Any "Rockefeller Republicans" here?

[Dazey]

I vote Democrat only because the GOP has moved so far to the right, but if this were the 1960s I'd proudly call myself a Rockefeller or Nixon Republican. What about you?

[NewYorkExpress]

Those still exist?

[Dazey]

I'm glad to hear you associate yourself proudly with racist drug crackdowns, marital infidelity, scuttling integration, disastrous economic policy, and extending foreign wars for a period of over four years merely to win two elections.

Outside of his drug policies, Rockefeller was a great man.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

does anyone else think that White New Englanders are AWESOME?

[traininthedistance]

For all his faults (and they are many), Nelson Rockefeller was literally the only man on Earth capable of saving New York from the iron grip of actual real-life Voldemort Robert Moses, aka Death destroyer of cities.

And save us he did.  That is something worth celebrating, even if his motives were shall we say less than pure.

[Mr. Smith]

I'm not, probably towards the opposite end.

But there actually is a poster here who goes by that name.

[Mechaman]

Hahaha no way.

[The Dowager Mod]

Dude went out like a pro though.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Proof that most "moderates" actually have the worst views.

[Rockefeller GOP]

I'm not, probably towards the opposite end.

But there actually is a poster here who goes by that name.

Yeah, he sucks.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

We need a discussion on why, exactly, "Rockefeller Republican" means "fiscally conservative, socially liberal". Business friendly, sure, we can go with that to some extent, but not exactly conservative in terms of finances (unless it means increasing taxes), and, sure, while they might've been all for abortion rights and such, Rockefeller and his ilk weren't overly fond of civil liberties. Topic for another thread, but I would like to explore this topic further. Rockefeller, as Governor, was actually on rather good terms with unions. A modern day person flying under that label wouldn't get along with them quite so well.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

The left side of the Republican party were more willing to "manage" the New Deal than to destroy it. I'm sure Mechaman will be glad to give you a perspective more rooted in critical theory, but it's essentially the same explanation, but in a different light. He'll tell you something about the masses being easier to contain and manage with a welfare state to keep them happy or whatever. Point being, the right-wing of the Republican party was much more comfortable with wholly repealing the New Deal. This was prior to abortion, and especially gay rights, emerging on the national scene, so there weren't as many modern social issues being debated. John Tower was pro-choice and Richard Nixon as President (debating his place on the ideological scale is its own thread entirely) endorsed Roe v. Wade. I honestly can't say what prominent social issues existed at the time. While I know things like pornography were decided in courts in the 60's, we mostly hear about civil rights as the national social issue. As such, it'd be very easy at the time for a "libertarian" to appear conservative. Mechaman once pointed out in the IRC that the New Deal era was possibly the only time where a "radical conservative" was possible in the United States.

And Nixon could be considered the father of the modern day GOP just as much as Goldwater and even Reagan. The 1960's and 1970's really are a fascinating time in American history.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Any LBJ Democrats here???

[All Along The Watchtower]

does anyone else think that White New Englanders are AWESOME?

Especially if they are Republicans who belong to moderately liberal Protestant denominations!

[RINO Tom]

It's a loaded term, but if someone described my views as that of a Rockefeller Republican, I certainly wouldn't have a panic attack, Atlas-style.

[SATW]

No, I am a Reagan/Billy Kristol/Hawkish Republican.

[H. Ross Peron]

No although I used to consider myself an "Obama Republican".