http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002200224Oh my.
nadinbrzezinski (101,205 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
What is going on in the GOP?
No, this is not something fit for print at the usual suspects, and that includes MSNBC and even Current TV.
Santorum won in Iowa by a narrow margin (let's ignore votes missing from eight districts). He is a member of the Social Conservative branch of the party.
MIttens took the next one... he is a member of the Business faction
Newt won today, he is a member of the Southern Conservative Evangelicals and boy the talking points were deep.
Of course there is Ron, the libertarians, who is doing fairly ok for somebody abhorred by the party.
So what is going on? Given that policy, there is barely light between them... what is going on is the party starting to tear itself appart in an obvious way.
This election is the Republicans to lose, and they are doing it smashingly well, but also ideology has taken over to the point that these factions can't stand each other. Add to the sauce the... words from Newt and a few others... the leadership of the party are a bunch of LIBERALS... (RUN)
This is what you are seeing, a party slowly falling appart... so this is life... Once the party goes away, I suspect the Dems will take over the center right and a new left party will emerge... (and a bunch of small splinter RNC parties too)
This is of course a longer view than just an electoral cycle...
Fun...
There the
yenta goes again, showing her abysmal knowledge of history and politics.
The right tends to coalesce; the left tends to splinter.
It's an ironclad rule, and surely the
yenta knows it.
phasma ex machina (2,123 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
1. Newt's ego grew bigger tonight. (No small feat given its enormous size to begin with.)
nadinbrzezinski (101,205 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
2. Well that goes without saying
first election he wins since 1998, I cannot blame the chap for that too much...
But when the ego is punctured RUN!
It is not going to be a pretty picture.
mindwalker_i (870 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
6. If his ego bursts
Don't run, walk very, very carefully. There will be bits of ego scattered around like a mythbuster's experiment with post-it notes gone terribly wrong. Except that there will be no adhesive. The bits of ego will be like newly fallen snow, making any movement hazardous, but covering the trash and other detritus lying around. It'll lokk pretty, in a chilling sort of way.
Zalatix (1,085 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
3. It's not all that, really.
It's the same mentality you see in a reality show like Survivor. Or the Highlander TV series.
There can be only one alpha devil. They'll rip each other to shreds as candidates are want to do, to get the prize.
roguevalley (30,859 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
4. the snake pit of tea party stupidity was the centrifuge in which the GOP poured itself thinking they could control crazy people. The centrifuge is whirling and the egotists of the leadership that thought they could control this thing are eating it now. They don't know what to do but they will try and kill newt. That will pit them against the voters who have bot the crap and think Newt is the only one who can get obama. That means the richie riches are going to split the contract between the top leadership and their moron army. This is the end of the party nationwide. Tonight, I am not afraid of the elections in November.
calimary (26,333 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
7. Don't get complacent, though!
That's the kiss of death - and of republi-CON victory. Do NOT underestimate these bastards - and remember, they're pushing voter suppression too, to try to steal this coming AND going.
Remember what Mad-Eye Moody always said to warn Harry Potter: "Constant Vigilance!!!!!"
joshcryer (31,176 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
5. Yep, you're witnessing the collapse of a party.
Hmmm.
I think I'll post that 0bamaGestapo's comment in "posts that stand alone," and bring it out again in November.
CanonRay (3,444 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
8. I heard that after Nixon resigned and before that after Goldwater lost. Let me say I'm skeptical. I agree with the previous poster: Beware of these bastards, and do not becvome complacent. They will eat you alive.
1912: the Republican Party is dead; split in half the Democrats win the White House
1918: the Republican Party takes back Congress with overwhelming margins
1920: the Republican Party gets one of its own back into the White House
1932: the Republican Party is dead, losing in a landslide to the Democrat
1936: the Republican Party still dead, losing in a landslide again to a Democrat
1938: the Republican Party comes back from the grave, with impressive mid-term results
1944: the Republican Party is dead; can't even beat an old man
1946: the Republican Party takes control of both houses of Congress
1964: the Republican Party is dead; loses in a landslide to the Democrat
1966: the Republican Party comes back from the grave, with impressive mid-term results
1968: the once-dead Republican Party puts one of its own back into the White House
1974: the Republican Party is dead; loses mid-terms by devastating margins
1978: the Republican Party comes back from the grave, with impressive mid-term results
1980: six years after Watergate, the Republican avalanche
1984: the biggest Republican avalanche in history
1986: the Republican Party is dead; loses control of the Senate
1988: George Bush wins presidency in, yes, a landslide
1992: the Republican Party is dead; loses the White House
1994: the Republican party gains control of both houses of Congress for the first time in 42 years
2008: the Republican Party is dead; loses the White House
2010: the third-largest, ever, mid-term landslide
2012: ?
JoePhilly (10,414 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
9. The GOP is comprised of 4 somewhat overlapping groups.
Those are:
1) Corpratists
2) Neocons
3) Social Conservatives
4) Fiscal Conservatives
The first two groups have run the party for more than 30 years. They other 2 (3, 4) groups are kept in line with a steady diet of, God, Gays, Guns xenophobia, and racism.
The first two groups get rich ... the second two groups believe they are the most Christian, most patriotic, and most discriminated against people in the history of the world.
The second two groups (3, 4) thought they were in charge of the party. When the GOP crashed the economy, and then sent McCain as the candidate, and then the black guy won ... the second two groups flipped out.
My sense is that the GOP is imploding, collapsing in on itself, such that you have to be more and more insane to remain.
Are_grits_groceries (9,860 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
10. The different geographic areas generally have different factions of the GOP in charge. In IA and NH, there was not such a big evangelical nut wing group. Once the primaries moved to SC, they were in a completely different universe.
I have said from the beginning that Romney would not win SC. He is rich and a Mormon. The latter fact was not discussed at any length, but that issue was there. Mittens was always going to lose a certain % of the vote because of it.
Newt is a bigoted, crazy, Georgian by birth who is fluent in evangeleze. He knows exactly what buttons to push and how to stoke the hate and fear that are ever present among the RW evangels. Romney is very much a foreign person to them not only because of his religion, but also because he is the antithesis of the good 'ol boy. They have no real way to viscerally connect with him. they may have hated Clinton, but I guarantee you they could relate to him.
Santorum can connect because of his sincere views on social issues. He is also a much more personable candidate. Of course, Ken and Barbie are more personable than Romney. Romny appeals to the intellect, but the heart will trump that most of the time. That's where the rabid enthusiasm comes from.
Florida is a complete mishmash of groups. Newt has momentum, and if he catches Romney there, that will be a seismic move for the GOPeas.
The rest of the country will vary from the extremes I think. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. That will tell you a lot about who makes up the GOPeas activists in each state. It will also be a window into how much power the GOP PTB has to influence elections in each state.
What a ride!
Yeah, and speaking as a Republican, it's a fun ride, too.
