A Question to Americans (Political)

[Amaror]

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.

 

[Jonluw]

I've been wondering about the same thing.

From what I can tell from across the pond, it is really quite baffling that anyone would actually vote for that party.

I mean... they're presenting Rick Santorum as a legitimate candidate for president. That's just nuts.

 

[Crazy Zaul]

Republicans all seem to have their own crazy quirk too, with many of them being completely insane. Aren't they all against gays as well, in a country that has loads of them? (I'm remembering that from American Dad so could be wrong)

My impression of Obama is that while the rest of the world thinks he is superman, to Americans he is like Nick Clegg and didn't deliver on any of his promises to fix the economy or whatever.

Ron Swanson for president!

 

[orangeban]

The entire American political system confuses me, I'll admit (a system where inner-party conflict is a foundation of the system, bwuh?), but the Republicans are the thing that confuse me the most.

America is a lot more right-wing than Britain, even your "left-wing" party is probably closer to the Conservatives (our right-wing party) than Labour (our left-wing party). The Republicans though, they're nuts. They're like the BNP, or, if I'm feeling more charitable, UKIP (BNP, but toned down a bit). If a party like the Republicans stood here, they'd never get a seat, not a chance.

The other thing that confuses me about American politics is the way you sort of idolise your presidents. You've got memorials and statues and everything! We just don't do that here, our favourite primeminister is probably Churchill, but he doesn't have a statue or anything.

 

[Fiad]

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)

He actually is doing pretty well considering what he has to work with. It doesn't help that all the republicans in congress/senate have been doing everything in their power to be a hindrance to him. Add in that we were already in a bad place when he came into office and he is at least average. He hasn't royally fucked anything up, but neither has he done anything outstanding(not for lack of trying though). People are blaming Obama for mistakes that are not his. He is doing clean up from the past several presidencies and people are treating those mistakes he is trying to fix like he was the one who made them.

The second point you hit dead on though.

Honestly, I am hoping Obama gets a second run. The other candidates are all just terrible. I mean just take an issue of gay rights for example. Now look at the candidates and what their stands on it are. They just aren't good. If anyone else gets elected America is going to be stagnate for awhile.

 

[chadachada123]

A good portion of Republicans are religious nutjobs that really support spending trillions of dollars killing brown people. Then again, so do most Democrats on the federal level. Both support the war on drugs, too. Shit kinda sucks.

As far as the citizenry goes, there is also a great deal of people who identify with Republicans because *real* conservatism is about less federal government spending and involvement, and so will vote Republican despite nearly all current Republicans being just as spend-thrifty as Democrats except with homophobia tacked on. These voters don't recognize that the Libertarian Party even exists, which should be the true counter to the Democratic party.

(Also, anyone that tries to say that Obama is better or worse than Santorum or Romney is sadly disillusioned. They're all equally terrible in all issues that a President has power over. Edit: Actually, Santorum is a total joke, scratch him)

 

[Fappy]

Republicans now =/= Republicans during the Civil War. Our political parties have shifted back and forth throughout the centuries so trying to make that comparison now will only serve to confuse you more.

As for why they get votes? Republicans represent more than religious nujobs and societal stagnation. Many Republicans call themselves Republicans because they value capitalism and small government. You can make similar arguments to give the Democrats some credit too. Unfortunately many of the politicians on capital hill are all nutjobs and our broadcast media is full of morons, so its no wonder people get the wrong idea about our parties.

Honestly, I'm an independent that is socially liberal and economically conservative, so I don't really fall nicely into one camp or the other, and I don't think people should feel they have too anyway. I've always resented the two party system as it is far too polarizing and makes people feel the need to compromise their beliefs in order to fit into the mold of their party.

TL;DR Republicans look crazy on the news, but the politicians you see spouting garbage, whether they be Republican or Democratic, are hardly representative of everyone in their party.

Also, because someone mentioned them... I have more respect for the Libertarian Party than any other party in our system. I don't count myself as one of them, but I respect that they stand by their ideas and don't flip-flop when the chips are down. You know what they stand for and their is no bullshit to get in the way.

 

[Dragonclaw]

As an American who's watched the process for many years...

The Repuclican "base" is made up of a few core groups, the very wealthy who seek to stay that way, the ultra-religious who want to turn the country into a purely religious based theocracy, and the poorly educated who buy into the "if I help the rich stay that way then I'll have it better when *I* get to be ultra-rich" not realizing that the system is stacked so overwhelmingly against them. These are the people that helped elect Bush Jr. because the Republicans were able to convince them that their little town no one has ever heard of was a prime target for terrorism.

Meanwhile the Democrats and Republicans have both taken such a "us vs them" mentality that if one side tried to pass an initiative declaring the color of the sky BLUE the other would fillibuster because it wasn't from their side. They treat the political system like a football game and try to do more to stop "the other side" than actually trying to get real work done that it's exasperating. Many Republicans come right out and admit that they wanted to stall all progress in order to make the President look bad and improve the chances of one of their own being able to win the next election.

 

[Revnak_v1legacy]

Because the ones that actually get elected are almost universally not crazy? Romney has his faults, but all in all he's a pretty moderate guy. The same can be said of Bush despite all slander to the contrary. I'd also say the same of every Democrat that has been elected in recent years. I'd say we haven't had a truly crazy president since LBJ, and a truly terrible one since Nixon. If you're talking about the radicals like motherfucking Santorum, well that's because he's a radical. He's pretty far out there, as you most obviously can tell. There are some pretty nuts people among the Democrats too, Edwards was pretty fucked up in his own way. The truth of the matter is that both parties run candidates that are far less different than you would like to believe, and judging either party by their crazier members makes no sense.

As for how the Republican party has changed over the years, Theodore Roosevelt can be thanked for most of it, as well as Reagan. Neither party has changed too much from their early years. Democrats were originally the party of the poor white man and eventually added immigrants to that while Republicans were for the business man. Teddy added war to their firmly held beliefs, FDR added it to the Democrats while his wife tried to get the Democrats to support minorities. Kennedy added to that belief in supporting minorities, while he and LBJ were some of the most hawkish presidents ever. Nixon backed away from supporting minorities to get support of southern moderate Democrats, which worked, though Nixon's promises to halt civil rights were obviously impossible to fulfill, meaning he probably never intended to deliver on them and really just cared about foreign affairs. Reagan was the one who really changed the Republican party by focusing on a large military budget, support of business, and lower taxes, while also supporting conservative morals. This is all a major generalization of course.

Also, to those saying that Republicans only win through religious support, how come their the ones running the religious minority this year (in the eyes of many Americans Romney is just that) and ran the less religious candidate last year? Christianity is central to both parties, their views on secularism are what truly divide the parties, though not as much as it would seem.

Edit: I forgot to add that Democrats became the more peaceful party around the Jimmy Carter era, though the party is anything but pacifistic and still supports a greater level of military spending than I personally consider reasonable.

Edit2: Both sides fear monger like fucking crazy. Both sides will fear monger about every issue that arises, and it works on both sides. Both sides pander to conspiracy theorist types, just about opposing issues. Neither side has clean hands when it comes to this, and I am so tired of people saying Republicans are the only ones who do this.

 

[Bloodtrozorx]

The Republican Party has in the years since I started to care pushed a brand of fear on America. Fear of change, immigrants and moral degradation. They prey on fear and use this to push a backwards agenda recalling a time when it was still 1950 and America had the biggest "stick". They long to return to an era where America was strong, Christian, white and straight. That about sums up the douchebaggery of Republican Party.

 

[Sean Steele]

Republicans have one simple message that they push very effectively. They are friends of the successful rich and powerful wouldn't when your rich and powerful (not like those people you look down on) you like a friend in government?

See its that there are several things they sell exceedingly well without it being very true.

-The Powerful and Wealthy all deserve it and have earned it by virtue of wit and hard work.
-You Deserve it and thus you'll become powerful and wealthy.
-Those people you don't like, we don't like.

 

[Gentleman Adventurer]

snip

The Republican party is not one completely unified block. You have your Fiscal Conservatives, less taxes and less government spending. Your Social Conservatives, "Christian" values and they favor using the government and the courts enforce their standards of morality on the population. You have your Libertarians that want a free society with little to no government. You have your States Rights folks that want the United States to be more of a confederation. There are more but these are the main ones. Every thinks of the Social Conservatives when they think of the Republican party because they, right now, seem to have the most power. That is because, not only are they the loudest (and the American media loves the loudest) but they are the largest group that votes in a block. They are not the largest group, that would be the Fiscal Conservatives, but the Social Conservatives are the ones that show up on voting day, in fact the Socials would crawl though lava to put one of their own in the White House. The others are not so fanatical.

I am a Libertarian, so when I went to my caucus (in Iowa "first in the nation!") the Fiscals won in my district with Mitt Romney, and don't let any one fool you he IS a Fiscal Conservative, most of the Social things he talks about it pandering to get votes. Mitt will jettison most of that in the general election. The Libertarians got second with Ron Paul and the Socials had Rick Santorum in third, but Rick won the over all caucus by just 34 bloody votes. The States Righters had Rick Perry but he dropped out.

Hope this helps a bit. If you have any more questions just ask them!

 

[Micalas]

Look up Neo-Conservatism. That is what they modern Republican party is. My political beliefs are a bit all over the place. I took one of those political compass tests and I was dead-fucking-center. Not liberal, not conservative, not anarchic, not authoritarian.

I'm not neutral though. Individual positions can probably place me on all extremes. In the whole though, I have no place to call my own

 

[Sarge034]

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.

Don't worry... I AM AN AMERICAN.

The Republican and Democratic parties are pretty much polar opposites and while any one from any party is allowed to win it will be a republican or democrat so you vote for which one most closely mirrors your beliefs.

THE DESCRIPTIONS...

Republicans
>Large religious backing
>Conservative budgeting philosophy
>Emphasis on small government (see conservative budgeting philosophy)
>Emphasis on personal rights (self-defense/home-defense)
>Pro-firearm
>Pro-military/defense budget

Democrats
>Large college student backing
>Social budgeting policy (socialized medicine)
>Emphasis on big government (expanded welfare)
>Emphasis on government rights (socialized stuff)
>Anti-firearm (see the "assault weapons ban" 1994)
>Want to drastically reduce military and defense budget

If you want me to explain anything just let me know.

*Off topic- To sound less bised in your OP remove phrases like:

>most goals they seem to have today are based on keeping everything the way it is
>sabotage a real development of society
>If their not that bad than i thing they are

They kind of degreade your credibiliity when you say yourself that you have no idea what Republicans are about.

 

[The Gnome King]

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

I'll send you to a link that explains it better than I can:

http://beeryblog.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/serving-romney-applebee-independents-and-the-gutless-wonder/

This is the best explanation I have ever seen for the poor state of American politics:

The average American is just that ? average. You communicate with him at the gut level ? beer gut. You communicate with him where that gut is made - on the bar stool at the local Applebee?s. That?s politics.

Read the whole article, it's fascinating.

 

[TWEWYFan]

I think Dragonclaw pretty much summed up the gist of it. As to why so many of the current candidates seem crazier than usual, I think it has to do with the heavy resentment towards the Obama administration. Obama came into office under so much post-Bush relief that he even won a Nobel Prize pretty much for just not being Bush. I think this caused the Republican party to become a bit bitter, so trashing the new administration became to popular even if it didn't make sense(see the whole Obama Birth Certificate thing, for which I'm still ashamed). The extreme-right crazies flourished under this system and now they're the ones pretty much running the party.

 

[TheSteeleStrap]

It's basically that Republicans have the vote of the hardcore Christians who want nothing more than to see their religious views become law so they can oppress whoever they want.