Check Out The New House Majority Leader.

[Fiannan]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Pelosi

Wow, it's like San Francisco itself just took over!

Oh well, it will give the Republicans a chance to target her and her policies and get energized for 2008. Now they have to oust that old geezer with the charisma of a turnup who has been serving as HML for the Republicans and get a more dynamic person who can get John McCain or Mitt Romney elected and bring the Republicans back into the House majority.

[Tsuzuki]

Oh well, it will give the Republicans a chance to target her and her policies and get energized for 2008.

And thus distracted, we Libertarians will mobilize for the advantage.

[Palerider]

She already said.....we will be the most honest and the most ethical House to ever hit DC.......I wonder how long it will take before.....foot enters mouth for that statement..........

[Fiannan]

Libertarians should use the opportunity to educate -- and even run for local offices, but running for national offices merely takes votes away from Republicans and hands power over to ultra liberal people like Pelosi or clean as mud politicians like Reid.

[Palerider]

here in Missouri we had a state rep running....he was a dem and he was running against a Libertarian. I voted for the libertarian. I wish our political system gave more coverage to the other parties and even allow them in the debates. I have looked at the platform of the Libertarians and I could become one. They have alot of things I like......

[Traveler]

One major basis of political corruption is the manner in which we fund those running.

I have often wondered why free people would allow non-voting sources as the primary means of providing the funds for campaigns. I personally do not believe a non-voting source should be allowed to contribute a dime to a campaign.

The Traveler

[Tsuzuki]

Libertarians should use the opportunity to educate -- and even run for local offices, but running for national offices merely takes votes away from Republicans and hands power over to ultra liberal people like Pelosi or clean as mud politicians like Reid.

Or both. I like the Republican and Democratic parties about the same.

[prisonchaplain]

Y'all do understand that Libertarians are for legalizing drug use, prostitution, gambling, and for withdrawing our troops from foreign soil?

[pushka]

Can somebody explain to me these 3 political parties, in layman terms.

Over here in the UK we have our 3 main parties: Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrats...plus a number of smaller independent type groups.

I thought that Libertarians were usually anarchic kind of groups, therefore not 'political parties' as they don't believe in political parties...but I understand that the UK and USA sometimes have different notions on these things...

Thanks in advance for any help! :)

[Tsuzuki]

Y'all do understand that Libertarians are for legalizing drug use, prostitution, gambling, and for withdrawing our troops from foreign soil?

Libertarians are for small government.

[prisonchaplain]

Can somebody explain to me these 3 political parties, in layman terms.

Over here in the UK we have our 3 main parties: Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrats...plus a number of smaller independent type groups.

I thought that Libertarians were usually anarchic kind of groups, therefore not 'political parties' as they don't believe in political parties...but I understand that the UK and USA sometimes have different notions on these things...

Thanks in advance for any help! :)

There are only two major parties in the United States--the Democrats and the Republicans.

Democrats tend to favor more social programs, labor unions, environmental protection/rgulation/mandatory alternative fuels, less military, more protectionism (tariffs on foreign goods). They favor regulating businesses to protect minorities from discrimination, and they favor including gay/lesbian/transgendered persons in that category.

Republicans are the opposite: less social programs, more 'pro-business,' less favorable towards environmental programs, more in favor of free trade. Also, it currently favors the "traditional values" platform urged by conservative Christians.

Libertarians are a 3rd Party, meaning that they are not serious contenders beyond local elections, and can seldom put forth a national candidate that will get much more than 5% of the popular vote. They favor limited government, limited taxes, limited regulation, and no foreign military entanglements. They favor legalizing drugs, prostitution, gambling, and other 'victimless crimes.' As the name suggests, the platform is 'liberty' at all levels.

Greens are starting to grow as a 3rd Party. Also there are various local-level conservative parties, such as the Constitution Party, etc.

In the end, though, the U.S. is largely a two-party system, with both parties being loosely centrist. The advantage is that the majority party is usually truly a majority party, and not merely the largest plurality holder.

[BrotherHinds]

Oh well, it will give the Republicans a chance to target her and her policies and get energized for 2008.

The important thing to realize is that the country was not really voting for Democrat candidates, but rather voting to remove Republicans due to the troubles in Iraq and the recent scandals that have plagued key Republicans. We must work to correct this. I am a Republican, make no mistakes about it. I am chairman and founder of a College Republican chapter here in Texas and was previously one in Ohio. I learned things while serving as chairman in Ohio during the 2004 election. What I learned was grassroots campaigning. I learned how to organize and effective grassroots effort.

The primary thing essential to any campaign, whether it is local or national, is the grassroots of the campaign. Getting in the trenches and making the people in every community realize that the candidate you are working for is the best possible choice. The most important thing we need for this effort is volunteers. We can not do it without people volunteering. We need people to go door to door, make phone calls, stuff envelopes, attend rallies, ect. There are so many exciting and fun things to do when one gets involved with a campaign and is willing to volunteer.

The motto of the College Republican National Committee is, "We Make A Difference."

We need to begin now, lending our support to the party we want to win in 2008. We need to get involved locally and help select those candidates to run in 2008 that will best represent us the voters. We need to lend our support to their campaigns. Yes I know this all takes time, money, and when you have church, work, family time, and soccer games, it's hard to find time to devote to a campaign. Well that is what Howard Dean said in 2004 when it came to Get Out The Vote efforts for Bush's reelection campaign, but the local Republican parties and College Republican chapters showed him wrong. We showed up in the largest percentage of voters in the last 30-40 years. We must work to do that again in 2008. Mitt Romney stands an incredibly good chance of becomming the presidential candidate for 2008 and we can not afford to see him loose this race. Get involved in the local republican parties and show your support, volunteer your time, and help us achieve victory in 2008.

[Fiannan]

Yeah, but the media hyped a lot of issues in ways to hurt the Republicans. When Gerry Studds died he was presented as a hero for gay rights even though what propelled him into the spotlight was having a sexual affair with a 17 year old page and being censured by the House (not expelled). Foley sent dirty messages to a 17 year old page and you'd think he had oped up Galigula's orgy (I think that involved the Roman senator's wives though). So while Democratic Studds died he was a hero but Folley was a perv.

Also, as for Dirty Harry Reid:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/7..._dont_know.html

I was just telling my wife yesterday that maybe Reid can open up new doors for Mormons as people can see you can be a questionable politician AND a Mormon at the same time.

[pushka]

Hi PC and Tsuzuki...thanks for the extra info regarding Libertarians and other parties in the USA.

[prisonchaplain]

Two thoughts on this thread:

1. Isn't it ironic that "true blue" Canada has elected the Conservative Party, headed by an evangelical Christian, while we Red Americans have just "thrown the bums out?"

2. Remember, if you don't trust your leaders to do right, pray twice as hard for them!