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Future of the GOP
A couple of posts in another thread got me thinking again about what happens after this year's elections. Right now it appears the Democrats could be poised for a coast-to-coast landslide of epic proportions. A lot can happen between now and November, but assuming this landslide materializes and the Republicans are routed across the country, how will they respond?
As presently constituted, the Republican party is essentially a coalition of the following groups:
1. Wall Street Republicans
2. Neocons
3. Religious Right and social conservatives
4. Assorted racists and other neanderthals
Will they regroup and try to go on as before or will a stunning defeat catalyze internecine warfare in the GOP? Will the coalition fracture?
Comments (6)
As long as Republicans remain the White Party, their future prospects are dismal. Which means they need to get rid of the "racist and associated neanderthal" wing before they can even think of improvements.
May 16, 2008 6:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes. Catering to the racist wing is the biggest impediment to the future of the GOP.
Many minorities have conservative vales, in probably the same percentage as European-Americans. Its this racist wing of the GOP that keeps those conservative minorities from becoming Republicans. Who wants to join a political party that also welcomes racists who hate them.
May 16, 2008 7:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Absolutely. By 2050, non-Hispanic whites are estimated to make up 50.1% of the population. The "Southern Strategy" definitely won't work then.
May 16, 2008 9:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
It will fracture.
Each group has its own agendas. I think you will see the Wall Streeters going Dem for they need those in power, whomever those in power happen to be.
The social conservatives will wind up forming their own coalition. They won't have enough support in either party moving forward.
The idiots will continue to listen to the Rush O'Limbaugh's of the world to learn how they are supposed to think.
And the neocons - the most dangerous of all - already own too many people in too many places. Those are the people to fear. They go way up in many circles of power all around the world. It's not just America which has neocons. They are not just the most dangerous group but the most frightening as well.
Live Frankly
May 16, 2008 6:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
While I agree that the racist kooks are costing the GOP, it's those kooks who are the key to the Southern Strategy. If you look at the ability of Republicans to elect Senators and Congressmen you find that outside the South they don't really fare any better than they did a generation ago when they seemed destined for permanent minority status. It's only by appealing to white backlash against the civil rights movement in the South that the Republicans were able to gain enough seats to put them in the majority (while it lasted). If they lose the Southern racists, who takes their place?
That's the thing about coalitions - each group might not particularly like the other groups, but they're stuck with each other because that's the only way they can form a large enough mass to exert any power at all.
The neocons are a small group and were never really much a part of the Republican party until relatively recently, so they could easily do without them.
If I had to guess, I'd say that the Religious Right is the group most likely to bolt. The Republican Party has been wholly unable (or perhaps unwilling) to enact any part of their agenda. Huckabee was their darling and he's now relegated to a back room somewhere. What has the Republican Party actually delivered to the Religious Right other than a lot of talk?
May 16, 2008 8:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
What did they deliver to the religious right?
- Abstainance only education
- Restricted abortions worldwide
- Restrictions to birth control
- The Supreme Court shift
- Heightened Intelligent Design shifts
- A pretty zealous government
- Distrust of science and anything scientific
I could go on, I am sure...this was off of the top of my head.
But it wasn't enough for the RR, which I hope is their forever downfall just like the GOOP itself.
Live Frankly
May 16, 2008 9:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
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