My cynical side agrees with you....but damn, son, buck up. It’s not all lost, and the f***ing Republicans left US. I recently changed my affiliation with my county’s board of elections from “Republican” to “Independent” for the first time since the early ‘80’s. I’ve had it. I’ve worked a Presidential campaign for a Republican. I’ve done my bit for God and country, etc., etc., ad nauseum.
Screw ‘em. This election cycle was a sick joke, and one thing I’m NOT is stupid. The GOP is a dinosaur and is extinct but doesn’t yet realize it; a stinking corpse just waiting to be buried.
To Hell with rehabilitating their sorry hides. They’ve had decades to prove themselves.....and have always, ALWAYS fallen short. I’ve had it.
People here list the dozens of third parties, tout their ineffectiveness, point to history, etc., etc....but they forget some key things (and I say this as a sales/marketing pro of over 30 years in high tech): this is a different era; communications have been revolutionized, and the time is ripe for the RIGHT message, party, candidates. We have technology for delivering, driving home a message that our predecessors didn’t have (and the GOP, Tea Party, et al have flatly failed to exploit).
Because the Republicans of the 50's, 60's and 70's were so conservative, right? The GOP of old was nothing more than a squishy punching bag for the Democrats. Ike was fine with almost all FDR's socialist policies and tax rates, Nixon gave us the EPA and price controls, etc. Even in the 80's Reagan was the exception. The GOP didn't actually become conservative till Newt came along. The reality is the current Republican House, GOP Governors and statehouses may just be more conservative than they've been in modern history.
In many ways conservatives have already won many of the intraparty fights. The problem is the majority of the country is moving to the left and we don't, as a party, have anything like what the Democrats have to drive our message. The Democrats have a dinosaur media that is still king and has dropped even pretending to be balanced, they have seized the entire education infrastructure, they completely dominate the entertainment establishment so overwhelmingly that conservatives have to keep mum or risk their careers, etc. It isn't within the GOP that conservatives have the most problems, it is with the public at large. We've almost completely lost the culture war and the larger political arguments of our day.
People here list the dozens of third parties, tout their ineffectiveness, point to history, etc., etc....but they forget some key things (and I say this as a sales/marketing pro of over 30 years in high tech): this is a different era; communications have been revolutionized, and the time is ripe for the RIGHT message, party, candidates.
Yep.