a large sample of varying viewpoints would come together, reach consensus on what was best for everyone, and then do that. What happened over time is that folks of "similar" viewpoints realized that if they work together, they can have a bigger say. Eventually, it distilled down to two "general" viewpoints, and anything in the middle becoming largely irrelevant.

This generated loyalty for some, and apathy for the rest. That's why a 56.8% voter turnout at the 2008 Presidential election was "record-breaking". We haven't had voter turnout above 60% since the freaking 60's.

If a republican or democrat wins an election with 50% of the vote, they still only represent 25% of the total population.

So, if I want to sign on for less spending and less taxation, I have to sign on with all the other little pet bullshit other "republicans" want, or I might as well not play at all. If I don't play at all, however, that's one vote less against the democrats; and I couldn't give a shit less about any of their bullshit either, except that most of it requires more government spending and more taxation.

As for the candidates, I just try to pick the least crazy of them. All republican candidates have to be "anti-abortion", "anti-gay", and "anti-whatever", even if they actually don't care and won't do anything about it if elected. However, if they don't take a stance on these issues, they lose their constituency. I'm leaning Romney right now, it seems his stance is set on relevant matters, but he still has to mention the other bullshit to keep his votes up. Like, "Fix the economy!... what? oh, yeah, well, straight marriage is good, yes, okay... but about this foreign policy... huh? oh, sure, abortion bad, but about these taxes...". Of course, lately he's been getting into the old "yeah, and Obama sucks!" train, but apparently slandering the opposition is also part of the game on both sides.

It's a terrible, retarded, "us vs them" system; where it is about "winning" and "losing". The democrats present something useful, and the republicans have to tear it down on principle. The republicans present something useful, and the democrats have to tear it down on principle. The independents and third parties present something useful, and no one gives a crap. I don't know how to break it without a huge cultural change in the U.S., but until that time, I gotta play the shitty game by the shitty rules.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

It just seems, when i am looking at (for example) popular media from America, like tv series or music, then you could get the impression that everybody hates republicans.
But they still get many votes.

I hope anyone can tell me where i am wrong here, or what i am not seeing.

First off, political threads go in the Politics and Religion section.

Now, what I think you don't realize is that while you see all the bile spewed about Republicans/Conservatives on TV and this so called "popular media", that is because the majority of that media is controlled by the Democrats/Liberals, the thing is that while they have that majority there, they do not have the majority in the country as a whole.

I know of a lot of Republicans that didn't vote for McCain in the last election, because they didn't like him. These Republicans most likely didn't vote, or voted for the Third Party Libertarian candidate Bob Barr.

Now I voted for McCain, because I looked at the situation as voting for the lesser of two evils. I liked Bob Barr, but I knew he wouldn't win, so I knew I had to back McCain, even though I knew in some respects he was almost as bad a choice for president as Obama.

The thing I saw was that while McCain shared some crazy ideas that Obama had, I knew how McCain worked, and he works incredibly slow, so I knew in four years he wouldn't be able to complete the crap that Obama has put into place now.

Since Republicans have the majority in the country, if they all had been like me, McCain would have beat Obama, and we wouldn't have all this crap that Obama has put out to set this country back, and astray from its founding principles.

Basically, you know how they say that you can't believe everything you see on TV, well you can't be looking at television to make your assumptions on how and why people vote. The majority of television is controlled by the Liberal minority.

 

[DJjaffacake]

also its pretty much a choice of fucked or fucked (we have a similar choice in england every 4 years)

Hey, in Scotland we have a choice between fucked, fucked or Alex Salmond.

So fucked, fucked or braveheart politics then.

As for the main point, from an outside perspective you have to remember that there are 313 million people in the USA, spread over almost 10 million square kilometres, their opinions will not all be the same.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

A lot of Republicans believe in traditional values or traditionalism and find anything new or progressive to be threatening to their comfortable way of life. It appears as if a lot of people hate Republicans because there aren't that many of them on the internet. There is not so much a liberal bias on the internet as there is more liberals expressing their viewpoint. The same goes for television shows and other forms of media.

The ones who are fundamentalist Christians like Rick Santorum offen say things that come across as offensive or backwards. It seems as if they are largely in charge of the party lately.

There is a similar but different movement called Libertarianism that offers a secular view of society based on freedoms and rights which does not adhere to traditional values and openly embraces people of all races, creeds, and sexual orientation. I am one of those. I don't like people telling me what to do. Especially crybaby liberals or bible thumping conservatives.

I'm not saying Libertarianism is bad, I pretty much agree with all of it. But I would say that the Libertarian third party candidates are the reason why Democrats/Liberals are able to win as many races as they do.

If it was in existence, and all conservatives voted straight Republican every time, since conservatives are a majority in this country, Democrats would only win in areas that actually have a real majority of liberals, and that is actually a very small amount of places. If the conservative vote wasn't split in presidential elections, Democrats would never win, because in reality, they would only be able to win a handful, ten at the most, states.

If the win was based on how many states a candidate has won, then Democrats would never win, because I can't say that I've seen an election where Democrats held the majority of the states.

 

[kortin]

The whole thought of political parties in general is bogus. I'll vote for who I share more opinions with. Some years I might vote for a republican president, others I might vote for a democrat. I don't give a damn what party they belong to.

George Washington didn't say not to form political parties for nothing, you know.

 

[guitarsniper]

Yes, republicans have a large christian backing, but that's not the only factor by far.
They get a lot of support from businesses and the rich because they support lowering taxes
They have a lot of support from people who dislike intellectuals, because a lot of republican candidates tend to portray themselves as less intelligent than they (probably) are.

 

[Smithburg]

Ok if your getting your information from TV that is a terrible source, simply because it's biased one way or the other. People saying Republicans are anti-immigration, anti-race, etc don't know what they are talking about. For instance I'm listed as a Republican but I don't agree with everything our party does, and you will rarely find a person that is strictly right or left, opinions differ from side to side but the media tends to portray people as insane supporters that only listen to whatever their side says.

The thing that drives me nuts that both parties are at fault in is that when one party votes one thing the other party vetos it out of fucking principle regardless of the issue. The Democrats could vote that we let the country breathe air and the Republicans would vote against it and try to suffocate everyone, or the Republicans could vote that keeping people alive by not burning them was good and the Democrats would veto it and set about burning the country down. It's retarded. We need a third party that could settle problems like this and then we wouldn't have so much bullshit going on.

Also with the whole corporations are legally viewed as citizens bullshit we have bigger issues to deal with.

 

[Tigerlily Warrior]

from my understanding its 2 factors
1. barrack obama was a really shit president
2. republicans have the Christian (cough nut case cough) backing which is pretty big in MERICA

also its pretty much a choice of fucked or fucked (we have a similar choice in england every 4 years)

So, there's this thing called a Super Majority. In the past, most bills were passed when the majority of the senate (over 51) voted yes. Bills were filibuster very rarely. And when a filibuster was in place, over 60 votes were needed in order to pass a bill. Now, EVERYTHING is filibustered.

It isn?t so much that Obama is a bad president but it?s that Congress is broken.

It?s almost impossible for a bill to become law. There are other issues present, like the increasing direction of republican elected officials on positions considered extreme 10 - 20 years ago.

They are not bad people with evil motivations [insert joke here], but in order to get elected, you have to placate to the base. As a result, you don?t see any moderate or liberal Republicans in office anymore (see Olympia Snow, one of the last moderates in the senate leaving this year).

Many topics that both parties were in agreement about can?t work together because compromise now equals weakness. That makes the base angry and will lead to republican officials kicked out of office for be a ?Rino?, Republican In Name Only.

Even the most non-partisian events in the govenment is becoming increasingly partisan.

People get their news from more diverse sources. News radio and the Fox Network creates an echo chamber, so even if the "news" is false, it gets repeated often enough that core republican voters tend to believe this is the only true source of news. They can't trust news from any other source (ABC, NBC, CBS, BBC).

Add into the mix the unregulated contributions by rich individuals and corporations and the fact that most of elect officals' time are spent raising funds to be reelected, it's surprising anything gets done at all.

Most of the time the American Government works as a pentulum, swinging from one extreme to the next, finding balance through the checks and balances in place with the 3 estates.

Right now, the system is broken. There's no easy fix.

 

[NiPah]

Republicans are awesome because they want to build a state on the moon.
Therefor Republicans == Space Nazi.

Joking aside most vote for Republicans because of promised lower taxes, less government involvement, and the fact that many Democrats are just as bad as republicans. They also pair themselves up with the often romanticized view of the American Dream many Americans have, and label the Democrats as pot smoking hippies (its true, many Americans believe what they see in American Dad, doesn't help that there are a lot of pot smoking hippies either).

 

[GonzoGamer]

I don't really like to buy into either side. They both want your money. Democrats want to give all of it to poor people and Republicans want to give it all to rich people. That said, the Democrats would be more virtuous if they actually did anything.

I actually think that on paper, conservative wisdom has a lot of value too...unfortunately the political conservative and Republican politicians don't follow any of it;except for maybe Ron Paul- though his ideas are extreme he is at least conservative by definition. I can totally get behind being conservative with the nation's finances and resources. Unfortunately in my lifetime all the right wing presidents have all been the biggest spenders and are the ones that send us into recessions. They have also been the most reckless with our resources: natural resources, military resources, you name it.

But the thing that really bothers me about the right wing politicians (the thing that creeps me the hell out) is their obsession with peoples' reproductive practices. Some of them talk about gays more than the gay people I know and those ones often end up coming/being pushed out of the closet. And the whole abortion thing too; I personally don't like abortion for my own personal moral reasons but I'm a guy (so it's not too relevant to my life & health) and I'm not about to go tell a woman she can't do it if that's her choice. The only man that should maybe have a part in that decision is the father.

But I think that's part of it. Politicians (on both sides) prey on peoples fears and the Republicans are good at getting the religious paranoia going. Because what's worse than spending an eternity in hell? You'd have to ask someone who believes that's an option.

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
H. L. Mencken

 

[enzilewulf]

Ok, first of all:
I don't intend to offend anyone, if anyone seems ofended by this thread i would like him to tell me that and i will do my best to remove the offending parts and will keep in mind to avoid that mistake in future posts.

It's about Republicans. While the first goals of this party were very very good (No Slavery), most goals they seem to have today are based on keeping everything the way it is and to sabotage a real development of society.
It all seems old and a little bit backward.
Now i want to say i am by far not an expert on the matter. I am not republican, i am not even American.
Maybe i am seeing things in this party that aren't there, but that is just my impression for now.

So what i am basically asking is:
Why is this party getting votes?
This seems quite offensive, but i really am curious. If their not that bad than i thing they are, then please tell me that (As long as were staying reasonable).
It just seems, when i am looking at (for example) popular media from America, like tv series or music, then you could get the impression that everybody hates republicans.
But they still get many votes.

I hope anyone can tell me where i am wrong here, or what i am not seeing.

Well let me clue you in a little friend.

Current day Democrats would of been republicans when the party was first formed. My Lincoln was very liberal indeed, and most of the republicans were very liberal. Democrats were pro slavery states rights ect ect. Basically Mr. Roosevelt flipped the parties in his terms as President

Now on to current day politics. They don't get a lot of the votes. Romney will lose the election at this rate. He only has the white male vote really. The GOP has manipulated every other base out there except older white males and heavy religious people. People who no longer hold the majority of the voting.

The reason you hear about them so much is because they are a deteriorating party. I mean honestly look at it. McCain in 08 didn't stand a chance on old school values. Romney is a rich man who didn't support a bail out that would of made our unemployment rise to about 16% had it not been implemented. Conservatism is dying, and I know what you might be thinking, well there is the Tea Party. Well they have alienated any sane voter because of the debt sealing debate. When you look at idle fact you see that they are the reason the debate when bat shit nutty, therefore they are the majority to blame for our credit score being downgraded. Who do they have for 2016? Palin? HAH. I bet we see old hypocritical Newt again. The party is making one last effort but the heavy conservative branch of the party will soon be dead. Good riddance.

I can assure you that if things keep going this way then Mr. Obama will have a smooth re-election and the democrats will be sitting pretty.

 

[Sean951]

The GOP keeps getting votes because they do have the occasional member who remembers what the part is supposed to stand for. I've run out of names that are still GOP that I respect, but Chuck Hagel and pre-2006 John McCain were pretty cool.

 

[El Dwarfio]

SNIP

Your missing the point of our political system. The Republicans aren't the issue, change is the issue.

You see, Americans are scared of change, you have to remember that we are the greatest country in the wurld and as such why would we need to change anything?

And so the two party system was born. By alternating between the parties, we can successfully undo any innovations brought in during the previous terms thus keeping our beloved country perfectly stagnant and keeping us no1!!1! for evah.

 

[scarfacetehstag]

America's sorta fukced either way this November, both candidates are spend thrift war-mongers, but Romney still has a point(even if he is full of it) People are making a massive deal out of gay marriage when America is about to DEFAULT, its just the state of politics there.

AS to the OP, assuming you're European then you should know that North America has a huge religious following, and because Europeans major view into the U.S is the entertainment industry, it sorta makes the U.S look fairly liberal.