Name a couple bygone Republicans you kind of liked

[5thGenDemocrat]

Just a test. Remember when Republicans weren't necessarily evil? Name two or three you liked at least a little bit. Are there any today you think are okay?
Mine: Barry Goldwater, Bob Dole, Alan Simpson. Currently, Richard Lugar.
John
I'll mention Hazen Pingree, too -- but nobody outside of Michigan (and damned few inside Michigan) remember who he was.

[FDRrocks]

1. Abe and Mary Todd Lincoln.

Uhm... Ike Eisenhower... uhm.... thats it.

[5thGenDemocrat]

3. Mary Todd Lincoln was probably a Democrat

She had several Southern relatives.
John
Kind of like how I'm "5thGenDemocrat" -- my great-great-grandfather Garrett (in Tennessee) voted for John Breckenridge in 1860 and his father, presumably, for Andrew Jackson in 1832.

[FDRrocks]

12. According to my biography

She was wholely sympathetic to the abolitionists' cause. Of course she wasn't overtly political, given the position of women at the time.

[aquart]

2. John Vliet Lindsay, Mayor of New York

[Blade]

4. George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan....

lmmfao. JK, jk all. :hi: I can't think of one Republican I remotely like(d)....maybe Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln. :shrug:

[5thGenDemocrat]

8. Mary Todd Lincoln was probably a De---

Oh, never mind.
John
But she was probably a Democrat. I'm tellin' ya.

[Faygo Kid]

20. That is totally unfair.

She had family that fought for the South, but she never wavered in support of the Union. Your criticism is totally uncalled for. Whatever her faults, and there were many, she doesn't deserve this cheap shot.

[5thGenDemocrat]

50. Um, where did I say she wavered in the support of the Union?

I'll go this far -- in 1864, women couldn't vote so she technically wasn't either one.
Now, George McClellan -- the Dem nominee in '64 and the former head of the Army of the Potomac --was he a traitor? He criticized the Holy Lincoln and ran against him, so he must've been. How about all the voters who cast their ballots for him -- traitors, too?
John
In our simplistic little cyber-world here, probably.

[Faygo Kid]

56. "The Holy Lincoln?" Good grief, lewrockwell.com

A site you are no doubt familiar with. Now I understand where you're coming from; misunderstood your earlier post. No, McClellan was no traitor - just incompetent. And those who voted for him were not traitors (Vallandigham and his ilk excepted). Guess you don't like ol' Abe. Just reread his Cooper Union speech last night. I commend it to you.

[5thGenDemocrat]

59. Actually, I admire Lincoln a great deal

Buchanan set him up for failure -- letting the states not only secede, but even shipping armaments to posts in the south, knowing they'd fall into the rebels' hands.
Abe, even so handicapped, not only oversaw the salvation of the Union (and, remember, I've mentioned my family was Southern in the 1860s and G2Grandpa Garrett fought at Fort Donelson with the CSA), but showed true compassion and generosity to the vanquished.
But I don't look at him as the Saint he is often portrayed to be. A great man, yes -- but still a man, y'know?
He suspended habeus corpus and censored and shut down newspapers during the war. Before that, he was a lawyer for the Illinois Central in the days when railroads ran roughshod over the small farmers and land owners.
John
In spite of all that, Lincoln was one of our three or four finest Presidents. And McClellan, though an excellent trainer and motivator of men, was a total incompetent when it came to leading them in battle (if you could even get him to engage in battle).
And, honestly, I have no damned idea what Mary Todd Lincoln's politics were. It was just an empty speculation, based on her upbringing. But then, my dad was a Republican -- so anything's possible.

[Gore1FL]

5. John Danforth, Bob Dole

[KT2000]

6. Lowell Weicker for one. n/t

[MisterP]

7. Eisenhower (some), T. Roosevelt, Lincoln, Arthur, Frémont, Hamlin,

Thad Stevens (a little), Hayes (a tiny bit), J.G. Blaine(?), Willkie, Earl Warren.

[sasquatch]

10. Ditto DOH!! I mean I agree

:D

[davidinalameda]

9. Goldwater

he's was a true conservative that I could respect unlike the "compassionate conservatives" currently running things

[Lindsey]

11. Other than pardoning Nixon

wasn't Ford okay? I'm not really sure, but I think he, Betty, and the kids were decent people.

[5thGenDemocrat]

60. Ford/Carter 1976 was the closest I ever came to voting Republican

Being a Michiganian, Ford was a favorite son. But my Dem instincts got the best of me, finally, and I voted for Carter. Still, it took a lot of agonizing.
John
My SO, Polly, sat next to Jerry and Betty at some civic event in Vail years ago. She said they are two of the nicest, most decent people you'd ever meet.
The most famous politician I've ever met was George Wallace -- and he got shot two or three days later. I've also met just two Michigan governors -- G. Mennen Williams (D) and John Engler (R, twice), who are also the two longest-serving governors in our state's history.

[RobinA]

62. I Liked Ford

a lot. Seemed like a decent guy. Had the guts to pardon Nixon because it was the right thing to do. I'd like to see somebody do something that politically risky today. I'd vote for Ford tomorrow. Hell, the way things are going I'd vote for Nixon tomorrow. Both of them would be Dems in today's right-wing world.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

13. N. Rockefeller, Lindsey of NY. Earl Warren was a mensch.

John Anderson, Eisenhower, Alf Landon, T. Roosevelt, Fremont is a good one someone reminded me above. Lincoln.

Thousands and thousands of settlers who moved from Mass, Maine and NH to settle Kansas as a free state in the 1850's. Those people had balls, and showed the courage of their convictions.

[elperromagico]

52. Earl Warren ran for reelection as governor of CA

as a Democrat, a Republican, and a Progressive. At the time, a candidate could enter into any party primary he/she chose. Warren entered the Democratic, Republican, and Progressive party primaries, and won them all. He may be (I'm not entirely sure) the only governor in history to run unopposed.

[The Zanti Regent]

14. Gone and Forgotten "Liberal Republicans"

George Aiken, Margaret Chase Smith, Clifford Case, Dick Schweicker, Edward Brooke, Thomas Kuchel, George Christopher, Ted Pearson, John Sherman Cooper, Nelson and Winthrop Rockefeller, Linwood Holton, Charles Percy, John Anderson, William Scranton, Mark Hatfield, Hiram Fong, Henry Bellmon, Frances Sargent, Charles Mathias, Lowell Weicker, John Chaffee, John Heinz, and many others purged out of the GOP by the Jesus Freaks

[Piperay]

23. Nelson Rockefeller

he never got further than being appointed V. Pres because he was not rightwing enough for them. :argh: I know he tried on his own to get elected to higher office but never made it, a shame.

[elperromagico]

51. He may also be the only sitting VP to flip someone off during a speech.

Someone was heckling him during a speech in 1976, and Rockefeller just flipped the guy off. Now that's a New Yorker for you! :P

[gmoney]

15. John Hinkley Jr. comes from a nice Republican family...

[Mick Knox]

16. lol nt

[MinnFats]

17. Pete McCloskey, Republican who challenged Nixon...

....
Congressman from Cali who gave nixon fits. he was an anti-war ex-Marine who challenged Nixon on the war right up to the 1972 GOP convention, where he got exactly one vote for the Republican nomination.

Nixon had the plumbers looking for dirt on him like crazy. there wasn't any to be found.

Nixon was aghast that someone from within his own party would challenge his handling of the Vietnam War.....


So, McCloskey, and of course Barry Goldwater.
Among other things, when Nixon went to China, Goldwater said, "He should stay there."

do you get the idea i'm a nixon-hater?

[Old and In the Way]

22. Good one!

I liked him too.

I think Margaret Chase Smith is an American hero....she pretty much stuffed Joe McCarthy with her "Conscience of the Senate" speech.

[AlFrankenFan]

18. Ummmm.....

Jeez it's like asking...or rather....it's just a hard decision.

John McCain and Jim Jeffords (does he count?)

[Faygo Kid]

19. I'm from Michigan, too - Hazen Pingree was great!

He was a truly great man; his statue in Grand Circus Park in Detroit is well deserved. Also, the Civil War governor of Michigan, Austin Blair. Teddy Roosevelt, Goldwater, Gerald Ford, Nelson Rockefeller - honorable Republicans with whom you could disagree without being accused of treason. Thanks a lot, Rush Limbaugh.

[5thGenDemocrat]

67. Hazen's statue

As many Michiganians know, when the Panic of 1893 hit Detroit and people faced a winter of starvation, Ping turned over vacant city lots so that folks could raise truck gardens. This earned him the sobriquet "Potato Patch Pingree."
He also kept the financial interests from raising the fares on the privately-owned Detroit Street Railway from three to five cents by threatening to seize it (Tom Johnson, later the famed progressive mayor of Cleveland, was the DSR's lawyer).
All this after the Detroit Republicans nominated Ping (a very wealthy shoe manufacturer) for mayor because they thought he'd be pliant and malleable to their business and social interests. Instead, he turned out to be one of America's first great progressives -- before LaFollette, before Johnson, concurrently with William Jennings Bryan.
The Repugs tried to destroy him once they discovered he wouldn't be their lapdog, but the common people loved him and voted for him time and again.
And, of course, Ping was also both Mayor of Detroit AND Governor of Michigan for six months or so until the Michigan Supreme Court told him he couldn't do that.
Anyhow, Pingree's statue in Grand Circus Park is only a block away from Comerica Park, the Tigers' new digs. Ping is looking up Woodward Avenue (away from the park) with a look of, I like to think, amused resignation on his face -- just exactly the same expression most of us Tiger fans have carried on our visages, lo, these past twelve or thirteen years.
Perhaps someone told him the Tigs are leading 3-2 in the ninth and are about to have to make the dreaded call to the bullpen. Or that the Bengals just announced the signing of their latest free-agent franchise savior.
Still, it's damned nice to have Hazen around for the fun and the festivities and I remember to bring a potato down from Saginaw and place it at his feet before the start of my first baseball game each season. Some of us Michiganians remember what he did for his city and his state and honor him for it.
John
And it's worth noting that Ping was the mayor when the Tigers won their very first World Championship over a hundred years ago. Maybe he can still be at Woodward and Adams when (if) we ever win another one.

[Dogmudgeon]

21. Robin S___

We went out together for a few months way back in 1990.

She was born into poverty and followed the Horatio Alger myth to the letter, and actually made out pretty well for herself. Of course, she also accepted the Republican Party myth to the letter.

All in all, she was pretty cool, but she was heading for a major Dark Night of the Political Soul, which probably hit her around December 13, 2000.

--bkl

[rucky]

24. Viagra

[elperromagico]

25. Winthrop Rockefeller,

first Republican governor of Arkansas in 94 years. A progressive Republican. He tried to reform Arkansas government, but being a Republican in a Democratic state, he wasn't able to accomplish much.

It may not sound like much now, but I always felt this was a good example of how Rockefeller stood politically: He was (I believe) the only Southern governor to hold a memorial after the death of MLK.

[Bunny]

26. The late Senator John Heinz

from Pennsylvania. A Righteous Republican.

[Catfish]

27. Not a single currently elected one

that I can think of. Goldwater, Rockefeller, Lindsay were principled and decent, I thought. Dole is a complex man, I think sort of bitter but he does have a sense of humor. Ford always seemed OK to me. That's it.

[Norbert]

28. Eisenhower, T. Roosevelt, Everett Dirkson, Lowell Weicker, Goldwater

Goldwater would be a maverick conservative by today's standards, which is another way of saying he is not a true Republican according to the oxy moron himself Rush. There are some historical accounts that suggest Goldwater is the father of the modern conservative movement. I'm willing to bet he wanted no part of that moniker. He even endorsed Bill Clintons Presidency in the mid-1990s. He was never afraid to speak his mind, nor did Ike or Teddy. All three eventually became suspicious of the far right wing and are probably rolling over in their grave as I type.

Today's Republicans I like and yes there are a few: Susan Collins, Lincoln Chaffee, Olympia Snow and John McCain. I find myself agreeing with Chuck Hagel once in a while and I'm sure Bushco don't fully trust him either.

[Catfish]

29. Goldwater

I remember Goldwater also rejected the homophobia and racism that had taken over his party. Sometimes I do like John McCain and have some admiration for him.

[LTR]

32. Barry Goldwater is the name I pull up...

...when bickering with so-called 'conservatives'. He is, after all, the father of the movement.

True conservatism is first and foremost, for smaller, less bloated government. That means, efficient government.

But Goldwater also meant less intrusion by government in daily life. Seperation of church and state. Less bureacracy. And responsibility for thngs important to this country, such as protecting the environment. He also despised the Religious Right.

The only thing he agreed with the neocon movement on was a strong defense.

Weird that today's 'conservatives' would despise Barry Goldwater. Meanwhile, most Democrats would applaud him. And rightly so - he was a class act.

[blondeatlast]

30. zzzzzzzzziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiipppppppppppp

(Flame suit on)

Arlen Specter, for actually taking the time to learn about the stem-cell research issue (an issue near and dear) instead of following the party line. He is still fighting FOR government funding and restoring research to the NIH.

Barry Goldwater, truly, the conscience of a conservative, the name of his book, oddly enough.

Edit: oops, you said bygone Republican. Well, I knda hope he's bygone in the next election, but I still respect him for his advocacy on this issue.

Alan Simpson.

And a former AZ state legislator, for whom the library I work for is named: Burton Barr, who was an advocate of traditional conservatism while managing to be progressive about crucial social issues like education and poverty.

[terrya]

31. Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon

A harsh critic of the Vietnam War during the Johnson administration.

Barry Goldwater...because he was a principled man. He despised the Religious Right's influence...he once memorably remarked that he would like to have kicked Jerry Falwell "in the ass", which is a sentiment a lot of people would agree with. In his later years, was a supporter of gay rights.

Today's Republicans? Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine (two of the VERY few moderates left in the Party)

[HuckleB]

34. Morse left the GOP in the early '50s, joing the Dems in 1955,

[terrya]

35. I stand corrected. Sorry about the mistake.

I knew he was a Republican at one time.

[HuckleB]

33. Tom McCall, Mark Hatfield, Barry Goldwater, Vic Atiyeh, Norma Paulus

Mostly Oregon GOP, of the once proud moderate tradition of the party here, now long gone.

And, of course, Abe Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt make the list...

[St. Jarvitude]

36. McCain, Goldwater, Abe Lincoln, T. Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Edmund G. Ross

All of them were/are fair, honest men (in my humble opinion) and were never afraid to speak their mind.

Edmund G. Ross, if you do not know him from <i>Profiles in Courage</i>, was a Republican Senator from Kansas who voted against his party, and with his own conscience, to acquit Johnson - a decision I may or may not agree with, but I respect because it was made despite the political suicide it entailed (much like one of our candidates, Kucinich).

[brainshrub]

37. You nailed it.

I could not have made a better list of Republican myself.

I don't think I could ever vote for a Republican, but I'm still pissed at Bush for what they did to McCain.

[SmileyBoy]

38. Eisenhower, Goldwater, and I never felt threatened by Dole.

Currently: Arlen Specter and Ron Paul (TX).

[GalleryGod]

39. Senate Minority Leader Evererr McKinley Dirksen

Whatta Guy!
The People's Business ALWAYS came first!

[GalleryGod]

40. Senate Minority Leader Everett McKinley Dirksen

A honey voiced intellectual from Illinois.
A True patriot
The PEOPLE's Business ALWAYS came First!:grouphug:

[Bertha Venation]

41. Do they have to be in office, now or formerly?

Because I love a Republican named Stuart. He's become like a brother to me. I also love Jeanette. She's a Republican. And I think my neighbors across the street are. I love them.

In office: Senator John McCain.

Formerly in office: Senator Everett Dirksen.

[leftofthedial]

42. Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower

since Ike, they've all been criminals.

[Martin Eden]

45. Ditto

Those were my choices as well.

[Zuni]

43. a couple

Eisenhower, Teddy Roosevelt, John McCain, Bob Dole, McCloskey, Goldwater, Lincoln Chafee, Ron Paul

conservatives do not bother me---it is the bombs'n'jesus crowd that scares me.

[arwalden]

44. Maryland's Connie Morella Was Pretty Gay-Friendly...

... but she was still a REPUBLICAN that I wanted OUT OF OFFICE simply to help even out the imbalance of power that the Repukes are enjoying.

-- Allen

At this point, I don't care HOW FRIENDLY or COMPASSIONATE a Republican candidate is to my 'pet-issue' of equal rights for gay and lesbian Americans... I will NEVER EVER EVER in a million years vote for a Republican candidate. Never!

The only GOOD Republican is... hey! There are no "good" Republicans!

[CO Liberal]

46. Millicent Fenwick, Congresswoman from New Jersey

She was from old money, but cared about all people. New Jersey's first Commissioner of Consumer Affairs, she was elected to Congress several times, and lost her bid for a Senate seat to Frank Lautenburg (the only time I didn't vote for Frank). Millicent was one Republican I voted for every chance I got.

Her trademark was the pipe she smoked in public. She was the inspiration for the "Lacey Davenport" character in Doonesbury.

[silverlib]

47. Raliff from Texas

...he was the only Republican to stand up for the Texas Dems that went to OK and then to NM. He resigned recently due to the bigotry in Texas politics. He will go into the "unknown and unremembered," but not by me.

[BuelahWitch]

48. T. Roosevelt, Jim Jeffords and Shirley Temple Black n/t

[carpetbagger]

58. Shirley Temple did a great cameo in the Czech revolution.

That was the icing on the cake of unreality that was cooked in that place. Playwrights taking over a country, with special guest star Shirley Temple.

The best scene was Temple-Black leaving Czechoslovakia in 1990, passing Frank Zappa in the terminal (this was caught on film) as Zappa arrived in Prague for a meeting with President Havel.

[Johnyawl]

49. Dan Evans

A progressive Republican that I voted for every chance I got. Three term Governor of Washington; appointed to fill the Senate vacancy when Henry "Scoop" Jackson died in 1983. He feuded constantly with the Reagan Administration, and was despised by the religious right. He refused to run for reelection in 1986, and returned to Washington State were he became President of Evergreen State College, a pogressive institution much hated by the knuckledraggers in this state.

[Kat45]

53. We once had a few in Massachusetts--I even voted for some

We had Senator Ed Brooke. Also Frank Sargent, Governor. And Bill Weld was all right until he got bored with being governor. He was such a "star" that it looked like he could also become a star nationally, but the "religious" right had already hijacked the repub party, and when they saw that he was pro-choice, there went his national chances.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

66. Weld was the only Republican I ever voted for

I was too young to vote for Ed Brooke or Frank Sargent, but they were good liberal Republicans.

I agree-Weld was way too liberal for today's Republican party. Weld was more liberal than John Silber, his Democratic challenger for governor, which is why I voted for him.

[ldoolin]

54. Believe it or not...

...there was once a time when the Republican Party had a liberal wing. No, I don't mean centrist like Susan Collins and Arlen Specter, I mean *liberal liberal liberal*, about where Dennis Kucinich's politics are.

Some examples:

Robert LaFollette (Senator from Wisconsin - the father of modern progressivism was a Republican believe it or not)
George Norris (Senator from Nebraska - FDR's TVA program was his idea)
William Lemke (congressman from North Dakota - radical agrarian populist)
Paul McCloskey (congressman from California - anti-war candidate against Nixon in 1972)
Mark Hatfield (Senator from Oregon - a lifelong religious pacifist with a *lot* in common with Dennis Kucinich)
Dan Evans (governor of Washington state)
Wally Hickel (Nixon's Secretary of the Interior, fired by Nixon after he publicly began denouncing the Vietnam War. Later bolted from the Republicans to run for gov. of Alaska on third party ticket.)
Lowell Weicker (Senator from Connecticut. Defeated by Joe Lieberman in 1988, with Lieberman running to the right of Weicker.)

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Republicans of today I respect, although it should be noted that they are not liberals like the ones I listed above:

Usually:
Ron Paul (congressman from Texas)
Tom Campbell (ex-California congressman and 2000 Senate candidate against DINO Dianne Feinstein. That's one Republican I actually would have voted for in that race.)

Sometimes:
Susan Collins
Arlen Specter
Charles Grassley (Senator from Iowa)
John Duncan (congressman from Tennessee)
Jeff Flake (congressman from Arizona)


John McCain, on the other hand, does *not* make my list. I despise the guy. He tosses out a few bones to liberals but has amassed one of the most hard-right voting records in the entire Senate, and has the distinction of being the only member of the entire Senate to get a 0% rating from the ACLU four years in a row.

(edit: added Evans, Hickel, and Weicker)

[Rowdyboy]

55. Sen Charles Percy-Illinois

Sen Edward Brooke-Mass
Sen Margaret Chase Smith-Maine

[Bombero1956]

57. he's been gone for a few years

Sylvio Conté served the people of the United States as a congressman and a conservationist. His service to his constituents and to his country was aided by his powerful political voice, personal convictions and integrity. These same qualities facilitated his conservation work. His commitment to preserving wildlife habitat was a source of irritation to many of his colleagues who were more interested in economic development. He led the fight to end wasteful, environmentally-unsound water projects, to clean the nation's air and rivers, and to preserve wetlands and wilderness areas.

[booley]

61. eisenhower, TR,and C, Everette Koop

Not that I agree with everything they did but they did do stuff I really respected.

As fo Today, i occasionally see oen that does somehting I like. I like McCain and would even have considered voting for him.

of course, it's begginnign o scare me when I agree with soem repubs. when I start agreeing with Bob "No witches allowed in the military" Barr and Dick Armey, I begin to worry that things are even worse then i feared,

[Orrin_73]

63. Teddy Roosevelt!!!

deanforamerica.com
clark04.com
kucinich.us
sharpton2004.org

Tom DeLay:"I challenge anyone to live on my salary" <$158,000 a year>

[regularguy]

64. Tom Kean

A republican who really does care about race issues.

[ArkDem]

65. Wesley Clark

.