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As they prepare to settle in for another four years of President Barack Obama, Republicans are already busily working on their roadmap to retake the levers of power in Washington. Whether they will need a modest re-calibration or a wholesale reinvention remains an open question.
Obama's November victory arguably marked a new low point for the GOP. The Republican Party now wrestles with a president unburdened with the stresses of an impending re-election campaign and enjoying relatively high popularity.
What’s more, Obama has already worked to set in motion an aggressive – and mostly progressive – agenda that makes most conservatives cringe.
For Republicans, the work to re-position themselves to win back the White House in 2016, and, before that, shore up majorities in the House and Senate, has already begun. And a key step toward reaching those goals, said Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, involves making the party more inviting to voters who do not traditionally compose the party’s base.
Jason Reed / Reuters
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus gavels the 2012 Republican National Convention into session during the opening session of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida August 27, 2012.
“We didn’t lose Wisconsin because we weren’t Facebooking pheasant hunters,” he said. “We need more voters.”
Democrats’ victories prompted a round of hand-wringing and recrimination in the immediate aftermath of the election. Having been drubbed among women and Latino voters, some Republicans argued for finally embracing some sort of immigration reform, and directed their ire toward those high-profile Republican candidates who made controversial comments about abortion and rape that fall. Still others pointed to the Obama campaign’s decisive advantage over Romney in digital outreach and voter targeting, while others laid the blame for the party’s defeat squarely with Romney himself.
“This certainly isn't the first time a party loses a presidential election and has to figure out how it does better,” said Henry Barbour, a Republican National Committee member from Mississippi who’s helping to lead the “Growth and Opportunity Project,” the RNC-commissioned review of the party’s failings in the 2012 elections. “Things are never as good as you think, or as bad as you think.”
Some of the project’s recommendations, which are on course for release as soon as March, are glaringly obvious. Republicans are virtually unanimous in agreeing on improved digital tools to court voters, as well as improved outreach to key voting communities – like Hispanics or women voters.
Priebus said he’s taking a cue from former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean’s “50 State Strategy” he enacted as chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
“We have to compete everywhere again. You go back and look at the electoral map in 1988, and you look at the states that were red. It’s stunning,” he said. “I think the charge for us is to run up the hill and make the case everywhere that the Republican Party is the home for more Americans.”
'Battle over strategy'
But as party leaders fan out to hear from elected officials and grassroots activists alike about the trajectory of the party, the GOP on Capitol Hill has been anything but a tribute to party unity.
If House Speaker John Boehner’s remarks about accepting new revenue in the aftermath of Obama’s victory were emblematic of Republicans’ soul-searching after the election, then the weeks since then have painted a vivid portrait of just how divided the GOP is about its path forward.
“If we’re split on anything, it’s on strategy, not the final goals,” said Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., a darling of conservatives. “I think what you’re seeing now is a battle over strategy, not over principle.”
Must-Read Op-Eds: Mika Brzezinski reads from Joe Scarborough's latest Politico column on how the GOP can win future elections, and that is by electing "candidates who can win sweeping majorities." The Huffington Post's Arianna Huffington joins the conversation.
The battle over the so-called fiscal cliff laid bare many of the fissures that plagued Republicans in Congress for the past two years, bringing the government to the brink of shutdown several times and almost tipping the government into a default on its debt. The party’s ability to speak with one voice has been hampered by familiar internal, ideological divisions.
When Boehner offered to raise taxes on millionaires – a concession, but one that Obama dismissed outright – conservatives undercut their leader’s bargaining position by refusing to pass it out of the House.
Even when Democrats won an income tax hike, it was over the objections of most House Republicans; Boehner won another term as speaker over the defections of some high-profile conservatives, including Mulvaney, who did not vote.
“I do believe that, as a party, we need to focus on the things that unite us,” Barbour said. “Folks in the party aren't going to agree on everything, and that's OK. The Republican Party is a diverse, broad party.”
And as party leaders attempt to put a fresh face on the Grand Old Party, the first few months of Obama’s second term seem destined to test the divisions among Republicans.
The president has signaled his intention to seek comprehensive immigration reform and new, stricter controls on firearms – two initiatives that could split conservatives who want to hold the ideological line from Republicans who wish to shed the party’s image of intractability, and cut some sort of a deal with Obama.
Those battles will play out alongside what’s expected to be a bruising fight in just a few weeks over raising the debt ceiling, continuing government spending and dealing with the automatic spending cuts in the fiscal cliff, which were delayed for two months past the beginning of this year. The deadlines for all three of those issues fall within a few weeks of each other in late February and early March.
'We have a mish-mash'
And already, some Republicans are openly discussing the possibility of a shutdown or default, things which Boehner and other GOP leaders had openly disavowed during similar fights in 2011. Mulvaney said “the world is not going to end” if the U.S. defaults on its debt.
“No one wants to default; not even the most right-wing nutjob wants to default,” he said. “But do we want to throw money at paying the light bill at the Department of Education?”
But as Republicans wrestle with these divisions, there’s always the hope of the one development that seems to solve most problems in politics: winning.
After Romney’s loss and Boehner’s struggles with his rank-and-file, Republicans lack for any natural leader behind whom the party could rally. The country is still years away from the next presidential primary, a contest which might test many of these same fault lines within the GOP.
“It's absolutely a challenge that we face. The Democrats have Barack Obama, and we have a mish-mash,” Mulvaney said. “We have the speaker of the House, the minority leader of the Senate, various outside groups and very vocal folks over in the Senate, along with a cast of presidential cast-offs in the last four years. We haven't really coalesced yet.”
Related stories:
Obama chides GOP on debt limit: 'We are not a deadbeat nation'
Social conservatives say they deserve seat at table in retooled GOP
Rape remarks sink two Republican Senate hopefuls
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Here is America's challenge as the Republicans try to "Reinvent" themselves:
The only explanation for Republican behavior is that Republicans have (and have had) a "plan" for America that is extraordinarily way beyond sinister: Republicans and their cronies actually believe that they can control the world. They believe that they can turn the United States workforce into the equivalent of a third-world workforce. Put another way, they are purposely trying to drive down the standard of living of the 98% so that they can be controlled and exploited even more than they are now. Power-drunk Republicans and power-drunk companies (not all) think they can manipulate the world economy and even other nations like China. They think not of the United States or this State or that State (foreign nations) but are now thinking of themselves as the world controllers and the world as its workforce and market. In other words, America, its citizens and the United States government are relevant – only as long it these entities are "useful" to the ultra greedy, powerful and wealthy (again, not all are part of this). Think of the Republican "plan" as being the "Landlord of the World", the "Warlord" of the world, the "Company Store" of the world. It puts "1984" thinking to shame. All of this was blatantly clear during the Bush-Cheney years. It is also clear that, as a party, the GOP has not given up on this “dream”. Looking at the wackiness, the nutty talk, ideas, etc, etc, etc coming from the Republicans and the right wing, there can be no limit on any interpretation of the Republican “plan” for America and the world. Just look at the evidence since 2000 and the Republican disaster that has taken place…
And here is what the GOP-Tea Party-Right Wing Cartel is striving for: The United States run by an Aristocracy: "control of affairs by the hands of a minority who have risen to a higher plain of fortune and instruction" and removal of voting and other democratic rights from the majority. This "American Aristocracy" complains that there has been a "degradation of suffrage (the right to vote) to lower and lower strata of intelligence". If you can understand this, you can understand why Republicans hate democracy and majority rule. That is why they are digging their heels in and insisting that they (the minority) should rule our country. However, Republicans omit that wealthy high-rollers playing "Casino Economics" ruined our economy - some of whom received bailout money.
The Republican Right Wing continues to spend a great deal of time convincing their own voting block and supporters - who they could not care less about except for their vote - to continue their support. These "supporters" are continually being duped and purposely confused and purposely riled by the Right Wing toward hate for those whom the "American Aristocracy" despises – which is pretty much 98% of this countries citizenry. In other words, "conservatives" end up voting against their own financial security and other interests.
This too, is why the Republican-Tea Party Right Wing is willing to put our very prosperity, domestic security and national security at risk for political gain. They are destroying America, economically, socially and democratically so they can "control the affairs" of the United States via creating a Third-World workforce with no money, hence, no political power. Your standard-of-living is being purposely destroyed by the Republican elite and others – so they can hold sway over all power, property and wealth in America. Put another way, under the Republican "plan", you will NEVER be able to prosper; you will always be under their control and manipulation - I am sure you can figure out the rest of this Republican "plan" for yourself…
How bout just using COMMON SENSE and PATRIOTISM rather than GREED to formulate policy?
They are losing ground because they have chosen losers to run their party.
Why was Romney and the Republican Party rejected? Could it be that they were exposed to 47% of the American people as being uninterested in the health of America and another 10% noticed? To lose with 8% unemployment and a struggling economy (even though these problems were a result of 8 years of Dummy) is a sign that their alternatives were exposed for the lying fraud that they are.
If the GOP cannot grow out of the training pants put on it by the T-baggers, they will continue to sh!t their pants.
dear garbman. how about the little guy getting off his fat ass and go to work. the GOP is in this crap because their not the party of freebees. you would rather get sec 8 and food stamps. when your people get total control , you wont be needed any more and then they will cut your head off, good luck with that. i work for $ 10.00 p/h , i sacrifice and work hard to have the things i have. get a 2nd job even if its for $5. p/h. america became great because of hard work. the progressive goal is to dumb down are children so when they are sheep they can be taken to slaughter. our children must be taught real history and respect for this great country. your boy obama is a sick and deranged person. we must be a free people and the constitution must be followed. it is a great thing. do not destroy any of it. GOP stick to the truth and believe in God. in regards to guns, the 2nd amendment is NOT NEGOTIABLE nor is any of the constitution. God chose america to beat hitler. we are not who we were back in 45 or the people that fought and died for our freedom back in 1776. let us be those people again. Obama is trying to do what hitler did. Obama is using our children . who have no clue what or why they are helping obama for gun legislation. Obama is only a man . he wants to be king. congress . stop him. Obama is an evil and unjust man. stop following him. put me in congress.
But the GOP is all about "freebees": Just look at the tax-payer giveaways for the wealthy, privileged and powerful under GOP rule...and that is just the tip of the GOP "Party of Evil" iceberg...
@real patriot 1, First you are a liar, and it's real simple to prove. You, along with the rest of the pukebags have blamed Obama for "being a sick and deranged person." If that was the case, and you pukebags hate him because he is black, you would have impeached him a long time ago.
You pukebags have claimed he wasn't born here, thus ineligable to be President. Yet, NO IMPEACHEMENT. Again, you LIED. In fact, you claimed he didn't have Congressional approval to help a fellow NATO country. YOU LIED AGAIN.
How do I, and other people know you are lying? Real simple, either impeach him or STFU! Ten to one you won't or can't shut up, but then that's part of being a low informed teabag/lpukebag base person. LMPO about how stupid some are.
Oh yes "unreal" patrot 1; almost forgot:
How dare you give $60 Billion to oil companies and then kill unemployment benefits! How dare you attack wages while giving corporate welfare! How dare you defeat efforts to boost employment! How dare you kill public education while you send your kids to privileged private and voucher schools! How dare you drive down the Standard of Living for ordinary Americans while demanding special treatment for yourselves! How dare you push so-called "Wedge Issues" when your thinking is itself a narrow wedge - a very narrow window of prejudice! How dare you claim "Family Values" while voting for the Obstructionists - especially during an economic crisis -largely of your making - destroying millions of families and businesses in the process! You, as a right wing voter have been obstructing and sabotaging our recovery! Voting for Republican/Tea Party incompetence and corruption - you are part of that incompetence and corruption!...
Well said SallyAnn! I could not have put it better myself....!
To call yourself a 'real patriot' is like the fox calling itself the 'guard' of the hen house. You have no idea what being a 'patriot' means. 'We, the people' cannot be changed to ' We, the rich people' just because people like you consider greed to be more important than real patriotism.
The GOP realized about the time that Reagan was lied into power that the global economic system no longer needs a healthy middle class in America to make the GOP deciders richer. The joke is on anyone who is not filthy rich that still supports a political agenda that undermines their own best interests. These greedy neo-cons sit under their cabanas around their backyard pools in Texas and laugh at you.
Patriot,
I have to say your views is a prime example of what is wrong with the GOP. You and your ilk think that everyone that voted for Obama is taking advantage of this country at your expense. But I'm here to tell you that you and the GOP cannot be further than the realities of everyday folks in this great country.
My immigrant husband works 80 hrs./wk @ 3 times your hourly rate because he wants to support his family and guarantee that his children get a decent education. No one wants freebies but the government is here to serve the people and provide for all its citizens should the need arise. This is a country FOR he people and I'll make sure that those less fortunate than I are given the same opportunities, my husband, I and my children have been afforded irregardless of the antiquated GOP.
tex -
Too bad you think that being a patriot means lying and stealing from the taxpayer and our descendents is fine.
Part of being a patriot is understanding and believing in what our Constitution stands for - and being willing to fight and die for it if necessary. It does NOT mean that we should become a nanny state that requires nothing from the citizens and bleeds them dry.
Tammy, I guess you are not old enough to remember that America is a country based on the conceptof We, the People, not We, the Rich Corporations. If you had lived during the Reagan years you would have seen what lying could really do. These neo-con scoundrels came in talking about reducing the cost of government as they stole the economy out from under the middle class and TRIPLED the national debt. Get it?
Then there was Dumbya who more than doubled the national debt as he was claiming he was for smaller government. Much of the rise in debt during the last 4 years is simply paying for the rip off put in place by the dumb ass Republicans, whether you want to believe that or not. Being brainwashed into thinking the Republicans are on your side is part of the lying strategy put in place after the greatest Republican of all, Nixon.
No wonder the intelligent part of the American people are rejecting their lies...
"They" clearly still do not get it.
"They" can repackage it and they can expand their delivery, but it remains the same obstructive, divisive, exclusionary and elitist ideology.
“They” need to understand this is not a war. This is our country, all of “our” country.
When one wing-nut ridicules one segment of our society, and another wing-nut ridicules another, and so on and so on they effectively trim their base down.
“They” need to understand that while these wing-nut are certainly entitled to their own opinions about morality, the truth is there are millions of other ideas about morality, none of which should be threatened or demeaned or criminalized.
“They” need to stop all this foolishness about preaching to us about morality legislation as is they are somehow better than us.
“They” need to understand that just because others have their own ideas about morality, that does NOT equate to their morality being under attack.
Leave the divisive morality ideology issues in the home and the church and deal legislatively only with what unites us.
Attempting to trick us with spin and pitch and then legislating morality is what GWB was all about. We’ve all been there and done that.
At their individule personal cores, “they” need to begin to understand, embrace, and live tolerance.
The Truth has already told all of us.....There is nothing at all that will HELP "TODAY'S" Republican Party!!!
Just like the Republican Party's friend, The NRA......BOTH are today DEAD....America might become another Syria if BOTH of these "Groups" get "everything they want"!!! Fuk ALL Republicans, for every day they progress to a level of "Parasite" as THEY push for more ways to "destroy" America, and KEEP it that way!!!
You can't "repair" anything that has made itself "Beyond Repair"...Hopelessly ANY hope of even ONE idea that is close to Positive....Beyond Gone....Dead today, Dead tomorrow!!!!!
the $1 trillion plus annual deficits begun in 2009 for the first time in u.s. history, deficits that are projected through 2016 and beyond will be what does it. we are not only borrowing 40% of every dollar spent we are still including millions of dollars of pork at every opportunity, the most recent example the sandy disaster relief bill that originated in the democrat senate. the president and the democrats inability to find anything they will cut other than defense while looking to tax and spend even more will result in voters of every stripe saying that's enough to the democrate ponzi scheme. news flash medicare and ssn were designed when life expectancies were 10 to 20 years less than they are today, to say we don't need to adjust those programs is irresponsible and just another example of democrate politicians saying to the country we don't think you are really paying attention.
Lots of recent studies show discretionary spending is not the issue. Health care spending is the problem. AHCA (Obamacare), has been studied and analyzed and is, according to the CBO, a cost saving measure.
Health care costs could have been affected even more if republicans had not fought so diligently for insurance companies during the time AHCA was being developed. Here's a real fact for you: 30% of EVERY dollar paid for "health insurance" goes to the insurance company. What do you think that does to the cost of health insurance? And please tell me what that adds to the delivery of health "CARE"?
Your other assertions are just plain wrong, particularly those dealing with SS. Deficits, regardless of size are directly attributable to tax cuts by Bush 2. And they are responsible for a significant amount of the "redistribution" of wealth to the top of our society; which has had NO positive effect in creating jobs (30 + years of data on THAT fallacy).
Look up recent studies on deficit growth, government spending, etc. And please note, 700+ BILLION per year on DEFENSE, which constitutes 41% of ALL spending in the world for defense (by ALL GOVERNMENTS), is why people look at that budget first.
Obviously you missed the "new" sandy bill by the republican house still packed with pork. Turns out pork was not the problem with the bill just who's pork.
i didn't miss the bill but it's the senate bill. should the pork have been dropped absolutely but if the dems and republicans whose states benefitted from the relief and the pork have the votes you get pork. as for the affordable care act saving us well we have a difference of opinion. i have noticed that republicans are quicker to say we disagree while the president and the democrates just say you are wrong. really wrong, no we disagreee. saying something over and over as politicans are good at does not make something true.what part of increased life expectency is wrong?
Sure, Tom, lets cut the spending. Start with a worthless return on investment in the military and its dependent industries. What have they done for us over the last 50 years except get thousands of young Americans killed and hundreds of thousands of young Americans so screwed up they will never recover? What was the gain? To piss off the rest of the world, that is all. We are not safer as a result of the trillions spent on failed wars.
Let's also stop spending hundreds of billions of dollars a year on rich corporations. The oil industry, you know the ones who have been so successful in corrupting the US government over the last 70 years, has enough money already. Stop giving them more.
Tom,
'i have noticed that republicans are quicker to say we disagree while the president and the democrates just say you are wrong. really wrong,'
Are you really trying to make us think that the Republican House of Representatives is willing to discuss the issues of the day in a meaningful and intelligent way? LMAO, you apparently have been asleep since 2008.
PS, the GOP is wrong, really wrong for the future of America!
sir you made my point. no republicans are not always right i said that but if you think the democrates are the answer check where we are later this year and in 2014, check health care costs and service just watch growth and unemployment. cut the tax expenditures/subsidies especially picking winners and losers, mostly losers, in the green energy arena. stop over- regulation and stop vilifying those that create jobs and we will grow. smart ass comments about those that disagree may be cute but it is counter- productive and the opposite of leadership. just saying.........
tom-73/Your Rep. viewpoint is totally wrong.We do not need to cut out our true entitlement such as total health care, unemployment benefits, social security and other aids for citizens who need them.What needs to be done is to fund them correctly,stop stealing from them to balance mismanaged disbursements investigate fraud and abuse from all parties concerned and stop all unnecessary so called entitlements that are not entitled but pure give aways to industries, they are not entitlements but give away bonuses. Social benefits are and should be a true entitlement of present day society.That is one of the main entitlements of a socially conscious society. Not only that but for the main , they are pre-paid,the give aways to profitable industries are merely pay backs by political reps. to doners.
Power. That really seems to be the only thing republicans are interested in. And to what end? Why, to force their bigoted opinions onto everyone. To do all they can to destroy unions. To wage class warfare against the middle class.
They say nothing about serving. Nothing about working to find solutions to problems. They have all the answers, they just need to find ways to get people to listen to them. So there intent is to create a facade that will deceive people, get them to vote for them, and they will then do what they damn well please.
Which is to screw anyone and everyone they can in the name of money, corporations, greed, the Koch brothers, etc.
@ real patriot 1,
lol, you prove my points perfectly
Yep, you got that right. Real patriot 1 is not a real patriot, he just wants everyone to think he is. As I said a little while ago, he is a LIAR.
Proof of that: He called the President a "sick and deranged person." As much as he, and his fellow pukebags hate him for being black, why haven't they IMPEACHED HIM, for being that sick and deranged person? Why haven't they impeached him when they said he violated the Constitution, (how many times have they said that?) They talk big, but have little junk to back it up.
So anyone who claims Obama has or is doing something against the Constitution, is really a LIAR, because the pukebags control the House, and that is where the impeachment starts. So nobody has to be ashamed or scared to call those low informed base idiots liars. I'm proud and happy to call them liars, same as I have called some D's liars before.
And if you low informed people want to attack me, fine, prove you aren't a liar first. Just remember, your posts will prove that also. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Will4, You nailed it. Amen
"We have to compete."
Well, NO DUH!
1. GET RID OF THE IDIOTS IN THE TEA PARTY!!!
2. DITCH THE RIGHT WING EXTREMISTS AND GET BACK TOWARD THE CENTER WHERE YOU BELONG!
3. REALIZE THERE'S MORE TO THIS NATION THAN OLD RICH WHITE MALES AND BIGOTS!
I'm an independant, middle class 57 year old married w/f with children with a VERY diverse extended family. I will NOT vote for the GOP again as long as they stay IGNORNANT AND STUPID!!! The GOP has proven themselves to be racists, bigots and selfish. They have forgotten that they serve the PEOPLE, not Grover Norquist, NOT the Koch Brothers, NOT the corporations. They have forgotten diplomacy, compromise, cooperations and have replaced it with total IGNORANCE.
interesting did you read your post? are there republicans that think and express themselves with that anger? unfortunately yes. we are americans and want what's best for all but don't agree on how to get there. let's sit down and discuss it? no we can't because some of us think those that don't agree with us are wrong. have republicans spent too much and wasted too much absolutely. that's the difference we tell the republican politicians that and try to modify their behavior. democrate voters well i don't hear that in fact i hear we need to spend more.
Angry?
Hell, yes I'm angry.
Why? Because I used to vote for Republican candidates. I even worked on local campaigns. I worked on Gerald Ford's campaign when I was in college.
I voted for Reagan and Bush 1 and 2. I also voted for Clinton.
But I can NOT and will NOT continue voting GOP as long as they continue to pander to and condone the total stupidity and ignorance that taken leave of its senses. As long as the extremists and bigots have hold of them, Never again will I EVER vote for them again. They have totally lost me because of their ignorance. They have lost me because of their bigotry and they have lost me because of their intolerance toward the MAJORITY of this country. They have lost me, as well as my family, because of their ignorance and stupidity toward women and their rights.
If they want to get me and mine back - they seriously need to regain COMMON SENSE.
There are groups out there with agendas that are doing everything they possibly can to get someone in power that will allow them to do what they want. We saw this with GW Bush. Look at his administration and then look at the members of this organization. Look at the letter they sent to Clinton and the plans they talked about over the years. It's everything the Bush administration did, right down to invading Iraq. As far as I'm concerned these people are traitors and deserve to go to prison for all the lives taken. I'm sure there are many many others out there doing the same thing. www.newamericancentury.org/
You can't trust anyone with an agenda like this, it's all they want and they could care less about you and your familys lives.
Every President gets elected at the push of special interest groups. That is what is really wrong with both parties. Parties do not have principles that candidates espouse anymore, it is the special interest groups and lobbies that tell the candidates what to stand for and how to act.
And the special interest group that supports Obama and Obama supports is called the American people.
The GOP, on the other hand, supports those greedy bastards that have taken 99% of the wealth of American, stuck it in Swiss accounts, and want more...Unfortunately there is still a large but dwindling group of poorly educated fools not in their club who still fall for their propaganda.
tex -
Then why does Obama NOT support the American people? He supports unions (especially public unions), blacks, hispanics, gays, etc; but nothing he does benefits anybody but himself.
Tammy-
Your comment is very telling. You fault the President for supporting Blacks, Hispanics, Gays, etc. I'd like to point out to you that these groups are EVERY bit as much citizens of this country as you are, and therefore I'd be very dismayed if the President didn't support them as much as any other group of Americans. You seem to have accepted the right wing contention that only straight whites should be viewed as Americans. THAT is why the Republican party is faltering.
The GOP is done. Its been taken over by the fringe. And the Dems, just by being normal have picked up everyone else. Even Conservative moderates voted against the GOP. I cant see them getting out of this hole, because they are who they are, and a Zebra cant change its stripes. All thats left are the zealots. Nothing is going to change them. And any change they try to announce will be a lie to gain votes. They will try to snow their way into office if given the chance. I expect a new party to emerge, made up of moderates, whos only goal is fiscal conservatism. The religious right and the anarchist kkk'ers wont be welcome. Then, and only then, might they have a chance. The good news is, the Dems will do a fine job without them, until that happens.
GOP, lose the social conservatives. Lose the bigots. You have NO CHANCE until you do. The majority do not want religion shoved up their arse. And they will not stomach bigots or religious intolerance any longer. And lose the corporate worship. The majority of voters are working stiffs, you arent getting elected to dog-catcher unless you appeal to them. Dump the Grover Norquists in your party. Money cannot buy you the WH.
The problem is that they're in office now and until they're voted out they will cause all kinds of damage/problems and nothing will get done. In just a few years of cooperation this country could get so much completed. But with them saying NO to everything, blocking any reasonable idea, it'll take decades. And what suprises me the most is that there are people who keep voting them in every year like a mindless robot.
I can't help but be amused that, although a prudent political strategy would recommend another action, the GOP becomes even more strident in their far right wing rhetoric. This means the leadership is trying to appease a smaller and smaller section of their base. The base seems to be shrinking right from under their feet and yet no movements are made towards center. I think in this case continued rightward movement will result in moving right into irrelevancy.
I gave you a thumbs up on this one because I believe you are right on. This is why I moved from voting Republican to Independent. During their primaries, the candidates are always on the fringe to get the pick, then they move closer to the center during the general election. Hence, you have Romney backtracking and trying to answer for flip-flopping.
The biggest obstacle. Get rid of the Tea Party
They already have their "path back." Vote to repeal "Obamacare" 30 more times, vote to eliminate women's access to reproductive health care, vote to reduce or eliminate taxes for the richest Americans, cut Social Security, cut medicare and, of course, more guns and less "gun control." Sounds like a winning program to me.
In reality, the GOP is still in full power, because they are still obstructing the advancement of this country going forward. It doesn't matter who is president, or who controls congress. The GOP in the house is really who wears the pants in the family.
Republicans will only look for new ways to screw the United States; they have no intention of changing their agenda - just finding new and creative ways to screw everybody:
Republican incompetence, corruption and treason put us where we are today. As a party, the Republicans must not only be defeated - but crushed as well. They don't care what the American people want. They are the Political Mafia and are not fit to be in power at any level. Their psychosis prevents them from caring about, nor dealing with reality. They have been, and continue to be dangerous and destructive. Just look at the damage and chaos caused by Republicans and their conservative base from 2000 to the present...
As long as "bigots" like the ones posting on here continue to run the party it will continue to lose elections!
The party problems are almost boundless.
You could sum it up a few different ways. For example, what Grover Norquist said to them, it sounded like wisedom to them.
Or they are too often on the wrong side of arguments, in a way that exposes an agenda to a select small group of people who wild power in the party, rather than worrying about what actually makes sense for the poeple. In other owrds the party in pursuit of their narrow self interest irregardless ofthe cost or imapct to the greater good. Case in point, the helath care industry milking the federal government cash cow dry. Same for defense. Same for college tuition, you name it.
Or they can preach to me what and how things should be, but do not want rules to actually apply to them directly. Like wall street for example. Like tax laws for example.
Or for example, advocating for gun rights with no regard for the responsiblity that goes with it and without regard for the impact to society overall.
Or, disregard for the environment and impact to the health and well being of the people, because the connected folks all live in nice comfortable places least affected.
And so on. Too often it seems t o be the party of the entrenchesd powerful interest. And there needs t obe a counter point to that.
The same rules do not apply to either party in Congress. They almost always exclude themselves regardless of party affiliation. I see your point, but you need to realize both parties have the same exclusions.
I grew up in a conservative, Republican family. That party was my foundation for voting for a good number of years until I suddenly woke up one day and realized that the Republican party was exclusionary to a fault. It seemed the party leadership was made up of all male, all white individuals (I am female and white and SOUTHERN CONSERVATIVE) who seemed to work harder at EXCLUDING women and minorities than in getting things done to help the American people. That was the day I switched parties and never looked back. The republicans have been oh, so glad to embrace the lunatic, t-party fringe and look where it's got them? They haven't learned a damn thing, and Grover Nerdquist is their leader.
Bring back the GOP of the 60's...the small government, fiscally responsible, intelligent foreign policy party that I used to vote for.
They may need to redo their primary system to do this so that moderate candidates can emerge without soiling themselves to appease the extreme of their party.
They can't talk about cutting the deficit while claiming we need to drastically increase defense spending, which is still too high.
They can't talk about being for freedom while denying rights to groups like gays.
and so on.
GOP = Democrats
You type so little but say so much. Had Romney won the election and this article would have been about how the Democrat party needed to revamp itself, you would have a lot of Republicans on here trying to explain what is wrong with the Democratic party.
Although both parties have similar flaws, there are distinct differences. It is those differences that matter to voters.
No, it is those differences that matters to some voters. Many vote for their party affiliation regardless of how fractured they have become. The Republicans have not learned this yet. The Democrats capitalized on this in this election.
They are already working on the new presidential election. They are trying to pass the as I call it "the stop Fla and Texas from becoming swing states bill". They are trying to reduce the spanish vote in these states by changing the 14th amendment. Its not going to work but hey they haven't been big on facts lately.
When Clinton, first took office, and Rush, was at his high point, ranting and raving, everyday non- stop; The lines were being put in place then. When Clinton, first took office, he said the wealth in the country needs to be redistributed! He was attacked non- stop for the entire eight years. after Bush, and the country was in near collapse, Obama, was elected, and saying the same thing, the wealth should be spread around more evenly in the country. It has been the same for him, non-stop. We are seeing the results of what happens when the wealth all concentrates at the top, it leaves a vacuum in the economy, and the economy becomes stagnated. Trickle down did not work, now it will take trickle up to to fix it. Wall-Mart is starting to see this, as it plans to hire 100,000 vets, and spend more money buying American made products for their stores, and as they start to open up more full time jobs for part time employees. It is not a fix all solution, but it is a good start in the right direction.
A trillion dollar stimulus for the lower class would help, like paying all unemployed, $800.00 per week for two years tax free, but take 20% from the top, and use that money, to stimulate job growth in other areas, like give the states, ten % each week to help them balance their budgets, and hire workers. Take the other ten % and help the lower class, buy small cars and trucks who need them, it will save them money at the pump and boost manufacturing, it will also help with air pollution. let these people find work as they collect this money, but pay taxes on any work they do. Stop all other subsidies to them for two years, stop food stamps, unemployment, and housing, all this would stimulate business, and it would bring in more tax revenues, that would help to fund SS and medicare better. I also, think this would make banks release more money to lend. I also, think it would pay for itself , and , because it would open a two year window to be able to cut more waste and spending, I think it would help to pay down the deficit. There could be other benefits to , like less crime, more debts being paid, more savings etc.
One more thing If the GOP would simply, raise the debt ceiling, the country would be better off and so would they!
dale - I'm voting for you!!
Thx Will; I don't want the job! I do think these problems can be solved,and use this time window to get spending under control ! if they would do something like this plan above!