Serious trouble for the GOP

#1
dduncan4163

dduncan4163

Have at it Hoss
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#1
washingtonpost.com

It seems that the Religious Right is the main problem for the shrinking GOP. The majority of voters between 18-36 are more culturally diverse and less religious than the previous generation.

Robertson, Dobson, and Falwell's followers just dont have the pull they used to have.

They won a lot of elections in the 80's but the times have changed.
 
#3
#3
so once again, the GOP should kiss the asses of moderates like Colin Powell and Meghan McCain.

go along to get along, and all that...

I think the "problem" posed by the religious right is one of media perception.

If the mainstream media were to focus on the dealings of the radical left, the democrats would find themselves in a similar situation, they would be defined by the most radical minority in their coalition.
 
#4
#4
It's funny how as recently as 6 years ago the GOP was in control of both houses of Congress and the White House, but now the demographics of the U.S. electorate are supposedly hopeless for them.
 
#9
#9
emainvol said:
If it's true that the recovery has begun, he has most likely bought himself 7+ years.
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The economy will recover and Obama will get some of the credit, but what remains to be seen is how he is going to sell the inevitable tax increases and still maintain popularity as he reaches into your wallet.
 
#10
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GAVol said:
The economy will recover and Obama will get some of the credit, but what remains to be seen is how he is going to sell the inevitable tax increases and still maintain popularity as he reaches into your wallet.
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I have a feeling that with the scope and length of the recession, along with the fact that he has remained somewhat popular to this point, a recovery under his watch will be more than enough to offset what will likely be marginal tax increases on the majority of Americans.

Then again, 3 and a half years is an eternity from a political standpoint.
 
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#11
#11
emainvol said:
If it's true that the recovery has begun, he has most likely bought himself 7+ years.
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That is a big "if". I know he has that rock of a statistic known as "saved jobs" to be proud of but other than that I don't see some economic eruption. I am confident he'll screw all of this up on a rather large scale.
 
#12
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emainvol said:
I have a feeling that with the scope and length of the recession, along with the fact that he has remained somewhat popular to this point, a recovery under his watch will be more than enough to offset what will likely be marginal tax increases on the majority of Americans.

Then again, 3 and a half years is an eternity from a political standpoint.
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marginal tax increases? you're out of your mind. Obama is no Bill Clinton and he doesn't have an opposition Congress. We're heading toward Carter-era top marginal rates.
 
#13
#13
MG1968 said:
marginal tax increases? you're out of your mind. Obama is no Bill Clinton and he doesn't have an opposition Congress. We're heading toward Carter-era top marginal rates.
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Ehh... somebody will likely get screwed, I seriously doubt it will be the lower and middle classes (where most Americans reside) though. Didn't say I liked it, just think that's what happens.
 
#14
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allvol123 said:
That is a big "if". I know he has that rock of a statistic known as "saved jobs" to be proud of but other than that I don't see some economic eruption. I am confident he'll screw all of this up on a rather large scale.
Click to expand...

Entirely possible, but we won't see those effects until well after the recovery.
 
#15
#15
MG1968 said:
so once again, the GOP should kiss the asses of moderates like Colin Powell and Meghan McCain.

go along to get along, and all that...

I think the "problem" posed by the religious right is one of media perception.

If the mainstream media were to focus on the dealings of the radical left, the democrats would find themselves in a similar situation, they would be defined by the most radical minority in their coalition.
Click to expand...

That's an interesting paradox -- you seem to feel that the party should not move to the center, but complain that the more conservative leaders are the only ones getting coverage.

The media are somewhat to blame (or credit, depending on your point of view), but let's face it, the more moderate Republicans are not the outspoken ones in the party. What will be most interesting is whether the GOP leadership try to rein in the more vocal conservatives.
 
#17
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lawgator1 said:
but let's face it, the more moderate Republicans are not the outspoken ones in the party.
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What GOP have you been watching? They just got done force feeding John McCain to the electorate and a couple of weeks ago the moderates were all taking turns finding a camera or reporter in order to take shots at Rush Limbaugh in a show of faux civility.
 
#18
#18
As the pendulum swings. After 4-8 years of this type of politics the GOP will regain their traction and the conversation will still be the same. Politicians all suck. Some sooner than others.
 
#19
#19
If the GOP would tone down the social issue stuff and focus on economics and strong defense they would be a lot better off. Obama was going to win this election anyway, but the congressional runs would have been more interesting.
 
#20
#20
I think the problems within the GOP came more from the so called conservatives than the moderates. I know there is an element that wants to blame the moderates but the conservatives were the ones who sold out and compromised. The 'conservatives' ran the party in the ground. The elected conservatives did whatever just to stay in office and the talking head conservatives gave passes to those in office as they did their damage. We saw eight years of "Bush is our President! Don't dare criticize him or our elected officials!" And then when it was too late, people started coming back around to blaming these same untouchables for running the party into the ground.
 
#21
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GAVol said:
What GOP have you been watching? They just got done force feeding John McCain to the electorate and a couple of weeks ago the moderates were all taking turns finding a camera or reporter in order to take shots at Rush Limbaugh in a show of faux civility.
Click to expand...


I saw Steele trying to do that, only to be shouted down by the rest of the demagogues who took up for Rush. Steele is awfully weak in comparison to the Rush faction, don't you think?

And Powell, well, as soon as he says anything moderate they jump on him.

Not doing themselves any favors in terms of presenting the GOP as a home for people of color.
 
#22
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lawgator1 said:
I saw Steele trying to do that, only to be shouted down by the rest of the demagogues who took up for Rush. Steele is awfully weak in comparison to the Rush faction, don't you think?

And Powell, well, as soon as he says anything moderate they jump on him.

Not doing themselves any favors in terms of presenting the GOP as a home for people of color.
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Powell has made it clear that he has voted democrat in most of our recent elections, at least this is what I've heard he said in an interview (please correct me if wrong). Why would the republican party not counter the statements of a democrat supporter (if indeed it is true).
 
#23
#23
KB5252 said:
Powell has made it clear that he has voted democrat in most of our recent elections, at least this is what I've heard he said in an interview (please correct me if wrong). Why would the republican party not counter the statements of a democrat supporter (if indeed it is true).
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I'm just saying that if the GOP, in toto, wants to be viewed as more mainstream and moderate, they aren't doing a great job of it. You can debate the individual characteristics of particular people, such as Powell or Steele or anyone else for that matter. But when the most powerful voices of the party are RL and Hannity and Coulter and Beck, its hard to drown them out, or really even to just counterbalance them with someone more even-keeled.
 
#24
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GAVol said:
It's funny how as recently as 6 years ago the GOP was in control of both houses of Congress and the White House, but now the demographics of the U.S. electorate are supposedly hopeless for them.
Click to expand...

That's known as the "W" effect.
 
#25
#25
lawgator1 said:
I'm just saying that if the GOP, in toto, wants to be viewed as more mainstream and moderate, they aren't doing a great job of it. You can debate the individual characteristics of particular people, such as Powell or Steele or anyone else for that matter. But when the most powerful voices of the party are RL and Hannity and Coulter and Beck, its hard to drown them out, or really even to just counterbalance them with someone more even-keeled.
Click to expand...

I agree that the republican party is leaderless right now. I do not agree that anyone besides the left views radio personalities as the leadership of the party.

In fact it may be wise to lay low and let Obama and the democrats do as they wish. It is a risk if things do get better but most with any experience in these matters tend to understand that taxes and inflation are a byproduct of the programs and spending Obama has proposed. When it hits the people will look to hold somebody responsible and the republicans have had no power to anything.
 
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