Thread: What next for the Republican party?

McCain last night and the McCain of the debates were completely different people.

In Obama's case, his campaign won him the election. In McCain's case, his campaign lost him the election.

As a person, McCain's still a douche bag though.

The best thing that the Republicans have going for them is Obama and an all Dem government.

They're not going to get squat done in the next four years. They'll just sit around and watch the carnage.

Originally Posted by DOMS

The best thing that the Republicans have going for them is Obama and an all Dem government.

They're not going to get squat done in the next four years. They'll just sit around and watch the carnage.

If that is what they are going to rely on, then the US is more fucked then i thought

Originally Posted by IainDaniel

If that is what they are going to rely on, then the US is more fucked then i thought

Aside from cultivating their people, what can they do?

What part of "all Dem government" confuses you? The Republicans have no say in the government now. It's completely one-sided. There are no longer any checks and balances (aside from SCOTUS, and that's not much). And yes, the US is fucked, but I like how your trying to blame it on the Republicans instead of the Dems.

Originally Posted by IainDaniel

After the drubbing last night?

After there fear and smear campaign, that so poorly failed, and showed the cultural shift in the US? Is the republican party out of touch?

The GOP does have some splinterings.

During the last 8 years, moderates did not have a voice nor participate much in the bureaucracies. Also, fiscal conservatives were basically ignored - just don't appoint them or hire them. Same with the Paleo or Classical Conservatives.

As for the GOP base, the Christian right is still influential (this IS why Palin was chosen) and still causing rifts in the party.

What is a Republican today? I don't know. Many Republicans don't know.

The GOP is not about small government and low-taxes anymore and it will take years and years to ever get credibility in these areas - if they ever get if back. It will be harder to sell as 77 million baby boomers are becoming senior citizens.

McCain sounded so great and sincere in conceding the election. Why didn't the Republican party let this man surface?

About a year ago McCain changed his campaign staff. One of McCain's chief strategists was a guy named Schmidt.

McCain also hired many campaign workers from George W. Bush's election campaign.

That's not being a "Maverick," whatever that means.

That is why I am asking questions.

The Repubs ran a horse shit campaign, the Dems found a way to relate with the voters.

I know quite well what the situation is but don't try and pin how i am blaming anyone, it is clear you are bitter in what happened.

The Republicans need to address some issues. What happened to Conservative spending, and small gov.

Originally Posted by IainDaniel

The Repubs ran a horse shit campaign, the Dems found a way to relate with the voters.

I know quite well what the situation is but don't try and pin how i am blaming anyone, it is clear you are bitter in what happened.

The Republicans need to address some issues. What happened to Conservative spending, and small gov.

I know you're referring to someone else.

Yes, the GOP ran a bad campaign. And they also did a bad job running the country. What did the GOP actually accomplish in the last 8 years.

(And the Dems are also a part of this mess.)

The GOP may not be able to count on the "solid South" as much anymore as people from the Northeast have moved to certain urban/suburban area of the Southern Coast states.

Also, the "Reagan Democrats" are are long gone. These were white blue-collar workers that voted for Reagan.

The GOP needs to find a "brand" or identity. I don't know how likely that is with the 5-6 different factions that don't seem to be as cohesive as they once were.

No. They are NOT as cohesive as they once were, hence the many defections to Obama by old guard GOPers, and even Ronald Reagan's former advisers.

Originally Posted by IainDaniel

After the drubbing last night?

After there fear and smear campaign, that so poorly failed, and showed the cultural shift in the US? Is the republican party out of touch?

McCain sounded so great and sincere in conceding the election. Why didn't the Republican party let this man surface?

How did they not let him surface? I think she cost him the vote. There were a lot of undecided independents who were leaning his way, and he blew it with taking her on as vice pres to make the brain dead religious right happy. Had he picked someone who made sense, I think he could have carried it. He lost my vote with that move to Palin. Sad to say, you have not heard the last of her. She's to self centered and too power hungry to go away quietly. She's tasted the national stage, so he wont be happy back on Alaska.

I am not sure if she was the complete reason. But she certainly played a role.

Originally Posted by IainDaniel

I am not sure if she was the complete reason. But she certainly played a role.

My feeling is had he gotten someone who made sense, he would have carried it. Should have been a right of center moderate experienced well spoken type, but it's clear he was told by his advisers he needed to do something to pull in the religious right vote, and that was his mistake. I think it was the straw that broke the back, but we will never know exactly.

I would have voted for McCain if Palin wasn't on the ballet. she is a moron and that to me cost him the election.

Originally Posted by WillBrink

My feeling is had he gotten someone who made sense, he would have carried it. Should have been a right of center moderate experienced well spoken type, but it's clear he was told by his advisers he needed to do something to pull in the religious right vote, and that was his mistake. I think it was the straw that broke the back, but we will never know exactly.

i very much agree. these bastard evangelicals are holding the party hostage. I'm conservative. i won't deny it, but roe v wade was 30 years ago. that is not the litmus test i use. McCain appeals to the moderates. he should have stuck with that.

Originally Posted by IainDaniel

After the drubbing last night?

After there fear and smear campaign, that so poorly failed, and showed the cultural shift in the US? Is the republican party out of touch?

McCain sounded so great and sincere in conceding the election. Why didn't the Republican party let this man surface?

Is the DEATH option still on the ballot?!? I vote for anarchy (let the bodies hit the floor)!

Originally Posted by bio-chem

i very much agree. these bastard evangelicals are holding the party hostage. I'm conservative. i won't deny it, but roe v wade was 30 years ago. that is not the litmus test i use. McCain appeals to the moderates. he should have stuck with that.

Agreed. Conservative does not = religious right evangelical, but that's what people now see it, and you can't blame them really. A small minority of people who were seen a fringe nuts, have literally taken over the party. Lincoln is rolling in his grave...

Originally Posted by WillBrink

Agreed. Conservative does not = religious right evangelical, but that's what people now see it, and you can't blame them really. A small minority of people who were seen a fringe nuts, have literally taken over the party. Lincoln is rolling in his grave...

your post =

what it means =

I think Will Brink hit it right on the head.

And there a more than a few Republicans that are dissatisfied with the Religious Right.

McCain floated trial balloons of Lieberman and Tom Ridge and the Xtian right vocally and publicly stomped their feet in the media very, very, loudly.

And then who pops up a surprise VP? Palin.

I'd like to see the specific counties and states where McCain needed (or thought he needed) the Xtian right to show up at the polls instead of staying home.

Because, many independents may have went to Obama after Palin's self-implosion.

The dems were in the same boat the last several elections. Politics goes in cycles. Repubs swept into power in 96. Now the dems are in. A few elections from now it will be repubs back in. America never stays satisfied with one party in control IMO.

Originally Posted by bio-chem

i very much agree. these bastard evangelicals are holding the party hostage. I'm conservative. i won't deny it, but roe v wade was 30 years ago. that is not the litmus test i use. McCain appeals to the moderates. he should have stuck with that.

100% dead on. This had to be just about the dumbest campaign ever run. Your gonna tell me that you pick Sarah Palin to excite the base? You don't need to excite the base, they aren't going to vote for a black half-term senator even if you nominated Donald Duck. His choice in Palin confirmed what I believed from the beginning; he made promises to people to secure his nomination to the ticket that i want nowhere near the gov't. Lieberman would have been better, or at least not someone to cow-tow to the evangelicals. I won't vote for a Republican president again until they dump their social agenda and become completely laissez-faire like they were.

Palin isn't going anywhere.

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Everyone's discounting the enormous vote that Republicans got with a much less enthusiastic base. Obama was a phenomenon.. Democrats won't sustain those numbers post-Obama.

I think McCain/Palin got more votes last night than Bush did in 04. That says alot.

Originally Posted by Dale Mabry

You don't need to excite the base, they aren't going to vote for a black half-term senator even if you nominated Donald Duck. .

LOL

Originally Posted by busyLivin

Everyone's discounting the enormous vote that Republicans got with a much less enthusiastic base. Obama was a phenomenon.. Democrats won't sustain those numbers post-Obama.

We can't make any such predictions. He was a phenomenon as a direct result of what the religious right has done to the Repub party. What numbers Dems get in the future will depend on what Obama is able to achieve + what the Repub party does to get back to its true core values and stop riding on the BS "family values" platform invented by Reagen via the "moral majority" platform he used to get elected and we have suffered ever since.

If the Goldwater Republicans would all jump ship and climb aboard the Libertarian boat things would get much better.... I would really love to see governments influence on every little aspect of our society shrunk....they need to focus on major National issues and stop trying to be our guiding light....

Originally Posted by maniclion

If the Goldwater Republicans would all jump ship and climb aboard the Libertarian boat things would get much better.... I would really love to see governments influence on every little aspect of our society shrunk....they need to focus on major National issues and stop trying to be our guiding light....

Originally Posted by maniclion

If the Goldwater Republicans would all jump ship and climb aboard the Libertarian boat things would get much better.... I would really love to see governments influence on every little aspect of our society shrunk....they need to focus on major National issues and stop trying to be our guiding light....

I voted Libertarian.

Originally Posted by WillBrink

I voted Libertarian.

Me too! I like both guys, I just hate the democrats (I'm one) for what they did to Florida during the primaries and the republicans for putting Palin on the ticket. Ron Paul would have done great on the republican ticket, but Bob Barr was alright too (heck, he's even from Florida - I love it). Just keep the government out of my life!

Originally Posted by tallcall

Me too! I like both guys, I just hate the democrats (I'm one) for what they did to Florida during the primaries and the republicans for putting Palin on the ticket. Ron Paul would have done great on the republican ticket, but Bob Barr was alright too (heck, he's even from Florida - I love it). Just keep the government out of my life!

I think Ron Paul would have rolled over Obama in the debates because of his experience and decisions based on historical evidence, but nothing says that would have translated to real votes. His voting record would have been quite an asset too; I think there is ONE blemish on it, and it is actually one that the Christian right would have favored (abortion).

Originally Posted by WillBrink

I voted Libertarian.

I voted Ralph Nader for the fun of it since I knew my state was going to vote somewhere in the 70-80% Obama range.....I really wish people would stick to their post election guns and 4 years later really vote third party, I always hear people talking about the lesser of 2 evils and how they'd vote Independent or Libertarian if their vote counted next time.......I really think that is the change we need it would be a bigger step for our nation than electing a black person or a woman, to actually have the choice between the lesser of 3,4 or even 6 evils....

I really wish I could write the greatest speech ever known in support of third parties but I just don't know what we can do ?i I's gonna take a lot more than fancy talk to sell this one.....