December of last year I made the statement on this blog that the GOP wasn't headed toward the wildnerness but instead they were flying head on into the abyss. At the time it was in response to the "Barack the Magic Negro" foolishness that Chip Saltsman had embraced and in turn many in the GOP were loathe to denounce. It was clear to me then that they were still clueless about what it would take to change their electoral fortunes anywhere other than in the deep south. Not only are they doing a horrible job with their minority outreach, they also seem to be oblivious to the fact that when they engage in this kind of crazy and or race baiting hyperbole and nobody in the party is willing to step up and denounce it then they also offend many regular middle class white votes as well.
Some of this is directly a result of the make up of their shrinking base. With their numbers dwindling the people left in the Republican Party tend to be more radical and over the top than normal. And when your base ends up being primarily made up of the people we would usually describe as the fringe then you in effect become a fringe party. And if you don't have any political courage then instead of trying to bring more moderates into the fold you actually pander to that radicalized base which only serves to further marginalize your party. And that is what the leaders of the Republican Party are doing right now.
The latest evidence of this is the whole "birther" madness that is taking over the GOP. People keep acting surprised that Republican members of Congress are either fully endorsing the birther position or at the least saying refusing to denounce the loons who keep trying to claim President Obama isn't a natural born citizen. Just check out this polling fresh off the presses on the birther issue.
For those in the cheap seats 58% of Republicans either do not believe that President Obama is an American citizen or say they aren't sure. When you go by region of the country, the numbers in the south are almost identical.
Again, Republican officials have the power to change this. They can stand up to the fringe that has overrun their party and denounce them and this would go a long way towards bringing people back to the GOP. But they won't do it. They don't have the courage to do it. They have convinced themselves that they simply weren't crazy enough during the Bush years and thats why they got kicked out. So now they are willing to double down on the stupid just to appease their batshit crazy base.
Now how can they win nationally with that? And how can they ever hope to retake the House or the Senate let alone the White House with just the southern states?
Its simple, they won't. I mean as dissappointing as Democrats are at times at least for the most part they aren't nucking futs. And after 8 years of misadventure and lawlessness during Bush's reign, people aren't going to be willing to hand over the keys again to these folks any time soon. Especially when they have shown not even a hint of even trying to change their direction.
So once again GOP, enjoy your time in the abyss, you are going to be there for a LONGGGGGGGG time!
(h/t Greg Sargent)
Some of this is directly a result of the make up of their shrinking base. With their numbers dwindling the people left in the Republican Party tend to be more radical and over the top than normal. And when your base ends up being primarily made up of the people we would usually describe as the fringe then you in effect become a fringe party. And if you don't have any political courage then instead of trying to bring more moderates into the fold you actually pander to that radicalized base which only serves to further marginalize your party. And that is what the leaders of the Republican Party are doing right now.
The latest evidence of this is the whole "birther" madness that is taking over the GOP. People keep acting surprised that Republican members of Congress are either fully endorsing the birther position or at the least saying refusing to denounce the loons who keep trying to claim President Obama isn't a natural born citizen. Just check out this polling fresh off the presses on the birther issue.
A forthcoming DailyKos/Research 2000 poll found 77% of Americans believe President Obama was born in the United States, 11% do not, and 12% are not sure.
Among Republicans only, 42% think he's an American citizen, 28% do not, and 30% are not sure.
For those in the cheap seats 58% of Republicans either do not believe that President Obama is an American citizen or say they aren't sure. When you go by region of the country, the numbers in the south are almost identical.
Again, Republican officials have the power to change this. They can stand up to the fringe that has overrun their party and denounce them and this would go a long way towards bringing people back to the GOP. But they won't do it. They don't have the courage to do it. They have convinced themselves that they simply weren't crazy enough during the Bush years and thats why they got kicked out. So now they are willing to double down on the stupid just to appease their batshit crazy base.
Now how can they win nationally with that? And how can they ever hope to retake the House or the Senate let alone the White House with just the southern states?
Its simple, they won't. I mean as dissappointing as Democrats are at times at least for the most part they aren't nucking futs. And after 8 years of misadventure and lawlessness during Bush's reign, people aren't going to be willing to hand over the keys again to these folks any time soon. Especially when they have shown not even a hint of even trying to change their direction.
So once again GOP, enjoy your time in the abyss, you are going to be there for a LONGGGGGGGG time!
(h/t Greg Sargent)
* Post updated with picture courtesy of Instaputz
Posts
Teehee!
ReplyDelete