Claim the middle-GOP now.

We have a problem.  The country has been steadily moving to the right over the last few years and the majority of americans have become accustomed to voting for the GOP.  There are also reasons to be optimistic.  The progressive movement is growing increasingly vocal and organized, and there is sure to be a backlash to Bush's disasterous policies.  But, we face a fundamental problem in convincing a population that increasingly self-identifies as "Republican" that they should vote Democrat in '06 and '08.

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On paper this shouldn't be very hard.  This country is currently under the control of the extreme right wing, and the GOP has moved much farther to the right than the majority of the electorate.  But people have a strong sense of loyalty and we need to  overcome this loyalty to pull votes away from the GOP.

The Republican Noise Machine has already figured out how to do this.  They have produced terms like "Reagan Democrat" and "security mom" to convince swing voters that a large portion of the population thinks the same way, and therefore it is ok to vote against your natural identification.  We need to do the same thing.  We need a name for moderate republicans that find themselves on the far left of their own party.  Once we have a name we need to repeat it over and over until these moderate republicans are comfortable with the idea they have been abandoned by their own party.  I also believe it is important that we start this now rather than waiting for the next election cycle.  We all know that the Bush policies will lead to disaster and once the GOP figures this out they will nominate McCain-like candidates and try to claim the reformist agenda.  We need moderate Republicans to be comfortable with the idea of voting Democrat before that happens.

I have yet to find a name for these moderate voters that I like.  A couple of ideas are "Disenfranchised Republicans" or "Conscience Conservatives" but I'm not happy with either.  The name should capture the idea that these are natural Republicans that have been left behind by their party.  Please use the comments to suggest other names for this group.


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Pennsylvania (none / 0)

In Penn. they called moderate republicans who voted for Ed rendell "rendellicans."
by sam89 on Wed Jan 26, 2005 at 06:42:18 PM EST

How 'bout ... (none / 0)

reality-based Republicans (wait - is that an oxymoron?) ...
by lisaeo on Wed Jan 26, 2005 at 07:43:19 PM EST

Reid Democrats (none / 0)

I nominate "Reid Democrats", named after Senator Harry Reid, to indicate centrist conservatives with a heart.

I'm still becoming acquainted with Senator Reid but from what I've seen he is anything but a DINO.  Pragmatic but compassionate, his politics are similiar to many moderate Republicans.

by Curt Matlock on Wed Jan 26, 2005 at 08:30:35 PM EST

Reid Republicans (none / 0)

Or should that be "Reid Republicans"?

You get the idea. ;)

by Curt Matlock on Wed Jan 26, 2005 at 08:32:58 PM EST
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