Politics: Left or right, conservative or liberal - is there someone on the other side you secretly admire?

I used to admire John McCain, the first time around. And then he done went stupid.

For some reason I’ve always liked Condoleezza Rice.

Ron Paul <3 Oh baby.

What @syz said and also Colin Powell.

I wouldn’t say I admire her, but I find Sarah Palin quite entertaining.
I admire Bush for staying out of the limelight during Obama’s presidency. I think he withdrew quite honorably.
Currently, I think that the Tea Party movement is quite difficult to admire. I wish for the days when the Republican party was an admirable opponent. I hate disrespecting people I disagree with. It’s so uncivil.

Well, since I’m basically a centrist Democrat with libertarian leanings, I have no “other side” but there are plenty of politicians I admire.

Most of the Republican (right.conservative) leaders I respected have now been purged from the party for being certifyably sane. The only ones that jump to mind now on the national stage are Ron Paul and Rand Paul. I may disagree with them on many of their policy ideas, but they are men of principle who are not simply goose=stepping along to the commands of the oilgarchs who now own that party, lock, stock and barrel.

I don’t think conservative any longer fits the GOP. I think the party has lurched so far to the right now that can more accurately be called radical revolutionist. For instance, blocking marriage equality isn’t conservative, small government. It’s big, intrusive government telling you whom you can and can’t love. Tearing down social institutions that we have had in place for 50 to 100 years isn’t conservative, it’s radicalism. Wanting government small enough that it fits in everyone’s bedroom and every woman’s womb isn’t conservative. Conservative means favoring tried-and-tru solutions and preserving existing institutions where possible. Mo0re and more, it is actually Democrats who are voting on the conservative, libertarian side.

@ETpro Bravo. That was a wonderful way to put it.

@athenasgriffin Thanks. Reading what I wrote, I wish I’d taken time to edit for typos. :-)

Colin Powell.

@mattbrowne He’s one of the one’s that has been purged.

Yes, quite sad. But that won’t last forever.