Beck: ‘I’m out of the Republican Party’

[Lando Lincoln]

That's the dynamic clearly stated. Kudos.

A fleeting moment of lucidity.   

[Dexter]

Often they have zero resume in any leadership or military sense (example, the AIP candidate a few years ago who owned a lawn mowing business) or focus their platforms on fringe policies. Bob Barr was the last third party candidate I can recall who had a good resume and tried to move off fringe issues and he ended up being trashed by his own party.  Many times they can't even fill out filing forms correctly then blame a conspiracy when they don't make the ballot. Other times, they are Jesse Ventura- enough said.

What have those impressive resumes of prominent Republicans done to meaningfully advance the conservative agenda? Everyday people are exactly the kinds of people we need in office.

[musiclady]

In my view the difference between a D win and an R win is negligible at best. With that in mind it doesn't really matter which side the third party candidate is drawing votes from.

Sure it does.  Taking votes away from the Republican candidate and voting third party could give us say, Obamacare?  Tax-payer funded abortion??  Things that ought to matter to every conservative....

Saying that there is no difference between the parties is simply not accurate.

That being said, my husband and I also stopped giving money to the RNC a number of years ago, but we DO support individual candidates financially (regardless of what state they're running in), and we do tell the RNC callers that when they start acting like they're supposed to, we'll support them financially again.

So far it hasn't worked, but there's still hope.  ^-^

As for Beck....... he's right about some things, and wrong about others.

Here, he's wrong.

[Bigun]

How are they worse?

They are worse because the REAL problem in Washington goes FAR beyond which political party is currently in power there! The entrenched career public 'servants"  would run even more wild than they currently do  if we elected a third party president!

[musiclady]

They are worse because the REAL problem in Washington goes FAR beyond which political party is currently in power there! The entrenched career public 'servants"  would run even more wild than they currently do  if we elected a third party president!

Great point!

Those 'servants' are ruling us all!

[GourmetDan]

They are worse because the REAL problem in Washington goes FAR beyond which political party is currently in power there! The entrenched career public 'servants"  would run even more wild than they currently do  if we elected a third party president!

Ah!  You're looking down when you should be looking up...

[Lando Lincoln]

I no longer donate to the RNC either but I will to candidates.  Seriously, it is my belief that the R's are becoming more in number and inching to the right at the state and local level.  Too little, too late?  Maybe, probably, could be?  But it helps me keep a spark of... what?  Optimism?

[Dexter]

They are worse because the REAL problem in Washington goes FAR beyond which political party is currently in power there! The entrenched career public 'servants"  would run even more wild than they currently do  if we elected a third party president!

We need term limits for all political offices; you'll get absolutely no argument from me there. I'm pretty sure most leftists agree with that as well, so I'm not sure why we can't get it done. If that happened would you support third parties?

[ABX]

What have those impressive resumes of prominent Republicans done to meaningfully advance the conservative agenda? Everyday people are exactly the kinds of people we need in office.

Candidates with zero resumes showing proven leadership skills are the ones who get us in this mess. They come in with no experience and stay there for decades. see Obama, Reid, Boehner, etc. All had virtually no leadership resume when entering office.  They never led a company or a battalion. Many never had to make payroll or balance a budget.

[Bigun]

We need term limits for all political offices; you'll get absolutely no argument from me there. I'm pretty sure most leftists agree with that as well, so I'm not sure why we can't get it done. If that happened would you support third parties?

No we don't need term limits for political offices! What we need is a MUCH smaller federal government, an end to public service unions, and a MAJOR revamp of civil service rules!

[Dexter]

No we don't need term limits for political offices! What we need is a MUCH smaller federal government, an end to public service unions, and a MAJOR revamp of civil service rules!

Do you think the Republican party is going to do those things?

[ABX]

What we need to do is stop thinking everything will get better if we just elect XYZ. the politics and government we have is a symptom of the attitude of the people. Nothing will change until the people change. That is up to us working from the ground up, neighbor to neighbor, school to school, city to city, county to county. Change the foundation and you fix the top.

[Lando Lincoln]

We need term limits for all political offices; you'll get absolutely no argument from me there. I'm pretty sure most leftists agree with that as well, so I'm not sure why we can't get it done. If that happened would you support third parties?

We have term limits - elections.

[Bigun]

Do you think the Republican party is going to do those things?

With McConnell and Boehner in charge no! With younger and more conservative replacements for them YES!

[Bigun]

What we need to do is stop thinking everything will get better if we just elect XYZ. the politics and government we have is a symptom of the attitude of the people. Nothing will change until the people change. That is up to us working from the ground up, neighbor to neighbor, school to school, city to city, county to county. Change the foundation and you fix the top.

I agree wholeheartedly but submit that THAT work has largely been done already in most of the country!

[massadvj]

I stopped giving to the party a long time ago.  GWB's second term, I think.  That hasn't stopped them from continuing to ask for it.  I still give money to specific candidates, including my congressman who is a Boehner supporter, but otherwise can be counted on most of the time.  I will probably give Rand Paul some money, and I will probably give Scott Walker some money in the coming months.  I have not changed my party registration, and have no intention of doing so.

I agree with Beck in principle, but in reality I can't think of a single third party candidate in my lifetime who I agreed with more than I agreed with the Republican in the race.  OK, I take that back.  I probably had more in common with Harry Browne than either Bob Dole or George Bush, but I voted for the Republicans anyway.  Pragmatism.  It's a bitch.

[sinkspur]

We have term limits - elections.

Exactly. Term limits are a pipe dream, especially since a Constitutional amendment would be required for federal offices.

[Dexter]

I can't think of a single third party candidate in my lifetime who I agreed with more than I agreed with the Republican in the race.

If third parties were viable a lot of those Republicans you agree with would probably be willing to run for a third party instead. If we can get the momentum rolling there will be a multitude of viable third party candidates.

[truth_seeker]

If third parties were viable a lot of those Republicans you agree with would probably be willing to run for a third party instead. If we can get the momentum rolling there will be a multitude of viable third party candidates.

Discussions of 3rd parties reinforce my thesis, that many on the political right are math and logic challenged.

The GOP has LOST the national popular vote in 5 of the last 6 elections. The idea of further splitting that minority vote total, with another party to the right of the GOP is ridiculous.

In 2000 Buchanan was the big item, on the "conservative" interweb forums. Wow, look at how that worked out.

A more conservative 3rd party is just about the most damaging idea that can be conceived. It would lose badly, and also cause the Republican candidate to lose to the democrat, in usually GOP districts.

What does make sense is moving the GOP to the right, but not at the cost of losing elections.

[Dexter]

Discussions of 3rd parties reinforce my thesis, that many on the political right are math and logic challenged.

The GOP has LOST the national popular vote in 5 of the last 6 elections. The idea of further splitting that minority vote total, with another party to the right of the GOP is ridiculous.

In 2000 Buchanan was the big item, on the "conservative" interweb forums. Wow, look at how that worked out.

A more conservative 3rd party is just about the most damaging idea that can be conceived. It would lose badly, and also cause the Republican candidate to lose to the democrat, in usually GOP districts.

What does make sense is moving the GOP to the right, but not at the cost of losing elections.

You might not realize this but a lot of people on or around the left side of politics are completely fed up with the Democrats and only vote for them because they're afraid the Republicans will win if they don't. Sound familiar? A lot of young leftists are also for small government, which means conservatives could even draw from that crowd through certain third parties. What I am suggesting is a mass exodus from both main parties. I believe that needs to happen before any real progress will be made.

[flowers]

I used to listen to Beck way back in the day. I thought he wasn't R. I thought he was a independent or even a libertarian?  Don't listen to him now a days, some say he is off the deep end and has changed? I wouldn't know. He used to be hilarious.

[Luis Gonzalez]

I stopped giving to the party a long time ago.  GWB's second term, I think.  That hasn't stopped them from continuing to ask for it.  I still give money to specific candidates, including my congressman who is a Boehner supporter, but otherwise can be counted on most of the time.  I will probably give Rand Paul some money, and I will probably give Scott Walker some money in the coming months.  I have not changed my party registration, and have no intention of doing so.

I agree with Beck in principle, but in reality I can't think of a single third party candidate in my lifetime who I agreed with more than I agreed with the Republican in the race.  OK, I take that back.  I probably had more in common with Harry Browne than either Bob Dole or George Bush, but I voted for the Republicans anyway.  Pragmatism.  It's a bitch.

All politics are local to the extent of where my donations go.

I give money where I can see my money at work.

[Luis Gonzalez]

What we need to do is stop thinking everything will get better if we just elect XYZ. the politics and government we have is a symptom of the attitude of the people. Nothing will change until the people change. That is up to us working from the ground up, neighbor to neighbor, school to school, city to city, county to county. Change the foundation and you fix the top.

Hear, hear!

[Luis Gonzalez]

What have those impressive resumes of prominent Republicans done to meaningfully advance the conservative agenda? Everyday people are exactly the kinds of people we need in office.

Here's the other side of that coin.

We tend to gravitate toward those candidates who can A) give great speeches that B) basically support everything that we already believe in in those speeches, BUT simply parroting back our beliefs to earn our votes does not mean that they will be able to actually DO anything about advancing those beliefs.

There is no, nor will there ever be, a politician savior in our future.

[Luis Gonzalez]

Beck is a media hound, vying for attention. The GOP opposed Obamacare, and have opposed illegal immigration.

If leaving the Republican Party is such a wonderful step, how come Ted Cruz isn't doing it?

I always vote Republican. Ted Cruz is a Republican. Those who crave Cruz, ought to stand by him and proudly proclaim their alignment with him, where they want the Republican Party to be.

I personally think people who proclaim "I am not a Republican" want attention. An identity in the anonymous realm of cyber postings.

Ouch...