The Republican brand as we know it is dead

OneOfTheseDays

Diamond Member
Jan 15, 2000
7,052
0
0
Republicans are due to suffer a major defeat this November, despite extremely poor economic conditions that would otherwise have made this an easy election for them.

Their brand is simply dead. They don't stand for anything except to obstruct everything the opposition party is doing. Their failed economic policies of trickle down are no longer palatable to the American public nor is their hyper aggressive foreign policy. What we are seeing this election is a direct result of that, Romney refuses to go into any specific details about his policies because his campaign knows just how unpopular they are as a whole.

I went back and watched portions of the RNC and DNC today and never before have I seen such a stark contrast between the parties. The DNC was simply alive, the Democratic party is a reflection of the America most people live in. They truly are a big tent party in every sense of the word. This country has always been center right as a whole, and the Democrats are finally learning how to appeal to that independent moderate voter.

The RNC, in contrast, was a funeral. No matter how many ethnic faces they threw up on stage, it could not take away from the fact that their base is overwhelmingly white and old. There's no future here and the one bright spot in their party that is attracting youth, the Libertarian wing, they cast away in a very unceremonious fashion.

I believe we are seeing the end of the Republican brand as we know it. They will lose this November and I believe hard questions will be asked amongst the leadership of the party that will force them to abandon the hyper aggressive and obstructionist Tea Party wing in favor of a platform that can attract more moderate and Independent voters. Ultimately, this is a win-win for the country. We desperately need a responsible opposition party and the Republicans have been failing in that department for quite some team.
 

MooseNSquirrel

Platinum Member
Feb 26, 2009
2,587
318
126
Until they stop embracing the Ultra-Christianist/Anti-immigrant minority of their party, they are doomed.
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,685
136
I think the OP fails to recognize the staying power of zombies. Just when you think they're dead, they crawl up out of the grave... again.

The ability of Repub leaders to summon them is amazing, a function of the fact that they deny their ideology is bankrupt. They think they're still alive.

Repubs doubled down to win the 2010 midterms, and if Romney loses, they'll do it again, because he isn't a "real conservative". Neither was GWB. Any of their heroes who fail aren't "real conservatives", because if they were, they'd win. Any time their policies fail, it's because they weren't pure enough, because ebil libruhls made them compromise.

See how that works?
 

Smoblikat

Diamond Member
Nov 19, 2011
5,184
107
106
I cant see how you see this as an issue. Maybe the face of he party fades, but at its core its just a bunch of beliefs. People will still believe conservative ideas, they just might not all be under one name.
 
Oct 16, 1999
10,490
4
0
I think 2010 was kind of a last gasp and not likely to repeat. You had a lot of anger driving those voters against that foreign socialist president and his unconstitutional government takeover of healthcare. Now that it's more apparent that none of those things are true the anger is dying down and what's still there is alienating a lot of more reasonable-minded people. And they'll alienate even more if they go with a "real" conservative in 2016.

One a big-picture note, aside from a change in demographics unfavorable to the Republican party, with the increasing interconnectedness of the modern world, and the increasing exposure to different cultures and lifestyles and just plain knowledge, it will be hard to stoke the fear and anger the party currently thrives on. The party name may live on, but it will have to fundamentally change from the one we've known for the last 30 or so years.
 

IGBT

Lifer
Jul 16, 2001
17,973
140
106
What has happened to JFK's conservative Democratic Party??

"Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country" JFK 1961 Inaugural Address

"...the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God." JFK 1961 Inaugural Address
 

nehalem256

Lifer
Apr 13, 2012
15,669
8
0
What has happened to JFK's conservative Democratic Party??

"Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country" JFK 1961 Inaugural Address

"...the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God." JFK 1961 Inaugural Address

I wonder what JFK would say if he learned that one of the most important groups to his party was single mothers :hmm:

So much for the Republicans moving to the right huh?
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,685
136
I think 2010 was kind of a last gasp and not likely to repeat. You had a lot of anger driving those voters against that foreign socialist president and his unconstitutional government takeover of healthcare. Now that it's more apparent that none of those things are true the anger is dying down and what's still there is alienating a lot of more reasonable-minded people. And they'll alienate even more if they go with a "real" conservative in 2016.

One a big-picture note, aside from a change in demographics unfavorable to the Republican party, with the increasing interconnectedness of the modern world, and the increasing exposure to different cultures and lifestyles and just plain knowledge, it will be hard to stoke the fear and anger the party currently thrives on. The party name may live on, but it will have to fundamentally change from the one we've known for the last 30 or so years.

Lots of assumptions in that. Probably the most obvious is the willingness & ability of Repub leaders to de-radicalize the base that they've been radicalizing for 30 years.

Yeh, sure, the knowledge is out there, but they're conditioned to reject it entirely. When they go to the internet, they check their email for the usual rightwing newsletters & forwarded material from like believers, check Drudge, Newsmax, Breitbart & similar to get their daily dose of outrage, right after tuning in to Hannity, Rush, O'Reilly & the rest. Their ability & desire to maintain denial is all encompassing, actually enabled by the information they choose to absorb. I'm not sure they're de-programmable, at all.
 

nehalem256

Lifer
Apr 13, 2012
15,669
8
0
Lots of assumptions in that. Probably the most obvious is the willingness & ability of Repub leaders to de-radicalize the base that they've been radicalizing for 30 years.

Yeh, sure, the knowledge is out there, but they're conditioned to reject it entirely. When they go to the internet, they check their email for the usual rightwing newsletters & forwarded material from like believers, check Drudge, Newsmax, Breitbart & similar to get their daily dose of outrage, right after tuning in to Hannity, Rush, O'Reilly & the rest. Their ability & desire to maintain denial is all encompassing, actually enabled by the information they choose to absorb. I'm not sure they're de-programmable, at all.

The amount of irony in this post coming from you is incredible.

Maybe you should stop blaming Reagan for problems, that according to your own sources, started in the 70s before you start accusing people of being unde-programmable.
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,685
136
The amount of irony in this post coming from you is incredible.

Maybe you should stop blaming Reagan for problems, that according to your own sources, started in the 70s before you start accusing people of being unde-programmable.

You exemplify what I offered, even resort to duh-version in a blatant show of denial.
 
Nov 29, 2006
15,877
4,430
136
I think the GOP as it stands in the pat few years is going to die. I think they will adopt libertarian policies and go from there. Its the only way they can survive.
 

davmat787

Diamond Member
Nov 30, 2010
5,512
24
76
I just don't understand why they pandered so much to the religious right, that just seems strategically retarded. It is not like the risked losing that sorry faction to the left, so why did the R's double down? They should have stuck to the fiscal conservatism and debt tune, although their record can be exposed if they push that too far.

It will be very interesting to see what they come up with to increase their viability among the changing demographics of our country.
 

trenchfoot

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
15,764
8,342
136
Getting rid of the extremists and radicals means getting rid of their base; the foundation of which the Repub party built its house of smoke and mirrors upon.

How can a party that is controlled by, of, and for the rich honestly approach its base followers, most of them middle class and/or poor, and tell them that reducing taxes for the rich means having their very own middle class and poor party members pay even more to cover the billions the rich will reward themselves with from the lies and deception they practice on their very own party members?

How can that party tell its base that they are being duped into voting against their own best interests by supporting an agenda that has aggressively shrunk the middle class and sent them into the ranks of the poor?

How can that party tell its own middle class and poor members that privatizing social security will only turn them into gullible victims of a gambling house where all the games are rigged in favor of those super rich "investors" that control that house and that they are salivating at the thought of all the transferrence of wealth that will occur once their conceived impediment that SS symbolizes is removed, when in fact SS is just that. Social SECURITY. We can fix it. The Repubs only want to turn it into a pot of gold for the rich.

How can a party tell its own base that what they've been led to believe is based on fear, hatred, bigotry and religious intolerance, when the party itself created this prevailing mindset among its own to keep them loyal and ignorant of what's happening around them?

All that party can do is keep selling the lies laced with fear and hatred. They created the monster and now the monster can't be constrained lest it turns on its masters.

The only way the Repub party is going to change is if the very rich who own the mindset of that party perceives that their very existence is in jeopardy and a move back to an age of reason is needed to survive.

Fat chance of that happening anytime soon.
 
Last edited:

monovillage

Diamond Member
Jul 3, 2008
8,444
1
0
How cute, cheerleaders and a pep rally just like I was back in high school.

The biggest question is which party will control the Senate, but tell you one thing the Republicans are still going to be able to block bad legislation.
 

trenchfoot

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
15,764
8,342
136
How cute, cheerleaders and a pep rally just like I was back in high school.

The biggest question is which party will control the Senate, but tell you one thing the Republicans are still going to be able to block bad legislation.

Cool! You were a high school cheerleader huh? j/k ;)
 

MarkLuvsCS

Senior member
Jun 13, 2004
740
0
76
Republicans are still going to be able to block legislation.

You can't have everyone come out ahead when each party demands theirs be victorious. So now it seems to boil down to Rep or Dem. Whatever gets brought by one is dismissed by the other. I honestly hope it continues because its going to take a serious wake up call to get anything fixed.
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,685
136
You can't have everyone come out ahead when each party demands theirs be victorious. So now it seems to boil down to Rep or Dem. Whatever gets brought by one is dismissed by the other. I honestly hope it continues because its going to take a serious wake up call to get anything fixed.

We nearly had that wake up call in late 2008 & early 2009. Had the Treasury & FRB not intervened, we'd have had a Repub policy induced economic crash greater than 1929. Only the fact that we pulled back from the brink of disaster allows Righties room for denial, at all.

They're still working at it, never fear.