What will happen to the Republican Party?

[Sandy]

What Will Happen to the Republican Party?


Every day in these last days before the election, I see the numbers behind the Republican Party decreasing. I am not a Democrat and lean to the Libertarian agenda but like seeing an dog dying of old age, I still want to wrap my arms around the GOP and hold tight until the heart beat stops.

Being a Republican at this time is not fashionable and requires a Christian background that I have not had for 50 years. I saw a terrible and wicked campaign against Senator Goldwater in 1964 that forever made me afraid of the Democratic Party. They were the lowest of the low and they won!

Here we are in 2008 and it is the Republican Party who is campaigning with lies and terrorist threats against the Senator from Illinois Barak Obama. If I thought the Democrats were rotten, they cannot hold a candle to the Republicans against an African American Senator.

The GOP is so unpopular that few share my sorrow; I can’t blame them. I’m annoyed that I had to write in Congressman Ron Paul’s name, as Senator McCain represents to me the horror of the GOP. He insults me with his choice of Vice President as she is such an airhead who would not interest me as a friend let alone next in line for the White House. I’ve lived with actors all my life and she is not very good with her dialog.

Where does the RNC go from here? Do we try and reform it? Do we politely ask them to remove the Religious Right and return to the limited government and Individual freedoms again? Do we start over, change the name, keep the membership names and sell the old platform as a new one?

What we must not do is allow the Neoconservatives to hold the party hostage!

Any thoughts on this?

Sandra Price
sp@rightpov.com

[Dan_77]

Nowhere. Assuming Obama wins, in another 4 or 8 years things will be pretty much the same, the tide will shift, and the GOP will come back to power.

Americans just continue to shock me with their stupidity, specifically that so many still think the Democrat and Republican parties offer fundamentally different policies or hope, when it is obvious to anyone with a functioning brain stem that they are essentially the same.

[megadeth425]

My guess is the same thing that's happened to the Democratic Party the past 30 years. If Obama does well and leaves his second term with high approval ratings, Hillary Clinton will probably be the next president. America is a very closely-divided country in terms of which party is in control, I doubt either of them will truly fade out any time soon, it's merely a matter of who's in power for X length of time.

[thebuescherman]

These sorts of things always bounce back in our direction. Time will heal the wounds. Hopefully the GOP will have a sort of "revival" that Obama has given the Democrats. The GOP desperately needs some new blood. Despite my feelings towards his views, I do see Obama as possessing great leadership abilities. A counterpart in the GOP will do wonders. The old guard needs to go.

[Charlatan]

What will happen to the republican party? Well it will need to see how this election goes first. If the Democrats win then they will make changes to the country so the people feel that they have done something, and something needs doing. Whomever wins this election will be expected to solve all the problems they have, and failing to do this will be preyed upon by the other party. So this next president inherits a gamble, win more support by clearing the problems, or lose more support by failing to do this. The next president could for instance pull all their troops out of Iraq and the people would be thrilled by the majority, and would make their party more popular mostly. If they leave their troops in Iraq then there will be little change really as most people see it, as Iraq always makes some dent on the news, but people notice. They would notice that troops are still there, and they would attribute this to the president's wishes, so, if they just pull them out saying bugger the consequences, they will become popular.

Then there is the market, if they can fix the market they will be applauded and will ride a wave of popularity. If they can do that and just pull the people out of Iraq then they will have pop star status amoung the people, but, as they enter office, they will see that the world might think differently, and it is the world that they now deal with as president. When you deal with your own country you can just do what they say to ensure you stay in power, but when it comes to foreign affairs you need to have a clear head and see the big picture. If America was to stop fiddling in the pie the world offers, they would bring setbacks to their homeland and there would a ripple effect through the world, so, they need to keep others in mind.

The tone was set with the invasion of Iraq, and when they get to office they will see that it isn't as easy as just pulling all the troops out, which means they will lose popularity immediatley. When it comes to the stock market they can't restore that at a whim, so they will be remebered with the disaster they inherited and saw out through their term, unless they can fix it immediately, but that will take years.

Based on this whomever wins this election will get bad publicity as they try to deal with the problems they have dished to them, so if x wins this election, x loses next election based on party. A lot has been said about oratorical prowess here, but if Obama loses the faith of the people, they will regard the next smooth talker as just another pretty face in the crowd, and they might start to listen to both sides rather than get swept away by the euphoria that has come about indirectly via this disasterous presidency and start to understand the facts of presidency. It isn't easy, to say the least. it's easy to fall, and it's easier to jump on someone that has fallen and with a big smile and say you can fix it. it can be fixed, but will it be fixed? Is it possible to fix in four years? If not then the country is in for one hell of a let down with regard their expectations.

On the other hand, if the people vote McCain in, then they are saying that they know there is a problem and they want it to be fixed by the ones that started it, as there must be method to their 'madness'. And if they vote McCain in they will be voting for not taking a gamble for a sudden shock to the system that would result in something happening, that they appreciate the ideals behind the campaign in Iraq and the plight of the market, and they are going to see it through with an old goat.

So who can fix America better? How can they persuade voters at this late stage that they will fix America better than the other? I think if you look at the standard of living in America people are pretty happy, so changing that - giving to one sector - would take from another sector, and that could leave many people unhappy. What should concern people the most? Does it make a difference who comes into power that much? They have the same basic partners to answer to, so they would probably do the same. So, like I said, the winner will inherit a whole lot of problems that they will need to deal with if they want to persuade people to vote for them again. Those problems will make or break the next campaign. If the problems right themselves 'naturally' then they will be lauded as saints, if not they will lose the favour of the people.

Honestly I can't see the problems being fixed right away, like the Iraq thing can be done, but the markets will make the people poor, based on late opinions, and they will blame it on the president. So this next president will be remebered as if they brought on the hard times, as people speak of the good old days of Bush when it comes to lifestyle, and lifestyle is what you vote for, isn't it?

[Thanatos]

Party death? It's happened before. Seen any whigs or federalists around lately?

When a party dies it usually comes back with radically altered ideology, occasionally on the opposite side of the political spectrum. I have a feeling that if they do cease to exist as an election-winning force they will return much further to the left. They've spent enough time talking about the evils of corporate greed recently; if they decide that really sells better it'll become a plank in their party and the free market worship will be de-emphasized. They may go all the way and respin their nationalism as a justification for socialism and outflank us to the left.

[megadeth425]

Or they'll run a 2016 campaign on the platform of renaming every railroad the "Jesus Choochoo". And win.
I don't see any party death coming soon, US politics are like a see-saw, swaying usually when the other party screws up.

[Sandy]

I appreciate all your comments. Thank you!

Sandy

[Yarn]

The Republican party f***ed up 8 years so badly that they made the country shift to the left. And with demographics moving against them in the form of an influx of immigrants who, along with being sort of being sort liberal to begin with, are annoyed at the hardliner's view of them, and in the face of an big economic crisis accompanied by an FDR like unifying democratic president...the Republican party seems poised to suffer at the very least temporary marginalization.

It's hard to make predictions--especially about the future. The republican party survived the Great Depression, maybe it will survive what its facing now and prosper again in the future. Maybe it will die. Maybe it will evolve. Maybe the Democrat's gains will turn out to be relatively etherial, even though the Republican brand has been toxic for two straight cycles. I really have no idea.

My hopes are that the country will move in the direction Canadian and European stlye government, that inequality will shrink as a result of the institution of an progressive tax code (Our Regressive Income Tax | Middle Class Impact), that health care will be, if not cheap, less a commodity and more of a right, that our education system will be on par with those of Europe, that we will start living for tommorow as well as today, and that all of this will be for the better.

[grandpa]

Quote by: Yarn The Republican party f***ed up 8 years so badly that they made the country shift to the left. And with demographics moving against them in the form of an influx of immigrants who, along with being sort of being sort liberal to begin with, are annoyed at the hardliner's view of them, and in the face of an big economic crisis accompanied by an FDR like unifying democratic president...

America's economy, and elements of its humanity, are eroding. Because of this, Americans seem very malleable right now, for better or worse. Therein could lie the strength of the Republican Party. And if they reform their image, even slightly, they could regain control.

Grandpa h.

[Sandy]

grandpa, how does the Republican Party reform their image? It is so divided that large groups are backing away. To get them back, the religious right should return to church and leave the government separated. I think we all learned in the last months that the GOP is racist,homophobic and terrified to make their own decisions.

[megadeth425]

Looking at all this stuff coming out about tensions between McCain and Palin, I think the party may split into two groups. It's very possible the extremes and the moderates will section off into their own parties, lose a few elections by splitting the votes, and then merge back with renewed vigour. Sometimes ducking out and accepting defeat is the only way to get on the same page in politics.