The GOP will bounce back, probably it is inevitable.
But will it be the wiser for the experience of its
political implosion ?
Not if it remains stuck in its Reagan-esque past as a
sort of
"ideal" to live up to. From my vantage the 80s are just
about
irrelevant for the 2000s Why ? Because of
demographics.
I don't see a non-Euro-American
future, not any time soon, since at least half
of Hispanics are Euro-Americans , maybe 2/3rds. But
there is
no way to pretend that the culture has not changed.
Some of this is all for the good, as everyone knows, I'm
big on
South and East Asians, also non-Muslim West Asians I
like Iranian Baha'is
and Zoroastrians, for instance, even if I may argue with
some of their beliefs.
And so forth with respect to people from India, Japan,
China, etc.
But a "Christocentric" political theology, which is what
the GOP is still all about,
necessarily is perceived by Asians as not meaningful.
For Catholic Hispanics
it may be meaningful enough, but is nonetheless way too
parochial / Protestant
The Evangelical total is what it is, roughly 25 %, and
maybe it can grow
to some extent, but how do you build a new majority on
that fraction
when the rest of the demographics have changed
dramatically ?
Who, in the GOP:, has the smarts to see the problem and
also the
creativity to devise a viable solution ? Duh, so far
no-one.
None of which counts social values issues and how they
are
changing among the young, while the Evangelical base of
the GOP
is mostly clueless about how to reach them.
Personally, I have no hope at all for the GOP and as for
the Dems.
on issues that mean the most to me, I have utter
contempt for them.
Maybe it is quixotic, but sobeit, my choice is some kind
of third party.
Billy
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In a message dated 5/11/2009 2:10:14 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
[email protected] writes:
Good luck with that. When the Obama apocalypse fails to
arrive by
2010, Dick Morris and his ilk are going to be out of work. :-(
I do think there are some real problems with Obama, and muddled
centrism isn't a solution, but Rush Limbaugh reactionaryism has even
less life in it.
Maybe the best solution would be for the Republican Party to stick to
its guns and focus on its core historic (meaning Reagen-esque)
values. That way, if the voters reject it we can start over with a
clean slate. The problem with McCain is that he was too non-
traditional to count as a referendum.
-- Ernie P.
On May 11, 2009, at 2:04 PM, Lennart Johansson wrote:
> F.Y.I
>
> DICK MORRIS:
>
>
http://www.theusdaily.com/articles/viewopiarticle.jsp?id=2133&type=Opinion
> No Triangulation Now
> Dick Morris
> [CDATA[
>
> Despite Gen. Colin Powell's advice that the Republican Party must
move
> to the center, now is not the time for triangulation by the GOP. It
> is, rather, the time for the Party to stand firm and fast upon its
> principles and let this nation come around to its way of thinking,
> driven by horror at the consequences of Obama's program.
>
> The leftist challenge brought by Obama is no longer a theoretical
one
> to be parried by adroit positioning. He means to pass the ultimate
> left agenda and has the votes to do so. When he is finished -- well
> before the 2010 elections -- our nation will be unrecognizable.
> Business will march to a beat drummed in Washington. Those who
produce
> the most will be hounded by confiscatory taxation. A majority will
pay
> nothing and receive government welfare. Our health care system
will be
> destroyed. Illegal immigrants will be well on their way to
> citizenship.
>
> The 2010 elections will not be fought based on debate or rhetoric.
> They will be waged over the consequences of Obama's brave new
world.
> We believe that these results will be disastrous and his Congress
will
> be swept from power as a result. We think that the recession will
> linger only to be joined by inflation -- a recess-flation -- and
that
> high unemployment will continue. Voters will recognize the damage
to
> their health care as bureaucrats weigh in to prevent them from
getting
> the care they need. All America will be alive to the fallout from
the
> Obama program. Our security and defense failures may well have
cost us
> Pakistan and the nightmare of a nuclear-armed terrorist state may
have
> already happened (not in Iran but in Pakistan).
>
> Only if Republicans are seen as a clear alternative, a clarion
voice
> for reversal of the harm Obama will have inflicted upon the
country,
> will they be able to benefit from this catastrophe. If the GOP is
seen
> as a moderate force, splitting the difference, voters will
cynically
> conclude that there is no distinction between the parties. Just
look
> at how the Bush administration seemed to be a puppet of the
Democrats
> in its last few months.
>
> There is a season for triangulation and a season for confrontation.
> When America faces a new challenge -- as the financial crisis and
deep
> recession now pose -- we look to the left and to the right for
> alternatives, for new answers. We want the debate to rage. Those
who
> seek to paper over or split the difference are ignored. Such was
the
> fate of Bush Sr. in 1992 or of McCain in 2008.
>
> But once the debate has raged and the alternatives have been
fleshed
> out, voters want a consensus, a Hegelian synthesis, to move in a
new
> direction. They want to extract the best from each alternative and
> combine these ingredients in a new solution. This is the process
Dick
> labeled triangulation. To ignore the demand for synthesis and to
> insist on continuing the debate is to suffer the fate of Dole in
1996
> and Kerry in 2004.
>
> This process of polarization, debate, synthesis and action is how
> America has always moved ahead. Because we are not Japan, we use
the
> debate to see the options. And because we are not Italy or France,
we
> come to conclusions and act upon them, leaving the debate far
behind.
>
> Now a great debate has been born. The thesis is Democratic
Socialism.
> The antithesis is free-market capitalism. The Obama Democrats have
> posed the challenge. It is now up to the Republicans to pick it up
and
> fight along these lines. Compromise is not an option, yet. At some
> point, the synthesis will set in. But now is the time for clear
> alternatives and sharp disagreement. Only then can we hope to
extract
> America from the clutches into which it has fallen
>
>
> RUSH LIMBAUGH:
>
> "The biggest mistake Republicans could make is to follow Colin
> Powell's advice and move to the 'center,' because there is no
> 'center.' Centrism' is a left-wing code word, just like
> 'bipartisanship.' Centrism just means agreeing with Democrats and
> moving in their direction." -Rush Limbaugh (email newsletter).
>
> // Lennart
>
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