The GOP is Still Sinking The Ship of Moderation in The Raging Waters of Denial.
Look away! Look away! (Photo credit: Norm Walsh)
It’s been a little over a week now since the election, and the GOP seems to be sticking to some very confounding reasoning as to why they lost. It wasn’t because of their out of touch platform, it was because Obama got too many votes. Wait, what? That’s like the Kansas City Chiefs blaming their Monday night loss on Pittsburgh for scoring too many points. This is the message delivered: Whether it be Romney trying to cover his ass to his campaign contributors (or investment handlers as I like to think of them), or Paul Ryan bemoaning that Obama had too much support in urban areas.
That’s the Republican reasoning: Blame Obama for getting votes that they were sure would be coming to them. It had nothing to do with the fact that the GOP managed to alienate half the country. The election was lost because President Obama was irresponsibly appealing to a larger demographic of voters. Yet again, the GOP has found a way to blame our president for their utter failure. Talk about a gift – the Republican Party as it is in the present day, going down in flames, was gift enough for me. The Republicans can blame Obama and his “gifts” all they want, but truth is that the majority of us loathe their gifts to the perversely wealthy, big oil, and hedge fund managers.
One would think that the GOP would learn their lesson. Extreme conservatism is no more appealing then extreme liberalism. Yet, that’s the cold dish that they insist on serving. What happened to the moderates? What happened to cooperation? Apparently these are ideologies of the past. It’s not enough to enable corporate welfare, the GOP will not be happy until extremism rules our country in much the same fashion that extremists rule Iran. This is the party of Reagan no longer, this is the party of rich white ayatollahs who want to impose their will on the rest of us.
I was hoping this would change after the election. I was hoping the GOP would begin to make a sorely needed move toward the center. I guess I was wrong. Maybe they will get the memo, in time for the 2014 house and senate elections. I’m not holding my breath though.
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The problem for the GOP is that the party depends on the very quacks that are making it un-sellable to an increasing number of Americans. I think it will be a very long time before the GOP is hurt badly enough for them to actually start doing something about it.
In all likelihood, the party would literally have to break itself up. The Teabaggers would have to release their grip on the party and form their own. Meanwhile, the GOP would have to court corporatist/conservative Democrats, who are large enough in number to make the New GOP viable.
Very messy stuff, but I think everyone would ultimately be better served for it.
I would love for the Tea Party to separate from the GOP. I think they would go the way of the socialist party or green party and turn into a non factor.
Here in Canuckistan, we have had 3 viable parties for longer than anyone can remember. Until the last election, (where it made the leap into 2nd in seats) one was a distant, but principled, 3rd place socialist party. Once you get established, anything is possible, even in the rigged US system. If they can defeat Republican Incumbents in Primaries, I think there are enough Teabaggers to produce some Tea Party victories, if only in Red jurisdictions.
(For the record: Canada also has an elected representative of the Green party AND elected representatives of a party dedicated to separating the province of Quebec from the rest of Canada)
I’ve heard Conservative pundits saying that to win, they need a “true” Conservative. Take the party back from the fringe, and maybe they have a shot.
IMO, that’s the only way for them to proceed is to dump the fringe and move back to the center. These assholes they keep parading in front of us now, make Nixon and Reagan look like card carrying leftists.