I enjoy reading the more reasonable Republican leaning blogs but I'm puzzled by their constant attempts at reforming the GOP and bring it back into the sane conservative fold.
Let's be frank, the powers in control of the GOP don't want to return. They want to be out there on the fringe of American values and pragmatic common sense. They never felt at home in the mainstream and Gingrich showed the way to power by being bomb throwers. However, as history has demonstrated time and again....bomb throwers make lousy government officials. They care more about petty infighting, being true to some imagined ideology, and appealing to their shrinking and more stringent base.
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The election is shaping up to be a possible blow out. Really a political earthquake. Whether its because of the candidates, decades of poor policy, or the current financial crisis (perhaps all together); its going to be very ugly in the GOP after Nov. I would guess that those in control will not want to admit 20 years of mistakes are based on their mistaken understanding of conservatism or of America, so they will fight all the harder for the remaining scraps. Anyone suggesting a different course will be metaphorically put against the wall.
So let them scream on the radio and Fox at each other; struggling for ever diminishing influence. Maybe, like the Whigs, their time is over. If McCain and his current campaign is the best they can do with 2 wars and a financial meltdown, then they are spent. Let the GOP slip peacefully (though not quietly) into the Night.
However, there is a place for a real opposition party that represents a portion of the population that share common American Values and really thinks of Nation First. Such a party, with good platforms and policies, could attract many, many supporters. I'm afraid, the Republican Party can no longer do that. So start a new one. Not like Nader who tried to get the Federal Govt to pay for his party, but from the ground up. Local and state office, then Congress. It may take a few years but with intelligent leadership and strong commitment to American Values, it can be done.
That is the rational reason-
The other reason is that the GOP has become the Torture Party. You know it, I know it, the birds in the trees know it. The base its leadership has sought and encouraged sees nothing wrong with torture. For that complete and utter betrayal of America, the GOP deserves to be thrown away in the ditch of history. They have lost all moral legitimacy to represent American interests in the political field. I wish our Democratic candidates on all levels were brave enough to refuse to soil themselves by participating in a debate with them.
Let the Republican Party shrivel up and die with its dwindling numbers of dinosaur riding, nail pulling witch hunters. Welcome the birth of a new national party. The Democrats and America needs legitimate opposition and choice; not what is stumbling around now. Its a zombie which shouldn't be revived, better to bury it and start over.
R