IYO, who is the most intelligent Republican in politics?

I throw this out to anyone right of center - Republicans, conservatives, libertarians, etc. - because I remember politicians like Nelson Rockefeller, Barry Goldwater, William F. Buckley, Jr. who, while I might not agree with them, I could at least recognize as intelligent, thoughtful, and committed to their beliefs.

These days I can't seem to find anyone with an "R" after his/her name with an IQ higher than their basal temperature, and I'm being generous.

@oldfella1962, as the current Defender of the Right, now that some of the Usual Suspects are curbing their enthusiasm, I put it to you first: Who do you think is the most capable (I won't use trigger words such as "intelligent", "educated", "erudite." or "experienced") politician today?

After you've taken a bullet for your fellow travelers, I expect this thread to plummet off the page, but I thought I'd give it a try.

Teddy Roosevelt.

He left and started his own party.

And also recognized the importance of preserving the environment.

John McCain is the most intelligent Republican.

And no, that wasn't a mistake.

Lincoln and Eisenhower.

He hurts himself with recent silence on Trump and voting pretty much lockstep with the rest of the GOP, but I'll throw out Senator Ben Sasse. He comes across as thoughtful and erudite in interviews and public statements, and he's certainly on the "humans have contributed to climate change and climate change is a thing" side of the aisle, though no hardcore green certainly (he wants more innovation rather than societal change).

I mean, he's still a Republican, so his policy stances are horrible, but he at least gives evidence he THINKS about shit and isn't just out to own the libs.

He's also been very vocal about Trump in the past, though a recent endorsement by Trump (which he claims he didn't know was coming) has quietened him a bit - though Trump may have seen him as a possible waverer if the Senate takes up impeachment so this was a soft reminder.

well Garamet since Republicans are so stupid it will be fucking hilarious when in 2020 the "best & brightest" Democrat gets the ragdoll treatment from an idiot. What does that say about the Democratic party and it's voters? Something to think about - if you are capable!

Michael Steele seems pretty intelligent.

I daresay you're missing her entire point.
Since their names have already been submitted, what's your opinion on Ben Sasse and Michael Steele? And beyond that, who would you submit should be the face of the Republican Party in terms of thoughtful policy and doing their best to best represent America and not their own interests?

I have to agree that he makes a very good argument even when I disagree with him.

That mobs are stupid.

Think that about covers it.

republican mobs double down on the stupid.

Stephen Miller. Evil to the core, but definitely intelligent.

Don’t know about most intelligent, but the one I have the most respect for is Justin Amash. Rand Paul, not anymore.

Russian assset

*Googles, skims his Twitter*
Holy shit, he's against corporate welfare, and he calls it corporate welfare?

They still make that guy!?!?
Even fucking evenflow and Storm stopped being that guy to suck Trump's dick.

All right, color me impressed, I thought his species was extinct.

Well, Amash isn't technically a Republican, since he quit the party in disgust.

I like the idea of a centrist third party but it'd have to cut out all the religious stuff or leave it to the states as per the true meaning of separation of Church/State, which likely means finding NEW candidates rather than adopting cast-offs from the two main parties. Even folk like Sasse are heavily on the pro-life side of the aisle and thus either need to revise their idea that government should be deciding such OR deciding they can compromise on such before they'd ever work with centrist pro-choicers. Similar wedge issues on the Dem side.

So you're essentially saying you've got nothing or, IOW, there are no intelligent Republican politicians in your world today. Thank you for proving my point.

We were so close to having a nice conversation there.

Your side are the ones telling doctors to perform a surgery on pregnant people that doesn't exist and throwing kids in cages, yet we're the crazy ones for calling that out?

That’s because you’ve gone so far left, you everyone on the other side are Nazis and Obama was a moderate. That’s how crazy you’ve gotten. Maybe it’s time to step back a little and reassess the situation. We know you won’t and you’ll just double down, but it’s w

Maybe if you hadn’t spent the past few years calling my friends and family Nazis, we could have.

I don't recall being invited to your thanksgiving.

My family mostly votes republican and most are registered Republicans, you’ve spent the last few years telling us how evil republicans are and calling them Nazis. They’re going to vote for Trump because he has an R beside his name and that’s it. If he had a D beside his name they wouldn’t. It’s unfortunate, but it’s as simple as that. They want their team to win. A lot of them are also Christians, another group you hate. I know this is hard to understand for leftists, but having a political or religious belief doesn’t make you a bad person. These are not bad people, they just happen to disagree with you. But it not just you that’s done this.

When you support trump and the fascist right who are punishing people for being black, GLBT, Hispanic, muslim, foreign, and women that is not just disagreeing with a person. That is making an effort to attack them and harass them. People are not mad because they disagree, they are mad because they use that disagreement to justify attacking others.

Trump's inner circle of alt-right fuckers?
Yeah.

The rest of the GOP politicians?
A mix of cowards, opportunists, and cynics who give a fuck about nothing but themselves.

The average voter?
Even split between partisan robots, and evil shits.

And that's not good.
Their education let them down.
I'm not angry, I'm sad.

Yeah, it does.
I'm sorry, evil choices matter.
They could choose a kinder God.
They could choose kinder politicians, even on the right.
They don't.

My grandfather was a sweet guy to me, but during the "we are the world", days, he said the Ethiopians could go fuck off, because "if it were us starving, they wouldn't help".
And that's just a sample.
Nice grandpa, rotten guy.

I don't care how many delicious treats your gram-gram bakes you, if that shit comes out of her mouth, she's wicked.
Family gaslights you, they become a security blanket, but watch your ass.
Ask Nova how that goes.

1. Fuck your family.

2. Fuck anyone that treats politics like a team sport.

3. No one that willingly votes for Trump has any right to call themselves a Christian ever again.

You don't see anything wrong with this?

I find it unfortunate that a lot of people on both sides do it.

I'm pretty sure I've shared some of his tweets here, but Tom Nichols is a pretty sharp NeverTrump conservative.

The only views where I think he's really, reallt off-base are that he thinks that Indian food is terrible and he hates Led Zeppelin.