Posted on 01/04/2013 12:49:00 PM PST by Bratch
The disastrous 2012 election and embarrassing fiscal cliff standoff has brought forth one principal conclusion from establishment Republicans: They have a primary problem. The intra-party contests, or threat thereof, have become the original sin that explains many of the party’s woes in the minds of GOP leaders. It’s the primaries that push their presidential nominees far to the right (see “self-deportation” and “47 percent”); produce lackluster Senate candidates (Todd Akin has almost become a one-word shorthand); and, as seen most vividly in the last two weeks, dissuade scores of gerrymandered House members from face-saving compromise while politically emasculating their speaker. What to do about the primaries has become Topic A in many a post-election Republican soul-searching session, and now the first steps are being taken to address the issue. For Senate Republicans, that means a modified return to their 2010 posture of openly playing in primaries. A retiring House Republican is starting a super PAC to help House members challenged from the right. And an RNC commission is mulling over changes to the party’s presidential primary.
In the Senate, where at least five GOP losses in the past two election cycles could be attributed to primaries, Republican leaders are planning to intervene in selected 2014 races to ensure preferred candidates win the nomination.
High-profile Senate Republicans are going to try to pre-empt bloody primaries with aggressive, early recruitment and support — effectively trying to clear fields.
(Excerpt) Read more at dyn.politico.com ...
It’s easy. Get rid of the RINOs or else.
I thought they did that at the convention.
/johnny
NOW do you all believe we’ll be forced to go Third Party?
The GOPe does have a primary problem. I, for one, am going to vote for any same-party challenger to my two Senators, even my representative if he votes for anything in the way of a debt ceiling increase without a 1:1 reduction in spending. I’d sooner see a Democrat in those spots if they are going to act like Democrats.
At least I’ll then have something tangible to blame instead of a bunch of no-ball spineless bastard RINOs who have the gall to call themselves ‘Georgians’ while living it up 99% of the year on the DC high of being second in power.
Sorry, but it is time for a new party.
What a twisted view from POLITICO (of course).
If the RINOs and conservatives in the Party don’t start working together for their common good there won’t be a Republican Party.
The first two things, without which nothing else can work, are:
1) Only registered Republicans, who voted in the last two elections AS registered Republicans, can vote.
2) No more “winners” by plurality. “Winner” in the primary context means 50% +1, or more. In the event that every candidate is below 50%, NO delegate bonuses, NO rewards for “winning”. I would also set a threshold of 20%, below which no delegates are awarded.
The days of me picking the “least liberal” to vote for is over. I have taken a personal pledge to never vote for or support another establishment/RINO/moderate/liberal/limp-wrist Republican again. If a candidate does not pledge, support and demonstrate he/she is a Tea Party conservative, they will not get my vote. Period!
You can go to a third party, but don’t expect electoral success any time soon. Don’t get me wrong, I am a conservative, but it took a revamped and rebranded Canadian conservative party 13 years before it had any electorial success.
Yep, that’s what needs to be done, especially #2.
The GOPe stacks the deck by putting “their” candidate up against 3 better conservative candidates who split the vote.
Removing Conservatives is its primary problem.
LLS
I smell a pig nosed bastard that wears glasses.
There are some states that do not have party registration, such as the Commonwealth of VA.
If this is isn't done it is way beyond time for us to move out...
>> It appears the GOP-e are trying to stack the deck against conservatives.
>
> I thought they did that at the convention.
That’s the way I remember it too.
The rule changes were truly awful; and let’s not forget the retroactive rule change they did for one state’s primaries to deny Ron Paul delegates and cement more support for Romney.
>The first two things, without which nothing else can work, are:
>1) Only registered Republicans, who voted in the last two elections AS registered Republicans, can vote.
That’s stupid; it punishes those who could not bring themselves to vote for a socialist (Romney), either by staying home or by voting 3rd party.
>2) No more “winners” by plurality. “Winner” in the primary context means 50% +1, or more. In the event that every candidate is below 50%, NO delegate bonuses, NO rewards for “winning”. I would also set a threshold of 20%, below which no delegates are awarded.
No winner-take-all — That is a much better idea.
The GOP Establishment fogies should be tried for treason, because of their actions to attempt to steer the election, they, in effect, buggered all of us!
I'm more than good with that.
/johnny
The article and its premise are just so much baloney.
Unless GOPe told him that. Then its just the excuse. They pushed fine candidates off ballot(West) tried to bury others(Michelle) and foisted a pathetically weak candidate on us for the Presidency, who by al tall tales didn’t really want to run.
Maybe the New Black Panther Party people in Philadelphia actually had the right idea. You don’t want certain folks in your elections you just show up with clubs.
The GOP “problem” is NO GUTS!
Nobody is willing to stand up to the media critics and their own media consultants.
They need to learn:
to tell them to stuff it
to tell them they’re wrong
to tell them WHY they are wrong
And they need to learn to do these things in SHORT SENTENCES!
Do NOT go on the defensive!
Protecting INNOCENT LIFE is RIGHT!
To KEEP AND BEAR ARMS is a RIGHT!
Causing dependence on the state is WRONG!
Public expressions and displays of Religion, is NOT “establishment of Religion?
The last primary season saw the 3 lifelong Conservative Republican presidential candidates overwhelmed by 13 non-lifelong Conservative Republican presidential candidates. Even if we'd consolidated to just 1 lifelong Conservative Republican they'd still overwhelmed us.
We need to excise the GOP-e from the party itself ~ just boot them out ~ I propose a corporate coup, rather like a leveraged buy-out. First, set up a New RNC ~ a totally new corporate entity, and Second, invite state Republican parties to send a representative to an organizational meeting.
Some states would not be invited. Some other states would be directed to not send specific personnel as representatives.
The NEWRNC would have all new rules that lodge more authority in the hands of the states regarding Presidential selection practices and policies.
No one associated in anyway with the GOP-e would be allowed to attend any NEWRNC event nor advise any NEWRNC registered candidates in state party primaries.
JRF: “I thought they did that (stack the deck against conservatives) at the convention.”
Yep. And they already have the deck stacked against us in many of the primaries. I honestly think RINOs hate conservatives, especially social conservatives, more than the left. They see us as the anchor that’s holding the Republican Party down.
They’re probably right, but don’t ask me what they stand for. Seriously. I haven’t a clue what a RINO really wants. They’ve proven they aren’t fiscally conservative, and they’re downright hostile toward us bitter clingers.
We’re expected to support their lame ass, moderate candidates (and we do), but they’ve proven in Indiana and Missouri that they’ll actually side with Democrats to beat us. We’re not only warring against the left. We’re fighting the mushy middle! We have no hope against the Democrats if we can’t even wrest control of the so-called party of small government!
They are so clueless it’s comical. The more they try to stuff RINO’s into DC, the faster the party falls apart. I for one will NEVER vote Republican again unless they put up a true fighter. They can just kiss it all good-by.
I vote against Tom Cole (my RINO representative) every chance I get, because he’s a reliable vote for the mushy middle (voted Yes on the fiscal deal). He likes to claim he’s a conservative, but he’s a compassionate conservative, aka fiscal liberal, in the Bush mold. Unfortunately, prying one of these losers out of their cushy DC jobs is a major undertaking.
Don't look to the GOP for electoral success. They have this habit of losing badly. Dole, McCain, Romney...
/johnny
They’re not trying to fix any primary problem. The people voting for a nominee is not the problem. At this very minute, the powers that be are choosing who the next nominee will be, and then they will game the system so that only that person can get nominated. If that means compressed primaries or extended primaries, that what they will do.
Thank you for that info, I thought that the tone of this article sounded a bit too gloating. I was already suspicious as I saw it was from Politico.
It is funny that if these same establishment Republicans had there way there would be no Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Pat Toomey, Tim Scott, Kelly Ayote, Ron Johnson, Ted Cruz, etc. etc. You know, the people that the GOP-e are holding out as saving the Republican Party. The self delusion and absolute cookiness of the GOP-e is alarming.
Was Todd Akin even the Tea Party candidate? I believe the answer is, no, he was not. Truth, who the hell needs that. I swear, the MSM has its hands right up the arses of these GOP-e types and is playing them like puppets. Whatever the MSM tells them to think and do, they do.
Do some Tea Party candidates end up being clunkers? Yes, but just as many if not more establishment, stand for nothing types end up losers. Again, damn the facts, we need to control primaries.
Same here. I am utterly disgusted with myself for giving in to Romney after swearing, post-McCain, that I wouldn’t. Well, at least I’ve learned that it doesn’t matter, a RINO won’t win anyway, so I have no need to injure my conscience ever again. I wish Nero II hadn’t had to be re-elected for me to learn this.
I think the only power that the establishment “right” is interested in is personal power and the power to attain wealth. The “true believers”, such as exist, are on the left.
/johnny
And I suspect that chosen nominee is Jeb Bush.
Then, in 2016, a Presidential run could have a good chance of snow-balling the Candidates of that 3rd Party to counter-balance the Lefties (those with both D's and R's next to their names).
Plenty of ex-Pubbies I know...are re-registering.
Whatever........
Our Political System is dependent upon the system that the candidate with the most votes wins. Thus, in a race with 3 candidates, the winner could win with 33 % of the votes cast plus one vote.
The major problem is that it is nearly impossible for one of the two largest parties to lose. Hence, there is NO change.
The two largest parties, call them ‘Tweedle Dumb’ and ‘Tweedle Dumber,’ will fight tooth and nail to prevent an election rule change to stipulate that the winning candidate must get 50 % of the votes cast plus one vote.
Thus, until election laws are changed to permit the 50 % plus one vote victory rule, a third party, such as the Tea Party, will be seen as a voter block at best.
IMHO, the best course is to dedicate a given amount of ya’lls time between now and November, 2014 to taking over the sorry RINO functions in your local area, County and State.
State at your first meeting your primary goals, and ask all in attendance to “Lead, Follow, or GET OUT OF THE WAY!”
************
Plenty of 3rd parties out there now. All they have to do is hitch onto one and have some semblance of a structure in place. The question becomes which one and really is Palin/West going to be the leaders?
In states where they control the legislature and Governor, they could start by requiring a runoff when no primary candidate gets a majority. That would at least put an end to candidates who couldn’t win a majority of the Republican vote getting the nomination because they got 32% in a six way race. It would also greatly reduce the incentive for Democrats to run ads aimed at getting an idiot, Akin, the nomination. If the best they can do is get an Akin into a runoff, they are far less likely to bother.
I wonder if this comment will need to be reviewed as well? Guess we'll see......
The GOP-e is still seething over what hoops they had to jump through to save Murkowski’s seat from Miller.
Yep that was some hoops to be able to win that election via a write in process.
Bingo. Backwards planning is taking place. Bush trial balloon threads are already showing up on FR with regularity. By spring, 2015 we'll see full blown Jeb glory threads liberally smattered with glamor images of the Bush clan. Count on it.
I'm not sure how much more Republican "success" we can stand. If this is "winning", how bad can "losing" be?
Remember that the last real Republican governing coalition was forged from the right, through Reagan. Freed from the stench of today's GOP-E, we could at least attempt to rebuild that coalition. It's clear the leaders of today's party stand for nothing except extending their own influence.
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