Looking at the Republican Party right now I dont see how they have much of a future. Their message seems to have been completely coopted by the extreme conservative fringe, and while that plays well on places like Fox news, its never going to win an election. There are just not enough extreme conservatives out there, and more moderate conservatives are being turned away by the direction the party is headed in.
Whats more the candidates that the Republican Party is putting up for major offices seem to be getting forced into going along with this far right movement. The message to Republicans from the far right fringes of their own party now seems to be you either get with us, placate us, or well trash you. The left is already going to be trashing any Republican anyway, but now as a candidate you have to face the specter of your own party dumping on you, as Romney did (not that he was a great candidate to begin with). So you get candidates that look uncomfortable and out of place delivering these messages that veer into thinly veiled hate-speech and pseudo-religious reasoning for policy proposals. Which is pretty much the opposite of the direction the majority of this country is going in.
Im looking at this not as a liberal or conservative, but as a moderate. I lean vaguely conservative fiscally (against the individual mandate in Obamacare, against S.S. being conscripted, but would like college education to be free at all state universities), and lean liberal on moral issues (Im Catholic, but dont want to force it on anyone. I believe religious ideology should never be used as reasoning for a law/regulation, and I dont care if gays get married; they have just as much right to be miserable as the rest of us). The irony is that while the GOP was always conservative (obviously), much of their message is so over the top controlling it actually violates the tenets of conservatism. A true conservative is for less government regulation and would be vehemently against regulation of marriage for instance. So you now have a party that sells itself as conservative, but has Neanderthal-era social policies built around the concept of government control over personal liberties. In other words, a complete mess.
As a moderate I did not particularly like Obama during the 08 campaign. I dont like him as President (although my disdain for him has declined slightly). However, I cannot see myself voting for Romney or any other Republican presidential candidate either. Neither party particularly appeals to me, but with a choice between the two parties Im going to choose the one that is true to their stated philosophy & cause (i.e. the liberal party is actually sticking to liberal values), and is NOT attempting to integrate prejudice into their official platform. I know Im not alone in this thought, and I predict that the massive body of independents and moderate leaning conservatives will either not vote at all, or vote Democratic. Unfortunately it seems were wed to a two party system, and I havent heard a peep about the GOP splitting; so a split between the more moderate republicans, and the extreme right seems unlikely, leading me to believe that the party itself will die before attempting to form two viable parties.
What are your thoughts on the future of the GOP, and the potential of its demise (at the very least as a relevant major national political party). If we could keep it civil it would be much appreciated.
Whats more the candidates that the Republican Party is putting up for major offices seem to be getting forced into going along with this far right movement. The message to Republicans from the far right fringes of their own party now seems to be you either get with us, placate us, or well trash you. The left is already going to be trashing any Republican anyway, but now as a candidate you have to face the specter of your own party dumping on you, as Romney did (not that he was a great candidate to begin with). So you get candidates that look uncomfortable and out of place delivering these messages that veer into thinly veiled hate-speech and pseudo-religious reasoning for policy proposals. Which is pretty much the opposite of the direction the majority of this country is going in.
Im looking at this not as a liberal or conservative, but as a moderate. I lean vaguely conservative fiscally (against the individual mandate in Obamacare, against S.S. being conscripted, but would like college education to be free at all state universities), and lean liberal on moral issues (Im Catholic, but dont want to force it on anyone. I believe religious ideology should never be used as reasoning for a law/regulation, and I dont care if gays get married; they have just as much right to be miserable as the rest of us). The irony is that while the GOP was always conservative (obviously), much of their message is so over the top controlling it actually violates the tenets of conservatism. A true conservative is for less government regulation and would be vehemently against regulation of marriage for instance. So you now have a party that sells itself as conservative, but has Neanderthal-era social policies built around the concept of government control over personal liberties. In other words, a complete mess.
As a moderate I did not particularly like Obama during the 08 campaign. I dont like him as President (although my disdain for him has declined slightly). However, I cannot see myself voting for Romney or any other Republican presidential candidate either. Neither party particularly appeals to me, but with a choice between the two parties Im going to choose the one that is true to their stated philosophy & cause (i.e. the liberal party is actually sticking to liberal values), and is NOT attempting to integrate prejudice into their official platform. I know Im not alone in this thought, and I predict that the massive body of independents and moderate leaning conservatives will either not vote at all, or vote Democratic. Unfortunately it seems were wed to a two party system, and I havent heard a peep about the GOP splitting; so a split between the more moderate republicans, and the extreme right seems unlikely, leading me to believe that the party itself will die before attempting to form two viable parties.
What are your thoughts on the future of the GOP, and the potential of its demise (at the very least as a relevant major national political party). If we could keep it civil it would be much appreciated.