DISCUSS HERE: Republicans of Yore who would probably fit in today's Democratic Party

In the thread that was locked, I was in a nice discussion with DUer coalition_unwilling about the fact that many Republicans in history would probably not fit today's republican party. I mean could you see Abe Lincoln in today's GOP environment trying to convince them that freeing the slaves is the right thing to do? I also feel that even republicans like Dwight Eisenhowser and Teddy Roosevelt would be more at home with today's democratic party.

Of course here was one of the sticklers - although he was a typical GOP crook, Nixon probably was more progressive then most democrats in today's party when it came to social issues.

I'd like to hear feedback of what you think of some of the more notable Republicans from 30-40 years ago and where they would fit today in politics.

EDIT NOTE: Meant they would fit into today's Democratic Party!

Making a speech warning about the "military-industrial complex"??? RADICAL ANTI-AMERICAN AL-QAEDA MAOIST!

Ike would be a bit of a DLC Dem, but a Dem nonetheless, today.

TR, without question. A few others off the top of my head

Charles Percy, former IL senator IIRC.

Ed Brooke, former MA senator.

Jacob Javits, former NY senator.

Dave Durenberger, former MN senator. (I think he's actually an independent nowadays)

Arne Carlson and Elmer L. Anderson (former MN govs, both endorsed Kerry in '04, Carlson endorsed Obama in '08 - Anderson died between the two presidential elections)

they would have attacked FDR left and right if they had been alive then.

EDIT: I know FDR was a Democrat.

Starting with the notion that FDR was not a pragmatist. And ending with the notion that he was not good for business.

Neat interchange between FDR and a young reporter:

Young Reporter: So are you a Capitalist?

FDR: No, I am not a Capitalist.

Young Reporter: So are you then a Socialist?

FDR: No.

Young Reporter: So then what are you?

FDR: I am a Democrat.

####

re: Ike. Before he was a candidate, he apparently had never registered with a political party..it was customary for army officers of that time to stay completely aloof from politics, to include never registering to vote. He was courted by both sides. He ultimately chose the GOP because Stevenson was already the Democratic front runner and no Republican had emerged as a leading candidate.

Despite the current furvor and attitude that he is a saint, Reagan raised taxes! OMG!!!

Goldwater may very well be my favorite Republican of all time. Civil rights, social services... he's farther to the left than many Democrats these days.

These were the republicans that felt the government should not meddle in personal business and should keep the size of the government small.

Clearly that message is lost with today's GOP Party.

Oh, they still use the catch phrases, but their actions don't meet up with the reality. They still say the government shouldn't meddle in our private business, all the while they push for more and more meddling. Much like the projection that Democrats want to take away Medicare and Social Security... when all the while the Republicans are the ones planning that very thing, and they hope their actions miss the eyes and ears of their constituents so they can use the outcome against Democrats and no one will be the wiser.

Goldwater would make a damn fine Democrat these days.

But he was a Hawk's Hawk on war and peace issues.

He'd fit right in with the Teabaggers to win an election. He was unscrupulous.

They might be too far left for today's Dem Party. ;-)

I don't mean that as a slam, just an observation of how far the country has drifted. People support political parties, and stick with them, like they support sports teams. But even George H.W. Bush governed far to the left of the current G.O.P.

It's a real problem.
I don't see the country recovering from it, either.

It's the same way I feel about my soon-to-be-ex-wife. If they (the voters) still don't get it, after all we've already gone through, then they never will.

of the Party. Moderate Republicans believed Government
could do good. They were not averse to Social Programs
forming a safety net.

EPA, wage and price controls, got us out of Vietnam..

Oh, and he was a drug warrior too, like virtually all national level Democrats today.

Specter did it to save his career but didn't impress Democrats in the primary. Swapping could have saved Mike Castle's career. A closed primary was the kiss of death for a moderate running against a teabag nut job Christine O'Donnell, but had he swapped he would have easily gotten the DEM nomination and won the general election - and Castle is moderate too.

Pete, an unusually principled man, came out of retirement to take Pombo down (don't mess with Pete's legacy, the Endangered Species Act). After his defeat, he switched parties and endorsed to the Democratic candidate, Jerry McNerney, then re-retired from politics.

Back in the days, he was the one republican I truly respected.

A great many of what were called 'Rockefeller Repblicans' migrated to our Party, and persons of similar mind remain today.

The reverse is true as well: a great many Democrats of the sort we used to call 'Dixiecrats' or 'Boll Weevils' migrated to the Republican party, and indeed, these pretty much dominate it today.

for this state dirksen was a very conservative republican.chuck percy was a flaming liberal compared to everett!

most republicans in the old days were decent enough to understand you have to give something to get something. today that no longer is the norm.

if one reads the history of the civil rights bills from the early 50`s to johnson`s signing it was ike and johnson working the senate to get the votes. there was a lot of horse trading to get the job done

only Repub I ever voted for.......

Governor of Pennsylvania and presidential candidate in 1964. From Wikipedia, on his congressional career: "Though a freshman Republican, he quickly gained a reputation as an outspoken centrist and supported much of President John F. Kennedy’s social agenda including civil rights and the Peace Corps. The media quickly dubbed him a “Kennedy Republican.”

But when Specter left the party that was the last of them. Now it's people like Rick Santorum, Pat Toomey and Tom Corbett that want to turn Pennsylvania into some sort of religious state that is destroyed by the polluters.

:shrug:

or interested in history and able to learn from it.

.

Many former Republican's, especially in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic has seen the suburbs around the Cities, have moved from Republican strongholds to Democratic strongholds, it's the same people, they've just been pushed out of the Republican Party by the Extremists.

The Democrats did this to themselves in the early 70's and alienated a good portion of the Centrist Democrats, that gave us Nixon and later Reagan. With Clinton we decided that if we had to move to the Center in order to Win, then move we would. The Republicans are in the process of driving out any sane moderate conservatives, they have nowhere else to go, so long as we keep our agenda sounding reasonable and doable. These are people who will vote for our guys as long as we don't frighten them, we need to make sure that they continue to think that the New Republican party is far too extreme.