The Decline of the GOP

[DioxazinePlum]

Ever since Obama was elected and the GOP lost its majority in Congress, the media has been writing a lot of articles about the decline of the GOP and the rise of the Democrats. How do you feel about this? If you're a republican, how can you regain your prestige in the face of Sarah Palin-like incidents? If you're a democrat, how can you sustain this majority in government?

Some articles:

Bob Barr speaks about the trouble in the GOP is in
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/05/02/bob-barr-gop-in-‘very-deep-trouble’/

Blog of Meghan McCain, one of the few reasonable and progressive republicans
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-04-29/arlen-you-let-me-down/

Another Republican says the wrong thing
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-04-30/the-gops-worst-medicine/  

[DioxazinePlum]

Follow-up: How do you think the election in 2012 is going be now that the republicans have four years to rethink their game?  

[Kuchen Fairy]

There is an extremely worrisome trend in the Republican party that's getting worse and worse - they're pushing their moderates out. This is possibly one of the worst moves I can think of them ever doing. They are building up their strict conservative side, which wouldn't be a problem if they would stop calling the reasonable Republican "unpatriotic" or "softies" or whatever else they come up with. This country is going to start losing its bipartisanship if the Republican party doesn't step it up and get back in the game, and appealing to a small minority is not the way to win the hearts of the majority.
At the same time, it might be good to give the Repubs a break. I generally vote Republican but God, I would love to be able to vote for a Libertarian and have it go towards a promising chance at winning. If the Repubs decide to just push everyone away as they sulk in their little holes in the ground, then so be it - hopefully the Libertarian party will step up to the plate.

Radical conservatism is taking over the Republican party and they're getting increasingly more aggressive. Since it's clear America is moving the opposite way, they seriously need to get with the program. It'd probably be next to impossible to make a major party transition (in that another minor party takes over the role of the Republican party) but otherwise the Democrats are just going to keep winning.  

[Fresnel]

Silver Screen

God, I would love to be able to vote for a Libertarian and have it go towards a promising chance at winning.

stare
People like you are the cancer that keeps this country bipartisan. ******** their chance at winning, vote for the person you WANT to win. It's the only way they ever WILL win.  

[Archaic Thought]

Decline of the GOP? Yeah, it's happening right quick, what with them adopting a farther right stance than before. Whatever happened to the Progressive Party...?  

[Misses Brinks]

The republican party is like a species going extinct. Too bad nobody with a sane mind wants to keep it alive.

Really, their numbers are going down, and with their numbers going down, they go more and more to be more CC*/to the right. Because they're going more fringe, they loose more members. It's a cycle. They will soon either be gone or a permanent minority.

The only way the republican party could ever be a good party again, is for them to go back to their roots, ditch bullshit, and come back with facts. Not falsehoods like "torture works."

Personally I'm very glad their going down. And I honestly don't much care about parties, just so long as I agree with who ever I will be voting for.

*christian conservative nut jobs (example: Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly)  

[Kuchen Fairy]

Fresnel

Silver Screen

God, I would love to be able to vote for a Libertarian and have it go towards a promising chance at winning.

stare
People like you are the cancer that keeps this country bipartisan. ******** their chance at winning, vote for the person you WANT to win. It's the only way they ever WILL win.

Trust me, I do vote for them. But I also know it's an essentially obsolete vote, because it's next to impossible for a third party to gain office even if they did win. It's not just the people who keep America bipartisan. it's the entire system.
The point of voting for a third party is not in hopes they win but in hopes that their ideas are heard by the two major parties. The more votes they get, the more the major parties are inclined to listen to what they have to say.  

[Kuchen Fairy]

mistercombine

Decline of the GOP? Yeah, it's happening right quick, what with them adopting a farther right stance than before. Whatever happened to the Progressive Party...?

The religious right took over.  

[Fresnel]

Silver Screen

Fresnel

Silver Screen

God, I would love to be able to vote for a Libertarian and have it go towards a promising chance at winning.

stare
People like you are the cancer that keeps this country bipartisan. ******** their chance at winning, vote for the person you WANT to win. It's the only way they ever WILL win.

Trust me, I do vote for them. But I also know it's an essentially obsolete vote, because it's next to impossible for a third party to gain office even if they did win. It's not just the people who keep America bipartisan. it's the entire system.
The point of voting for a third party is not in hopes they win but in hopes that their ideas are heard by the two major parties. The more votes they get, the more the major parties are inclined to listen to what they have to say.

The system was written by people who didn't want parties at all, so I somehow doubt that.  

[JettaKD]

In my opinion, the Republican party has been going down ever since they started stamping out the moderates and replacing them with the religious right and neo-conservatives. For instance, before he was nominated to run for President, I thought John McCain was a fairly decent example of a Republican. Then, after his nomination, it seemed like a good number of his stances changed so that they would align with the party majority neutral

I believe that the Republican party has a lot better chance of surviving and thriving if they let the social moderates back in.  

[Kuchen Fairy]

JettaKD

In my opinion, the Republican party has been going down ever since they started stamping out the moderates and replacing them with the religious right and neo-conservatives. For instance, before he was nominated to run for President, I thought John McCain was a fairly decent example of a Republican. Then, after his nomination, it seemed like a good number of his stances changed so that they would align with the party majority neutral

I believe that the Republican party has a lot better chance of surviving and thriving if they let the social moderates back in.

Very much agreed. I still love John McCain as a man and a politician, but it seriously felt like the GOP pressured him into being more conservative in his outward views, and that really sucks. Unfortunately I don't think it would have helped his chances against Barack Obama, simply because Obama was the powerhouse orator this time around. McCain might have gotten a few more votes from moderates and even levelheaded Democrats. Likely not enough to change anything, though.
That and ******** Sarah Palin. I like Palin as a person and maybe even as a politician in some instances but she should not have been standing alongside McCain.  

[JettaKD]

Silver Screen

JettaKD

In my opinion, the Republican party has been going down ever since they started stamping out the moderates and replacing them with the religious right and neo-conservatives. For instance, before he was nominated to run for President, I thought John McCain was a fairly decent example of a Republican. Then, after his nomination, it seemed like a good number of his stances changed so that they would align with the party majority neutral

I believe that the Republican party has a lot better chance of surviving and thriving if they let the social moderates back in.

Very much agreed. I still love John McCain as a man and a politician, but it seriously felt like the GOP pressured him into being more conservative in his outward views, and that really sucks. Unfortunately I don't think it would have helped his chances against Barack Obama, simply because Obama was the powerhouse orator this time around. McCain might have gotten a few more votes from moderates and even levelheaded Democrats. Likely not enough to change anything, though.
That and ******** Sarah Palin. I like Palin as a person and maybe even as a politician in some instances but she should not have been standing alongside McCain.

I think the only reason Palin was chosen as a running mate was because of her gender and her very....intensely conservative social views as a lure for the neo-conservative constituent. As for the gender, I think it insulted a good deal more women to stick an unprepared candidate in an important position just to garner a female vote.

This could have worked had Palin been a good deal more prepared. As it is, she hasn't had a lot of experience with larger government and it definitely showed through in the debates.

And yes, I might have considered voting for McCain instead of Obama had the GOP not changed McCain into like....ROBOMcCain. It was rather uncomfortable to hear someone I'd once admired be so changed :/  

[MayIHelpYou22102]

"Honestly, I think the rise is with the non-partisan. Democrats and Republicans alike are digging themselves in a ditch by bickering like two teenage girls. The media circus of a government now cares less about the policies set to run our country and more about strategies that increase their chances for re-election."

 

[black_wing_angel]

MayIHelpYou22102

"Honestly, I think the rise is with the non-partisan. Democrats and Republicans alike are digging themselves in a ditch by bickering like two teenage girls. The media circus of a government now cares less about the policies set to run our country and more about strategies that increase their chances for re-election."

Which is why they should change the way elections go, so that a given politician can have a 6 year term, but only one. Then they have no reason to worry about "reelection" since there won't be one.  

[MayIHelpYou22102]

black_wing_angel

MayIHelpYou22102

"Honestly, I think the rise is with the non-partisan. Democrats and Republicans alike are digging themselves in a ditch by bickering like two teenage girls. The media circus of a government now cares less about the policies set to run our country and more about strategies that increase their chances for re-election."

Which is why they should change the way elections go, so that a given politician can have a 6 year term, but only one. Then they have no reason to worry about "reelection" since there won't be one.

"Crooked politicians always find a reason to be assholes. If they can't get a re-election for the seat they are in, they'd do everything they can to get another seat just as high, or higher."