Arnold: wishes to lean right on fiscal issues, left on social issues?

[johnny861]

BERLIN, Germany (AP) -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested in a German newspaper interview published Saturday that the Republican Party should move "a little to the left," a shift that he said would allow it to pick up new voters.

Schwarzenegger, a Republican, has taken an unorthodox approach since winning office last year -- standing by a promise to toe a conservative line on fiscal matters while veering leftward on social issues such as gay rights and the environment.

In an interview with Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily, Schwarzenegger said that "the Republican Party currently covers only the spectrum from the right wing to the middle, and the Democratic Party covers the spectrum from the left to the middle."

"I would like the Republican Party to cross this line, move a little further left and place more weight on the center," he was quoted as saying. "This would immediately give the party 5 percent more votes without its losing anything elsewhere."

Schwarzenegger was guarded on suggestions that he harbors presidential ambitions, saying only that a debate on whether the constitution should be amended to allow foreign-born citizens to run was "overdue."

Schwarzenegger became an American citizen in 1983, 15 years after he emigrated from Austria. He has said he'd consider running for president if such an amendment passed but has also taken pains to say it shouldn't be created specifically for him.

"I would like people to remember me as someone who raised standards, wherever I got involved." he was quoted as saying.

"I brought bodybuilding from nothing, I made the action film a genre, and the same goes for politics -- I want to do things that no one believed possible. I would like to bring people together as governor."

[transparentaura]

"I brought bodybuilding from nothing, I made the action film a genre, and the same goes for politics -- I want to do things that no one believed possible. I would like to bring people together as governor."

With such a bold vision and a resume like that, hell, the constitution should be amended to make Arnold president for life. Just curious, is his middle initial S ?

[Ryan]

I agree with Governor Wolfcastle, except that he wants to take this position just to scrape up more votes for the GOP, not because their party is actually the slightest bit moderate. The GOP is mostly a right-wing fringe party who has marketed themselves well to dumb moderates who don't pay attention. As long as George W. Bush, Tom Delay, and Ralph Reed are still alive, I will never vote Republican.

Originally Posted by Ryan

I agree with Governor Wolfcastle, except that he wants to take this position just to scrape up more votes for the GOP, not because their party is actually the slightest bit moderate. The GOP is mostly a right-wing fringe party who has marketed themselves well to dumb moderates who don't pay attention. As long as George W. Bush, Tom Delay, and Ralph Reed are still alive, I will never vote Republican.

Liberals are a bunch of anti-religion, racial preference supporting bigots bent on pushing the US into Euro style nanny-state socialism.....

As long as there are democrats I'll not vote for one.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by xiannaix

Liberals are a bunch of anti-religion, racial preference supporting bigots bent on pushing the US into Euro style nanny-state socialism.....

As long as there are democrats I'll not vote for one.

I bet I can name a whole lot more right-wing lunatics elected to office under the GOP than you can Democrats who are "anti-religion bigots bent on pushing the US into Euro style nanny-state socialism." Good stereotype, though.

Originally Posted by Ryan

I bet I can name a whole lot more right-wing lunatics elected to office under the GOP than you can Democrats who are "anti-religion bigots bent on pushing the US into Euro style nanny-state socialism." Good stereotype, though.

you understand the point I was making Ryan....

as for the marketing of the right..... does it simply represent a shift of dumb moderates away from the left or were they not dumb when they voted for Dems?

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by xiannaix

you understand the point I was making Ryan....

as for the marketing of the right..... does it simply represent a shift of dumb moderates away from the left or were they not dumb when they voted for Dems?

They were also dumb when they voted for Dems. I've talked about these people before and we all know them well. They don't pay attention or really stand for anything, so their votes blow around with the wind. The GOP marketed to them far more effectively this time around, and that is why they won the election. This is what always determines the national elections in this country.

Regarding my refusal to vote for anyone in the Republican party, I say that not because I hate Republicans as a whole. But Tom Delay, as one example, is a shameless gerrymandering crook who was successful in completely ripping away the only political voice I have on the national level because he does not like the way people in South Austin think. Any vote for a Republican is a statement of approval for what their party has done, not only in Texas, but throughout the world. So until this generation of assholes is gone, my votes will go in one direction only.

PS - I'll make an acception if someone runs against our big-haired idiot of a governor in 2006.

[Satchel]

I have to admit I'm starting to like Arnold as a governor. It definitely scares me that this GOP might scrounge up more support, but I have to call it like I see it and I like most of the positions he is taking.

[willy_jack]

Originally Posted by xiannaix

Liberals are a bunch of anti-religion, racial preference supporting bigots bent on pushing the US into Euro style nanny-state socialism.....

As long as there are democrats I'll not vote for one.

that was such a generalization. you amaze me. i am a liberal. i am not anti- religon. i think religon should be individual choice, not a foundation on which we run our country.

heres my generalization:

Republicans are a bunch of money power hungry close minded assholes who think that people with opinions different from their own should be euthanized.

As long as there are republicans I will continue to shit on them.

Jesus would cast them out of the temple right along with the money changers.

Originally Posted by willy_jack

that was such a generalization. you amaze me. i am a liberal. i am not anti- religon. i think religon should be individual choice, not a foundation on which we run our country.

heres my generalization:

Republicans are a bunch of money power hungry close minded assholes who think that people with opinions different from their own should be euthanized.

As long as there are republicans I will continue to shit on them.

Jesus would cast them out of the temple right along with the money changers.

you seem to have missed the point and sailed right off into terribly offended territory.

The ENTIRE point was to be ridiculously overbroad..... sarcasm Billy..... sarcasm

[Satchel]

It seems that was your point, while Ryans was hardly ridiculously overbroad.

Originally Posted by Satchel

It seems that was your point, while Ryans was hardly ridiculously overbroad.

Originally Posted by Ryan

The GOP is mostly a right-wing fringe party

surely from his pov this isn't overbroad.... and perhaps from yours as well

however, I disagree with his assessment greatly and was making note of it by tossing out a sarcastic comment

[Satchel]

Originally Posted by xiannaix

surely from his pov this isn't overbroad.... and perhaps from yours as well

however, I disagree with his assessment greatly and was making note of it by tossing out a sarcastic comment

Nobody likes a smart ass, except of course me.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by xiannaix

surely from his pov this isn't overbroad.... and perhaps from yours as well

however, I disagree with his assessment greatly and was making note of it by tossing out a sarcastic comment

There are some prominent moderates gaining attention in the party, but mainly because they go against the grain of the GOP. McCain and Arnold do not in any way represent the GOP's agenda. Of course, those guys are paraded in election years because they draw in votes. But there are actually Democrats who are more conservative than Arnold who are frequently bastardized by the right as dirty "lib-ruhls."

If you can name even four or five prominent elected Republicans who share a majority of Arnold's views, I will withdraw my statement. I think you know as well as I do that the far-right fringes of the "moral majority," the neo-conservative warhawks, and the Deep South gun nuts all have enormously greater influence in the GOP than do the fiscal conservative/social moderates like Governor Wolf.

[johnny861]

Originally Posted by Satchel

Nobody likes a smart ass, except of course me.

unless it suits the agenda of the audience.