Quote:
Originally Posted by ScottXray
if the GOP continues along the road they have been on, they
will become more and more irrelevant...You correctly identified
that the electorate is changing and moderation is what is needed in the future.
Rush and the extreme right have driven the GOP positions
over the last 12 years, with more and more emphasis on social
issues ( abortion, gay marriage etc) that are generally dismissed
by most moderates...and which is where the country as a whole is headed.
Most people really don't care about gay marriage, in fact think that gays
should be afforded the same status as heterosexual couples. Although they
don't want gays to be considered "normal" behavior, they don't want to see them punished for being so.
By playing to the RTL/anti gay side they are distancing themselves from the average persons position, and alienating women in most cases.
In this election the only position they can really attack Obama on with the average middle class voter is the economy, and they have to convince them that the fault of the economy is wholly his, despite the fact that there is significant evidence that he has made significant progress overcoming a near depression level economic disaster, that he INHERITED at the start of his term, and mostly without any help from a congress that seems to want to play politics and not solve anything.. If they have been able to convince enough of the independent electorate that its Obamas fault, they can win today.
Assuming they have not and Obama wins it will be interesting to see if the Congress can finally decide to actually accomplish anything, or if the bickering and games continue. If so there will be wholesale movement to throw EVERYONE out in 2014, and a third party may be able to emerge at last.
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Yeah, I agree. I think Rush and the other extreme wack jobs really influence too many people in to having to take those same positions just to get anywhere in the party really hurt them. Exit polls showed just 20% of Americans think the Tea Party is a good thing. So the faster they can shut Rush and others up, stop taking stupid pledges before they are even a candidate, they have a chance. Otherwise, no way.