Originally Posted by AVB-AMG

AzX5:
I think Michael Moore is an entertaining left-wing fanatic whose rants do not represent all Democrats, just as the crap that Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter spew out do not represent all Republicans.

JFK is so far from today's Republican sensibilities that I had to LOL at your statement. JFK is a pure Democrat who started the Peace Corps for youth to help other less fortunate people in other countries. He was certainly more moderate than our current President George Bush who created one of the largest deficits in US government history (and we thought only Democrats did that....) and expanded the government bureaucracy by creating The Bureau of Homeland Security. Hmmm.

I guess that I at this point in my life I recognize the inherent problems and limitations of our 2-Party political system. The simplistic labels of liberal vs. conservative do not fit most people's beliefs, values, morals and sentiments. My rather simplistic assumption is that approx. 25% of the American voting public are hard-core, left-wing liberal Democrats and that another 25% are equally adamant, hard-core right wing conservative Republicans. That leaves approximately 50% of the voting American public as more realistically Independents who do not really want to be labeled either a Democrat or Republican. They may allow themselves to be labeled as such since they want to be accepted and liked by their family, neighbors and co-workers, need to do so in order to vote in the Primaries and ultimately don't want to make a big issue that they don't necessarily fit into a defined group or political platform. These are people who is some cases will tell a pollster what they think they may want to hear then vote their true beliefs.

The other concern I have about the current state of the Republican party is that far too many Republicans of all ages seem to display an attitude of fear against change. This fear is also augmented and personified by a self-centered sense of entitlement, selfishness and greed. They have a resentment to the concept that others deserve equal chances for success., (i.e. natural born citizens vs. naturalized citizens). They have obviously decided to become a party that excludes variety to a point of blatant bigotry and racism, expressed with a real mean spiritedness and intolerance, (i.e as exhibited by most conservative radio talk show hosts). They ridicule and ostracize those who do not accept all of their beliefs and insist on imposing their religious beliefs and rules on the rest of us. Unless the Republican party recognizes and accepts that these traits are causing many more people to reject and leave the party than join it, it runs the risk of becoming a minority party for years to come.
(BTW, I am a WASP that was born in the U.S.A. in the midwest)
AVB-AMG