It's a very simple reason. We don't talk about it much. We should. The Republican Party has all the flexibility of the Bolshevik Party. And for the same reason.
Their members cannot think.
Not because they are stupid or foolish. Oddly, not because they are wrong.
Their members cannot think because they are not allowed to think. Not for themselves.
I've actually gotten into this some with a Republican friend of mine. After he sends me the latest internet viral email screed (in 60-point type! Rule: the bigger the font, the smaller the thought) I point out to him that he has not given me any new thoughts. He has just repeated talking points provided by higher authorities. I've told him that the Republicans have a "party line" that is just as active as the "party line" that ruled the Soviets in Stalin's day. And although it is not as murderous, it can be almost as vicious.
My friend actually had contact with Russian troops at the end of WWII, and I share with him a deep disgust at the British and American betrayal of those troops (he's quite amazed that anyone as young as I am even knows about it). So this critique stings him where it truly hurts. I keep giving him this exercise: Say one little thing nice about any Obama, without snark or satire. See how long it takes for your phone to ring and for you to be corrected. He won't ever do it. He can't. He knows it's true.
That is why I have been so fascinated by Newt Gingrich and (a little bit) Rick Perry and their new anti-Mittster tactic regarding Bain. They have stepped outside the party line, and not just a little. Have you seen how quickly Perry's head snapped back at the response? He's been threatened, and for all his Texas tough talk, I don't think that's ever happened to him before (although he's been known to dish it out real good). Newt's a little tougher, so he's hanging on a little longer. Plus his sizable ego won't let him back down from anything easily. But I've been seeing some sweat on his upper lip. Limbaugh's recent rebuke had to hurt. And as the "don't attack free market capitalism" becomes the party line, you're going to see the pressure get turned up. I bet he's getting some tough phone calls right now.
I've watched these people at work. They give reasons for their beliefs, sure. The thoughts come from their Foundations and think tanks. When they have to go off script, though, you see them sweat. These folks are afraid. They are fearful of stepping off into the unknown. There would be consequences--they couldn't charge as much for speeches. They might lose country club privileges. They might have to fly coach. They're terrified. All their fretting of the Dems as "politically correct" or as "Communist" is just projection. They are the ones who have to think and act and talk in lockstep.
I don't want to be scared. That's why I don't vote R.