Conservatives show they still matter

The election of Gov. Charlie Crist in 2006, and his sustained popularity while pursing a moderate agenda ever since, is often cited as evidence that the decadelong reign of social conservatives in Florida is over.

But now, as voters prepare for a November election to pick a new president, the movement has returned from the shadows of Florida's malleable political landscape.

Voters will be asked to insert a gay marriage ban into the state Constitution and remove a century-old limitation on state funding for religious organizations.

Republicans hope advancing the two causes will serve as a "market correction" to the party under Crist, nourish soft support for presidential nominee John McCain and combat recent Democratic gains in state elections.

"There has been no shortage of stories that the Christian right is dead. But family values voters are surging right now," said John Stemberger, the Orlando activist behind the gay marriage ban. (story here)

Comments

Let the litany of leftie hate begin:

Real conservatives would rather focus on state budget, tax and structure issues and let people decide what they want to do with their own lives. Having the constitution intrude that deeply into issues of morality, ethics and personal decisions is the heigth of big governemnt, not an example of a truly conservative point of view.

12:46 Right. And that is why the self-styled "conservatives" DON'T matter. They are getting McCain (agents of intolerance) rammed down their throats and liking it because the alternative is either the lying witch Hillary or the America-hating Obama.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

The best example that conservatives still matter is the fact that Charlie Crist continues to lie about being a conservative.

Crist still hasn't come completely out of the closet as the liberal Republican In Name Only that he truly is.

Same goes for John McCain.

1.06 PM doesn't know what a conservative is. Crist campaigned on the conservative theme of less taxes, less government and more freedom. He has largely kept to that.

[Uncle Rico]

I guess 1:06 doesn't care about facts...how about leading the charge for the largest tax cut in the history of the state? How about leading the charge for more tax cuts in 1 year than in all 8 of the Jeb Bush administration? How about fiscal discipline with record line item vetoes in last years budget? These actions are classical conservatism in the tradition of Ronald Reagan.

[Chris W]

Of course, the best of all things could happen this time - the "family values" conservatives could put their clout and credibility behind things like the marriage amendment and other social conservative hobby-horses and they could fail. Then they could go back to living their own lives and not telling the rest of us how to live ours, and we wouldn't have to listen to them anymore.

Less government, less taxes, MORE PERSONAL FREEDOM!! The faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar right are not Republicans

Right on, Chris W. And I hope we stop listening to so-called liberals telling us what kind of houses we can build too.

Didn't they recently discover that some dinosaur-era fish was still living way way down in the depths of the ocean? It matters too, but only as a relic of a vanished age.

"Crist campaigned on the conservative theme of less taxes, less government and more freedom. He has largely kept to that."

1) WRONG. Crist signed the 2007 budget that raised the LRE $500M for local school districts. The LRE is derived from property taxes, ergo it was a property tax increase.

2) WRONG. Crist signed legislation vastly increasing the scope and size of Citizens insurance Co., a state backed insurer. He has also created several new state government offices.

3) WRONG. Define "more freedom" Does it mean more choices in the insurance market? The opposite has happened. Does it mean more freedom for ex-felons? Well, they got that.

Crist has failed or lied on every campaign promise he made, including being a "conservative in the mold of Ronald Reagan and Jeb Bush."

The comet is about to hit the fan, and Charie didn't want to join the Dinosaurs. Successful creatures adapt while rigid inflexible ones can't roll with the changing times. So long!

[terminator]

Uncle Rico:
you've got to wipe that brown stuff off your nose and lips! Chuck's already got people to handle that stuff.

The gay marriage amendment will bring out the conservatives because morally it's the right thing to do and it's good for Florida.

The voucher amendment won't get the 60% necessary for passage. It's just a back door move by Jeb and his far right anti-christ cronies like Levesque trying to hoodwink Florida voters into subsidizing private/religious school tuition with public school money.

Most Christian conservative voters won't approve of that.

One for two is ok by us.

[Summer Wheatly]

Uncle Rico:
(if you find any time to step away from videoing yourself in front of the van), please get a CLUE.

the ONLY "conservatives" favoring the gay-marriage ban are the deeply closeted "conservatives" of the repiglican party...karli, kennie-boy, 'berto...you KNOW who they are!

they simply HATE the freedom enjoyed by folks who are comfortbly out of the closet as compared to their hiding out while they manipulate the sexually curious and insecure of the repiglican party whod really like to try it out but are scared to death!!

fear is a great manipulator...

especially when applied to the ignorant!!!!

Does anyone remember that Governor.. Jeb Bush signed the law to create Citizens?

The religious right ballot efforts are there to drag the crazy right to the polls to vote for the economic right.
This scam has worked for almost 30 years.

The CONs will linger around a bit longer, doing their best to monkey-wrench the democratic process for the next administration. We need to be extra vigilant and defeat anything they send down the pipe until wiser heads have a solid majority in Tallahassee and Washington.

9:45 Don't underestimate the Religious Right - they seem to have a very high capacity to suspend their belief when it means winning elections. I find it absolutely amazing that they seem to be completely willing to ignore the words of Jesus, and align themselves with the party who is the avowed enemy of the poor, and is permeated with hated.

If anyone should be supporting social programs to help the disadvantaged, it should be the followers of Jesus. But I guess hating gays is a more pressing issue; one that Jesus mentions repeatedly in the Gospels, right?

It's a proven fact, conservatives give more to charity and the poor than the liberals. So shut your mouth about caring and open your wallet lefty! How about your boy Obama? he didn't give s... until he knew he was running for office. You Dems are pathetic!!!

I might vote for the constitutional ban on gay marriage but there is no way that I will vote for McAmnesty because he is against it.

4:45 You conveniently forgot to mention that he signed the bill which REDUCED property taxes by $15 Billion...so your argument about the Required Local Effort is lame. As for insurance...he signed legislation that made it easier for small companies to write property insurance and as a result 10 new companies have started writing policies..this is competition from the ground up and has been cited as a national model for curing the ills of high property insurance by several organizations. Thus, despite your claim there are MORE CHOICES in insurance today thanks to Gov. Crist. And how is creating an Office of Open Government contrary to protecting the freedoms we enjoy...the transparency of government leads to a more informed electorate...

12:22...so who are you going to vote for...Obama? Clinton? Nader? Good luck with that....

[Uncle Rico]

Believe me Summer...I have a clue...you know if the coach would have put me in we could have won state...and I would be sitting in a hot tub with my "soul mate" at this very moment....Terminator...what does "ok by us" mean? Who comprises the "us" to which you refer? You know I was going to get married once but my girlfriend said I was living in the past....sort of like everyone who wants to re-live the 2004 election cycle...social conservative issues will not dominate this election cycle...

the "anti-gay" repiglican right is SOOOOOOOOOOO FULL of closeted homersectionals, it defies belief!!

you gotta understand, they HATE themselves and want everyone to HATE anyone like them!!

and of course, the ignoramuses of the right wing feed on that HATRED, too!!

"whatever it is, if it is DIFFERENT, WE MUST KILL IT!!"

[terminator]

Uncle Rico:
that' very sweet but I've already got terminator wife and children (the newest models).

"us" meaning conservative Christians who know homosexuality is wrong and don't want it pushed on our kids as "an acceptable alternative lifestyle".

"us" meaning conservative Christians who didn't vote for Chuck in the GOP primary.

That Chuck....he's a real card. You know....the Jeb Bush Republican? The same guy who promised to support the gay marriage ban when he was courting GOP voters then turned his back on them when push came to shove?

If you out of the closet guys want to flaunt your homosexuality you should move to Massachusetts or San Francisco.

We will prevail against the evil that is homosexuality. Keep up the good work Mr. Stemberger!

"us" means folks who HATE anything different from them

consequently, "'us'ns' MUST KILL thems thats diff'rnt!"

and, termie:

you just might wanna check out the most severe of the "antis"...most of them are waaaaaaayyyyyyyy in the back of the closet, behind the heavy winter coats and umbreallas!!

can you say karli, rev. teddie and kennie-boy??!!??

just observe 'em, sweetie!!

11:30 This thread - all about YOU. So long...

11:30 Self-seving spin doctor.

The majority of the wealthy don't make a charitable move without consulting their tax accountants or their PR department to guage whether or not it will pay off in tax benefits or market share.

Thanks to THE WORST PRESIDENT EVER they luckily now have a wealth of options for donating to so-called faith based charities which in actuality promote their political agenda.

That being said, there are still some caring Goldwater type conservatives out there who have been shoved aside by the corporatists - maybe they can regain control of the GOP and set things right.

What is wrong with Republican leadership? Why do they think Charlie Crist and McCain are so popular? These amendments will kill the Republicans off. This is the last straw. When Republicans stay the hell out of my personal life, when they stop changing the Constitution, keep government and religion separate, and stop being such darn hypocrites, then I will vote Republican again. This has got to stop.

10:09 expanding the state run insurer is expanding government. It is also engaging government in a perfunctory business function. Crist also increased regulaiton of insurance. ALL OF THAT IS IN STARK CONTRAST TO HIS CAMPAIGN PROMISES.

It is irrelevant that there are smaller start-up companies writing policies. You should ask what sort of risk exposure those companies have and whether they will be around after the storm. It's questionable that even Citizen's would survive the "big one."

And the RLE argument is lame?! Did or did not that raise property taxes?! Did or did not he campaign on "less taxes"?!

"And how is creating an Office of Open Government contrary to protecting the freedoms we enjoy"

IT'S NOT CONTRARY TO FREEDOMS, IT'S CONTRARY TO LESS GOVERNMENT!!!!

Put down the kool-aid. Crist sucks.

This is what we get from the crazy legislature. This is how they pander to whatever entity that will give them money and votes.
The Repubs are not learning from what is so obvious. McCain and Crist's popularity are not because they are extremeist, but because they aviod the extreme. The majority of the People will be turned off by this. If Obama beats Hillary, the indys and some repubs will go towards McCain, but not if this crap continues.

Meant ..."Some indys and the Repubs"..

The right wing extremeist forget that Jesus was a liberal.