The Struggle Begins

[rareboy]

So. Just caught Dana Bash talking to a panel of Republican politicians and wonks and ultra conservative family values closet troll, Gary Bauer.



Gutierrez and Huntsman were trying to explain to the pinched lipped and tight assed Bauer that the Republicans have to drop the social morality agenda and become more inclusive....predictably Bauer is saying the reason that the Republicans didn't win is that the party ....get ready for it.....just isn't conservative enough.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers just prattled about how successful the Republican Party was being in Congress ....obviously someone stuck a talking point up her ass and all she has is an empty blurb-omatic mantra to offer.

The look of pain on Bauer's face while Huntsman and Gutierrez were making their points was priceless.

But that look also tells me that the anti-homo, anti-abortion, bible thumping right wing now sees this as a take no prisoners war for the soul of white, english speaking America.

[T-Rexx]

Bauer is saying the reason that the Republicans didn't win is that the party ....get ready for it.....just isn't conservative enough.

You say that as if it surprised you.

[BostonPirate]

They are in for the fight of their life.

The Bushes are not ready to let that happen. If the moderate clan of Bushes, George P and Jeb, throw Rove on the funeral pire, as penitence, it gives the whole Dubya clan a chance at renewal. The GOP believes that you give people their turn that have been in the trenches. If Christie and the Moderate Bushes feel threatened by the losses at the polls due to the radical element within, they will feed them to the grinder.

I think we need to consider the regionalization of the GOP and why it's so important.

We have the Texas Tea Party rich GOP, with leadership in the southern strategy block, that now extends out as far as Arizona westward. You have the East coast moderate GOP, that holds the institution so to speak. Then you have the Koch Governors, who serve their masters.

How these people realign is really complex, and I think that the religious Fundies may find themselves on the short end of the stick in this phase of realignment.

If the GOP doesn't, it can't reach out to any of the groups that it needs to even maintain inner structure at this point. It has become a regional party, and it will remain, until it justifies professing christianity, while not behaving like them. The lies of the Romney campaign have left the majority of the nation with next to zero trust on being truthful.

Let's say they have a reputation for being shady. It's hard to praise the lord as you are picking pockets for the mega corps. The display of raw cash spent on this election at a time when people are going without basic needs, has left the electorate in a pickle.
...
Four years of having one identity for the GOP.... to Make Obama a one term president... has left them in defeat of every agenda that existed.

They need to figure out where they are going and who they want in charge. If they want to stay in the weeds, Obama's Democratic Coalition will take aim in the mid terms and they will take the house of reps as well.

[JayHawk]

Like I said before a modern republican should look like Obama did when he came to office.

I fully expect them to continue to oppose gay marriage but that will be taken out of their hands and then cease to be a talking point with the SCOTUS decision. So then they must now attract women and immigrants.

The only thing the republican congress can do now is work aggressively towards an agreement on immigration. I said before the election that the republican party was hopelessly broken if they couldn't find a way to pass a farm bill during the worst drought since the dustbowl (some estimates have it worse than the dustbowl). Well guess what is front and center for the lame duck?

Farm bill could hinge on budget talks

"Time is not on our side," he said. Next year's budget situation on farm programs will be "a big mess and it's infinitely better for everyone to get these decisions made now."

Now that article may seem like odd placement in a republican reshaping argument but it just goes to show how deeply dysfunctional the republican party has become. Obviously many farmers are represented by democratic leadership but a large majority of republican back is from the rural farming communities. If they can not come together to get something done for their main constituency then things are pretty dire in republican land.

Now is where I will get some hate mail.... lol. So I can see a moderate republican resurgence behind the likes of Christie and Bush. Despite the warhawk the Bush presidency was very moderate in many instances. Hell if they had simply raised taxes to pay for the medicare drug bill and the wars then things would have never been so horrible on the other side of the recession....

[frankfrank]

So then they must now attract women and immigrants.

The truth.

But, the Republican mantra:

So then they must now attract ATTACK women and immigrants.

[Kulindahr]

Someone mentioned "modern Republican". Trouble is, Eisenhower was more modern than today's GOP.

Meanwhile, it finally struck me what the elephangelicals are like: read the books of Maccabees, and you'll see it.