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GrandPoobah -> RE: The RNC has nothing but contempt for its members... (2/25/2012 12:27:28 AM)
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First, I think it's entirely possible the eventual GOP candidate isn't even running for the office right now. This mess could easily result in a "brokered convention" where none of these four can win the nomination, so the backroom boys summon somebody else. I hear names like Christie and Rubio and a couple others, but I'm not sure any of them want to be sacrificed after the disaster these folks have created.
Second, some of the problem dates back to 2009, when Senator Mitch McConnell said "the most important task for us in the next four years is to ensure that Obama is a one-term President." Under normal circumstances, that would have been seen as post-election rhetoric and quickly forgotten. However, every time the tea party wing of the GOP halts discussion, compromise, or threatens to bring down the whole economy, people remember McConnell's words, and it's become almost Fact the the GOP won't do anything for Americans because they want Obama to be seen as a failure. That may or may not be remotely true, but voters don't base decisions upon Truth...but rather Perception. The perception of the GOP isn't good, as the original post for this thread adroitly points out.
Third, the GOP is terribly fractured, and there is no candidate who will mend those wounds and re-assemble it. In order to hold the far Right, the candidates MUST appeal to that group. So...they throw out the "red meat" and the crowd screams, stomps their feet, and demands more. Sarah taught them that, although she never governed at the national level and had no clue. The effect is that in order to keep the far Right on your side, the candidate must alienate the moderate middle, and that's where the election is won or lost. Traditionally, there is 40% of the votes you can't lose, 40% you can't win, and 20% (in the middle) who will decide things. In today's GOP, if you go after that middle, you'll lose the votes you "can't lose."
At this point, unless something really unique happens, the GOP cannot possibly win in November. It could well be as resounding a defeat as McGovern had...winning 1 state and Washington DC. If the economy continues to slowly improve, and the GOP tries to make the election about social (and religious) issues, they will completely fail. It's the post election actions that will be interesting. The whole party would (likely will) implode, and that hasn't happened for a long time.
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