That's a great line, but I don't think it's quite that bad - yet. Do not forget that this woman:
really scares people.
Posted on 05/23/2007 12:23:12 PM PDT by Jean S
Rumors of the Republican Party’s imminent meltdown in 2008 are rampant. Websites and blogs bristle with headlines like “They’re screwed,” “Licking their wounds,” “Republicans really are the stupid party” and “What are Republicans thinking?” And those are from the friendly conservative sources. Some wags say the party is hopelessly divided over issues ranging from abortion and Iraq to gas prices and immigration. Other observers focus on the dissident voices of GOP moderates. Some pundits point their fingers at a president who’s too distracted by war and low approval ratings to provide much party leadership. And there’s a persistent sense on the part of many that the best potential nominees for president — namely Fred Thompson and Newt Gingrich — aren’t even in the mix.
Is it really an apocalypse for the GOP? Or is a weird coalition of the liberal mainstream media conjoined with the hard right making the Republican predicament out to be much worse than it really is? In my view, the case for a crisis is way overblown. While there is some truth to each of the issues raised — there are divisions, factional shifts, weak leadership and so forth — a case could be made that the Democrats suffer from most of the same maladies. So while the Republicans may be confronting challenges, they aren’t necessarily at a competitive disadvantage for 2008.
One particular weakness of the case against the Republicans is that it’s too much about inside-the-Beltway politics. Yes, Republicans on Capitol Hill aren’t functioning as a well-oiled machine. We’re at a competitive disadvantage there. But Capitol Hill is hardly all of America. At the state level, you’ll find Republican Party operations that are peak performers. Consider Florida, where the newly elected Republican governor is already so popular that Floridians may forget about Jeb Bush. And the state legislature is dominated by the GOP. Republicans hold top local offices across the state. At the other end of the country, in California, you see a Republican Party that’s bouncing back under the leadership of a suddenly stronger and more popular governor.
The focus on issue divisions is another attack on the party that misses its mark. The Republicans have always had the kinds of divisions over issues that suddenly seem to be so telling to party critics. The doomsayers who make such a big deal out of Rudy Giuliani’s moderate positions on social issues like abortion and guns forget that moderates like Gerald Ford or Nelson Rockefeller have always been able to attract support from the same 35 percent who now support the latest squish to seek the presidency. This is nothing new or different. And besides, I’m convinced that these issue differences don’t matter much once the nomination is decided. After we have a nominee, the ranks start to close.
In the end, it’s not conservative issues or ideology that defines the Republican coalition today. Instead, the framework around which the party is built is principally demographic, focused on the South, select suburbs, rural areas and traditional families (i.e., households with a daddy, mommy and kids). These building blocks of the party are not under the same siege that afflicts conservatism. So even though issues like Iraq and immigration are roiling the waters of Long Island or Chicago’s Lakefront, they’re not cracking the bedrock of GOP support in climes like Atlanta’s northern suburbs or rural Iowa’s farm communities. GOP fortunes were more threatened in the Reagan years, when GOP support in the rural Midwest was eroded by rural opposition to the Gipper’s farm policies. Southern support of the GOP was under greater duress when the first Bush raised taxes than under the current Bush.
Whoever wins the Republican nomination will find a much stronger and more resilient party base than most party critics now surmise.
Hill is director of Hill Research Consultants, a Texas-based firm that has polled for GOP candidates and causes since 1988.
What better than to have a luxurious banquet of qualified candidates that we can consider at our leisure, confidant that the Dems don’t even have one who is really qualified.
Good point.
brilliant, right on the mark...
Yes. Republican leaders should denounce Graham for his comments about “bigots.” Excellent idea.
It will surprise no-one here, but have you noticed the MSM’s portrayal of the two political parties and their internal dynamics?
Republicans are in disarray....Democrats have minor differences.
Republicans are dictators....Democrats are taking stern decisive action.
Republicans have mavericks & renegades....Democrats have forward-thinkers and leaders.
Republicans slavishly serve special interests...Democrats act selflessly as uniters and coordinators of diverse groups.
Republicans espousing their party’s platform or constituent views are hard-liners....Democrats doing the same are populist visionaries.
A legislative setback for Republicans is a devastating loss and shows a leadership vacuum...A setback for Democrats is simply a political maneuver, they cleverly meant to do it all along and shows party unity.
yeah they can keep believing this pipe dream and be lost in the wilderness for another 40 years, or they can stop acting like drunken democrats and start acting like Conservatives and find their way.
“Consider Florida, where the newly elected Republican governor is already so popular that Floridians may forget about Jeb Bush. And the state legislature is dominated by the GOP. Republicans hold top local offices across the state.”
???
He’s nuts. Davis was no contender. We re-elected Nelson. We have that total idiot Martinez. We lost a district (mine) that has way more repubicans than dems. The legislature is about to piss-off everybody with “tax reform” that rewards the friggen snowbirds and canadians, at the expense of working home owners.
That's a great line, but I don't think it's quite that bad - yet. Do not forget that this woman:
really scares people.
Yea, I’ll vote Democrat. I’m sure they’ll do a better job.
This article, my FRiends, is a case of wishful thinking of the worst sort.
Thanks for posting this. At this point its either ‘the end of the Democratic Party’ or ‘The end of the GOP’....remember it was said the Dems were doomed post 9/11?
Its all nonsense, nobody is going anywhere as things stand politically.
In other words, continue to put up the same party-above-principle GOP Big Tent RINOs as candidates with the same RINO agenda, and the GOP can look forward to even less success.
Ever notice in the media that Democrat is always used to ID them but GOP is used to ID us?
I would think that under 25-somethings probably don’t even know what GOP means? But it’s crystal clear who the other party is.
You are right about the mainstream media, but when are we going to do something concrete about it. For years, we have been complaining about liberal news on TV but we have not done one single thing. Yes we have Fox News, but that must not be enough because we still complain. We need to have an all conservative round the clock news channel and then perhaps we will have a fair chance. I don’t think it is up to the Mainstream Media to ensure we get our word out. That is up to us not them. They want to make a buck and whether or not we think they do or not does not matter. We don’t own the networks. We either need to get some rich conservatives to buy a network or start our own (again rich conservative). Complaining about Mainstream Media gets us no where.
The term “whistling past the graveyard” comes to mind.
Still clueless. How sad.
“This article, my FRiends, is a case of wishful thinking of the worst sort”
Yep!
Excellent article. Realistic and non hysterical.
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