Thomas Lindaman writes:
After Mitt Romney’s defeat on Tuesday, there has been a lot of Monday-morning (or, technically Wednesday-morning) quarterbacking as to why Romney lost. Invariably, the reason given is because the Republican Party is “too extreme” and “needs to be more moderate.” As proof, they offer up Republicans like Michelle Bachmann, Todd Akin, and talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Oh, and don’t forget those extremists in the TEA Party (those eeeeeeeeeeeevilllllll people who think we’re spending too much and have strayed too far from the Constitution). If only more sane people (meaning anyone to the left of Lindsey Graham) would take over the party, Republicans would win going away!
Yeah, about that. Seems the GOP has done this the past few elections and, for the most part, it hasn’t worked out too well. Let’s run down the list.
Ronald Reagan – conservative Republican, pimp-slapped Jimmy Carter in 1980 and Walter Mondale in 1984
George H. W. Bush – moderate Republican, beat Michael Dukakis in 1988, trounced by Bill Clinton in 1992
Bob Dole – moderate Republican, was made Bill Clinton’s bitch in 1996
George W. Bush – moderate Republican, beat Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004 (due mainly to Gore and Kerry being such dumb candidates)
John McCain – moderate Republican, smoked by Barack Obama in 2008
Mitt Romney – moderate Republican, taken to school by Barack Obama in 2012
See a pattern here? Since Reagan, the GOP has run nothing but moderates and they’re a whopping 3-4 since 1988. And here’s a news flash, kids: moderates are running the GOP right now. That’s why more conservative candidates like Herman Cain, Michelle Bachmann, and Rick Santorum never got a lot of traction in spite of being popular with the grassroots. The power brokers in the GOP pushed Mitt Romney on people under the banner he could win. Of course, if that were the case, why didn’t he win in 2008?
At some point, the GOP needs to have a “coming to Jesus moment” and realize they keep churning out subpar candidates because they’re ashamed to be painted as conservatives. Mitt Romney flip-flopped on that issue (surprise, surprise), proclaiming himself to be a “super conservative” with one crowd, and trying to paint himself as more moderate with another. Sorry, Mitt, but you need to pick a side and stick to it, and I’m going to put you with the squishy moderates because, well, you are one.
The leadership needs to take a step back as well and realize the reason why more conservative elements are popular with the grassroots is because the party as a whole doesn’t represent them anymore. Look back at how Orrin Hatch and other prominent Republicans dismissed the TEA Party. Well, Orry, (Can I call you Orry? Doesn’t matter because I’m going to do it anyway.) if you guys had been doing your jobs, there wouldn’t need to be a TEA Party. The more moderate Republicans dismiss and disrespect conservatives, the more disenfranchising of the latter will occur. And if I were the GOP leadership, I wouldn’t be so dismissive of the conservatives in your party, especially given your 3-4 record.
In a political discussion on Facebook, an acquaintance of mine said I was a “right wing extremist” because I didn’t agree with him about Obama, economics, and other social issues. I pointed out to him perhaps the reason he thinks of me as a “right wing extremist” is because he’s a left wing extremist looking at my positions from his far-left position. It’s all a matter of perspective.
Things are so far to the extreme right in the US right now, that Obama is being labeled a socialist, even though he is arguably more conservative than Nixon. Things are so far to the extreme right, that many Republicans were running on the idea of restricting birth control. Things are so far to the extreme right... well, you get the idea.
Remember a man named... Jimmy Carter? He was the last practicing Christian to sit in the Oval Office... and Republicans absolutely HATE him. Right-wingers paint him as the worst thing ever, because he told people to wear a sweater when it's cold and depend less on foreign oil. Yet they loved an anti-Medicare shill who used his running mate's influence and connections in the CIA to negotiate with terrorists to release hostages only upon the condition of his election, and as a result the deficit went to astronomical amounts (but that didn't matter until a "big government" Democrat was president) and several special individuals we'd learn about decades later were provided weapons. Real good judgment you had there, Right-wingers.
But then, Conservatives have to hate Carter. Because if they didn't hate him, they'd have to actually start doing the generous things they keep hearing about in church. Republicans absolutely hate the fact that Carter actually was (and is) all of the things that the sociopathic douchebags like themselves only pretend to be.... Moral, intelligent, religiously devout, diligent, honest and committed to genuine American values. That is why you guys hate Carter. That is why right-wingers attack him whenever and however possible, decades after his term has ended.
And yet, the right-wingers are still blaming Mitt for not being insane enough. I actually feel sorry for him. That's the fastest I've seen a Republican thrown under the bus in decades.
Your response to America choosing a less-conservative candidate than Mitt Romney is to choose someone who is more conservative?
The GOP trotted out the hard-core crazy (Bachmann, Perry, Santorum, Bain) as potential opponents to Obama and they were soundly rejected by the American people. Romney got the nod based solely on the fact that he scared people the least. Anyone who would honestly think that going farther over the edge than Rick Santorum will save the Republican Party, is up to their eyes in batshit insanity.
The GOP redneck base was already motivated and fired up to get rid of the black guy, and they were already in a frothing frenzy about socialisms and communisms and muslins and birf certificates. So it's not like the voting conservatives stayed home and didn't participate in this election. They already had just about every vote they were going to get. It's not like folks voted for Obama simply because Romney wasn't conservative enough. It isn't like the conservative voting block sat this one out waiting for a "truly conservative" candidate. They really, really wanted Obama gone, even if it meant President Romney. And you still lost.
The right-wingers just can't admit that their ideology has reached its zenith in voting population.
So, the Grand Old Party of Hate and Ignorance should try to become more evil and stupid? I'm all for it. Cut your own cow-humping needle dicks off, Teabagger assholes.
If the day comes that the GOP actually goes ahead and nominates some hopped-up, fire and brimstone conservative-enough whackjob I'll be eager to find out what they'll cluck about when that guy goes down in flames.
Obviously the solution is to run even further to the right, because running extremely right-wing candidates worked so well in Indiana and Missouri. I mean, it's so obvious that in those states, moderation got beat and Tea Party candidates won, right?
Another interesting point: Every Republican that touched rape in this election got shot down. All of them.
Dear GOP: Please run two of the biggest Teabaggers you have in 2016 and get it out of your system.
Turn yourselves into a regional party with no hope of regaining the executive branch in the foreseeable future.
Do it, GOP. Do it for America.
Good luck with that.
There goes the somber reflection that the party needs... Right now, Reagan and Eisenhower are spinning in their graves as this "We must go further to the right." talk gets louder and louder.
1. America re-eleected Obama.
2. The Senate majority was kept, including many high profile races the GOP "should" have won until their politicians said what they actually believe about women.
3. Many districts kicked out several Tea Party Representatives after only one term.
4. Two states legalized weed.
5. Three states legalized gay marriage, with another rejecting a ban.
So, of course, the Conservatives believe they need to go even farther right in order to win over the electorate.
They have learned nothing, and they will continue to learn nothing. Because they simply do not understand their own country anymore. They've created their own isolated world in which the only news and information they tolerate is that which validates their own pre-conceived notions, even when those notions fly in the face of obvious objective reality. They demand rigidity above all else, and think that will help them win over a country that is steadily rejecting many of their policies.
They're doomed. Not because they lost. But because they don't understand why they lost.
The only reason Gore lost was because of the Clinton blowjob witchhunt, and Florida recount irregularities. He still won the popular vote. The majority of Americans still didn't want a Republican. REMEMBER?
The only reason Kerry lost was because of the Bin Laden tape, and the fact that you right-wing chickenhawks trashed his war record. You know, because you guys are always party before country. Remember your stupid-assed argument, Lindaman? "His own doctor said he was faking"? You know, the doctor who's name isn't even on any of the documents? REMEMBER?
The right-wingers are dying. There simply aren't enough angry White guys to cater to, to help win elections. They're dying just like the Southern Strategy and Religious Right coalition of racism, bigotry, xenophobism, and misogyny. Their inbred racist offspring are falling away, producing a massive new Generation Gap, and there's a major shifting of the whole American public on social issues.
We are moving faster on LGBT rights. Even NRA members are in favor of many types of gun legislation. The country is in favor dumping the Drug War in favor of treatment. The majority are in favor of doing something about global climate change. America is much more accepting of family planning and sex education as much more effective methods for reducing abortion than simple abstinence.
The GOP is in real danger of going the way of the Federalists and the Whigs, and for much the same reasons. The only reason they haven't been completely obliterated already, is because of old racists and gerrymandering in state legislatures and the House, and the filibuster in the Senate. Not to mention that the rich forces behind the GOP are well-organized, and well-funded.
The right-wingers are becoming increasingly desperate, and as a result they're compensating for their dwindling base by screeching louder and nastier. Their continuing purges of any and all voices of moderation add to the loudness and nastiness. But they're just exposing their ignorance for all to see, which in the end will just kill them further.
People are beginning to get a clue that you right-wingers are not in favor of "small government." The GOP support for small government is limited to cutting taxes on the rich, corporate anarchy, gutting environmental regulations, stopping legal protections for workers and racial minorities, and gutting government funding for public education, public health, and social services. The only "small government" you right-wingers want, is to serve the interests of the rich and powerful at the expense of everyone else.
To be fair, it's got to be hard to for you guys to admit that your electoral strategy for the past 35 years is completely wrong. That's everything that your party now believes in, because they have had to sell it to the public for coming up on four decades. Is it shocking that most Republicans are stuck in 1978?
It can be hard to change for some individuals. The GOP is a party whose entire identity is "resistance to change". Which is probably not the most helpful identity to have in an ever-evolving world.
After Mitt Romney’s defeat on Tuesday, there has been a lot of Monday-morning (or, technically Wednesday-morning) quarterbacking as to why Romney lost. Invariably, the reason given is because the Republican Party is “too extreme” and “needs to be more moderate.” As proof, they offer up Republicans like Michelle Bachmann, Todd Akin, and talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Oh, and don’t forget those extremists in the TEA Party (those eeeeeeeeeeeevilllllll people who think we’re spending too much and have strayed too far from the Constitution). If only more sane people (meaning anyone to the left of Lindsey Graham) would take over the party, Republicans would win going away!
Yeah, about that. Seems the GOP has done this the past few elections and, for the most part, it hasn’t worked out too well. Let’s run down the list.
Ronald Reagan – conservative Republican, pimp-slapped Jimmy Carter in 1980 and Walter Mondale in 1984
George H. W. Bush – moderate Republican, beat Michael Dukakis in 1988, trounced by Bill Clinton in 1992
Bob Dole – moderate Republican, was made Bill Clinton’s bitch in 1996
George W. Bush – moderate Republican, beat Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004 (due mainly to Gore and Kerry being such dumb candidates)
John McCain – moderate Republican, smoked by Barack Obama in 2008
Mitt Romney – moderate Republican, taken to school by Barack Obama in 2012
See a pattern here? Since Reagan, the GOP has run nothing but moderates and they’re a whopping 3-4 since 1988. And here’s a news flash, kids: moderates are running the GOP right now. That’s why more conservative candidates like Herman Cain, Michelle Bachmann, and Rick Santorum never got a lot of traction in spite of being popular with the grassroots. The power brokers in the GOP pushed Mitt Romney on people under the banner he could win. Of course, if that were the case, why didn’t he win in 2008?
At some point, the GOP needs to have a “coming to Jesus moment” and realize they keep churning out subpar candidates because they’re ashamed to be painted as conservatives. Mitt Romney flip-flopped on that issue (surprise, surprise), proclaiming himself to be a “super conservative” with one crowd, and trying to paint himself as more moderate with another. Sorry, Mitt, but you need to pick a side and stick to it, and I’m going to put you with the squishy moderates because, well, you are one.
The leadership needs to take a step back as well and realize the reason why more conservative elements are popular with the grassroots is because the party as a whole doesn’t represent them anymore. Look back at how Orrin Hatch and other prominent Republicans dismissed the TEA Party. Well, Orry, (Can I call you Orry? Doesn’t matter because I’m going to do it anyway.) if you guys had been doing your jobs, there wouldn’t need to be a TEA Party. The more moderate Republicans dismiss and disrespect conservatives, the more disenfranchising of the latter will occur. And if I were the GOP leadership, I wouldn’t be so dismissive of the conservatives in your party, especially given your 3-4 record.
In a political discussion on Facebook, an acquaintance of mine said I was a “right wing extremist” because I didn’t agree with him about Obama, economics, and other social issues. I pointed out to him perhaps the reason he thinks of me as a “right wing extremist” is because he’s a left wing extremist looking at my positions from his far-left position. It’s all a matter of perspective.
Things are so far to the extreme right in the US right now, that Obama is being labeled a socialist, even though he is arguably more conservative than Nixon. Things are so far to the extreme right, that many Republicans were running on the idea of restricting birth control. Things are so far to the extreme right... well, you get the idea.
Remember a man named... Jimmy Carter? He was the last practicing Christian to sit in the Oval Office... and Republicans absolutely HATE him. Right-wingers paint him as the worst thing ever, because he told people to wear a sweater when it's cold and depend less on foreign oil. Yet they loved an anti-Medicare shill who used his running mate's influence and connections in the CIA to negotiate with terrorists to release hostages only upon the condition of his election, and as a result the deficit went to astronomical amounts (but that didn't matter until a "big government" Democrat was president) and several special individuals we'd learn about decades later were provided weapons. Real good judgment you had there, Right-wingers.
But then, Conservatives have to hate Carter. Because if they didn't hate him, they'd have to actually start doing the generous things they keep hearing about in church. Republicans absolutely hate the fact that Carter actually was (and is) all of the things that the sociopathic douchebags like themselves only pretend to be.... Moral, intelligent, religiously devout, diligent, honest and committed to genuine American values. That is why you guys hate Carter. That is why right-wingers attack him whenever and however possible, decades after his term has ended.
And yet, the right-wingers are still blaming Mitt for not being insane enough. I actually feel sorry for him. That's the fastest I've seen a Republican thrown under the bus in decades.
Your response to America choosing a less-conservative candidate than Mitt Romney is to choose someone who is more conservative?
The GOP trotted out the hard-core crazy (Bachmann, Perry, Santorum, Bain) as potential opponents to Obama and they were soundly rejected by the American people. Romney got the nod based solely on the fact that he scared people the least. Anyone who would honestly think that going farther over the edge than Rick Santorum will save the Republican Party, is up to their eyes in batshit insanity.
The GOP redneck base was already motivated and fired up to get rid of the black guy, and they were already in a frothing frenzy about socialisms and communisms and muslins and birf certificates. So it's not like the voting conservatives stayed home and didn't participate in this election. They already had just about every vote they were going to get. It's not like folks voted for Obama simply because Romney wasn't conservative enough. It isn't like the conservative voting block sat this one out waiting for a "truly conservative" candidate. They really, really wanted Obama gone, even if it meant President Romney. And you still lost.
The right-wingers just can't admit that their ideology has reached its zenith in voting population.
So, the Grand Old Party of Hate and Ignorance should try to become more evil and stupid? I'm all for it. Cut your own cow-humping needle dicks off, Teabagger assholes.
If the day comes that the GOP actually goes ahead and nominates some hopped-up, fire and brimstone conservative-enough whackjob I'll be eager to find out what they'll cluck about when that guy goes down in flames.
Obviously the solution is to run even further to the right, because running extremely right-wing candidates worked so well in Indiana and Missouri. I mean, it's so obvious that in those states, moderation got beat and Tea Party candidates won, right?
Another interesting point: Every Republican that touched rape in this election got shot down. All of them.
Dear GOP: Please run two of the biggest Teabaggers you have in 2016 and get it out of your system.
Turn yourselves into a regional party with no hope of regaining the executive branch in the foreseeable future.
Do it, GOP. Do it for America.
Good luck with that.
There goes the somber reflection that the party needs... Right now, Reagan and Eisenhower are spinning in their graves as this "We must go further to the right." talk gets louder and louder.
1. America re-eleected Obama.
2. The Senate majority was kept, including many high profile races the GOP "should" have won until their politicians said what they actually believe about women.
3. Many districts kicked out several Tea Party Representatives after only one term.
4. Two states legalized weed.
5. Three states legalized gay marriage, with another rejecting a ban.
So, of course, the Conservatives believe they need to go even farther right in order to win over the electorate.
They have learned nothing, and they will continue to learn nothing. Because they simply do not understand their own country anymore. They've created their own isolated world in which the only news and information they tolerate is that which validates their own pre-conceived notions, even when those notions fly in the face of obvious objective reality. They demand rigidity above all else, and think that will help them win over a country that is steadily rejecting many of their policies.
They're doomed. Not because they lost. But because they don't understand why they lost.
The only reason Gore lost was because of the Clinton blowjob witchhunt, and Florida recount irregularities. He still won the popular vote. The majority of Americans still didn't want a Republican. REMEMBER?
The only reason Kerry lost was because of the Bin Laden tape, and the fact that you right-wing chickenhawks trashed his war record. You know, because you guys are always party before country. Remember your stupid-assed argument, Lindaman? "His own doctor said he was faking"? You know, the doctor who's name isn't even on any of the documents? REMEMBER?
The right-wingers are dying. There simply aren't enough angry White guys to cater to, to help win elections. They're dying just like the Southern Strategy and Religious Right coalition of racism, bigotry, xenophobism, and misogyny. Their inbred racist offspring are falling away, producing a massive new Generation Gap, and there's a major shifting of the whole American public on social issues.
We are moving faster on LGBT rights. Even NRA members are in favor of many types of gun legislation. The country is in favor dumping the Drug War in favor of treatment. The majority are in favor of doing something about global climate change. America is much more accepting of family planning and sex education as much more effective methods for reducing abortion than simple abstinence.
The GOP is in real danger of going the way of the Federalists and the Whigs, and for much the same reasons. The only reason they haven't been completely obliterated already, is because of old racists and gerrymandering in state legislatures and the House, and the filibuster in the Senate. Not to mention that the rich forces behind the GOP are well-organized, and well-funded.
The right-wingers are becoming increasingly desperate, and as a result they're compensating for their dwindling base by screeching louder and nastier. Their continuing purges of any and all voices of moderation add to the loudness and nastiness. But they're just exposing their ignorance for all to see, which in the end will just kill them further.
People are beginning to get a clue that you right-wingers are not in favor of "small government." The GOP support for small government is limited to cutting taxes on the rich, corporate anarchy, gutting environmental regulations, stopping legal protections for workers and racial minorities, and gutting government funding for public education, public health, and social services. The only "small government" you right-wingers want, is to serve the interests of the rich and powerful at the expense of everyone else.
To be fair, it's got to be hard to for you guys to admit that your electoral strategy for the past 35 years is completely wrong. That's everything that your party now believes in, because they have had to sell it to the public for coming up on four decades. Is it shocking that most Republicans are stuck in 1978?
It can be hard to change for some individuals. The GOP is a party whose entire identity is "resistance to change". Which is probably not the most helpful identity to have in an ever-evolving world.