Maggie's Farm

Five Things that really tick me off about the Repubs now

1. Immigration policy, which seems to be to ignore the issue, no doubt to pander to  Hispanic voters.

2. Conservation. The Repubs should recapture the legacy of Teddy Roosevelt. I think they are missing a big pile of swing voters on this issue, especially in the Northeast and Northwest. But it's important anyway, regardless of vote calculations. Even if you write them off in national elections, they still have State parties that matter.

3. Balanced budget: There should have been a temporary war tax. Freedom isn't free.

4. Poor articulation of conservative principles - they have bully pulpits galore, which they could be using to convert the entire nation to reason, as FDR did with the Welfare State. There are lots of good folks, and younger folks, with their biases stuck in the mud of 1930s rhetoric, who might be curious about the Reagan vision of America - and the serious thinking behind it.

5. General political fearfulness; timidity in the face of liberal spin despite the wishes of the voters