Where are the Republicans?

Reading my earlier posts, it may seem like I don't like Republicans. Nothing could be further from the truth. Many in my family are Republican and half of my friends lean Republican. I vote for Republican candidates almost every election cycle and I've never pulled a straight party line lever in my life. I hope some of my Republican friends take no offense with what I have to say. My favorite President, Theodore Roosevelt was a Republican.

Frankly, the Republican party has been hi-jacked by right-wing ideologues that have no intention of governing in the middle where good government is found. Today's Republican legislator has one answer for every question; "cut taxes". We need to go to war in Iraq; cut taxes, we need to improve education; cut taxes, we need to have quality health care for all citizens; cut taxes, we need to clean up the environment; cut taxes, and on and on. You can't vote for a party that has only one answer, there are too many questions.

Republicans should take a look back at Teddy Roosevelt. John McCain claimed he wanted to be a Teddy Roosevelt Republican. I saw flashes of that before he ran for President. Now he's followed the lemmings off the cliff. Roosevelt supported the working class and the unions. Many in his party were outraged at his support for the United Mine Workers. As President he saw the injustice and would not stand idly by. As a conservationist, there was none better. Over 100 million acres set aside during his administrations, 50,000 acres for each day in the White House. This high water mark in conservation no President will ever reach. And when confronted with his contempt for Russia for the plague of the Tsar's pogroms against the Jews, Roosevelt responded by hiring the first Jewish Cabinet Secretary in the nation's history, Oscar Solomon Straus in 1906.

Of course we all loved Abe, and Ike. It's just getting much harder to find great Republicans like John Chafee, Lincoln Chafee, Lowell Weicker, Chuck Hagel and Dwight Eisenhower. I want a choice - a Republican choice. I do not want a neo-conservative. Lincoln Chafee said it best; "The political center, when it arises, will lead the way to a truly great American era".

I think Barack Obama is trying to find that center, but it's like being blind in the wilderness. Until the center is found, I'll be leaning towards the Democrats.

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