How to reform the Republican Party?

[Circe]

Republicans want to end perception as 'stuffy old men'

Posted 3/18 by
CNN Political Unit

Washington (CNN) – The beleaguered Republican Party put into writing Monday what many of its top strategists and leaders have been saying since last year's election losses: The GOP is too old, too white, and too insular to win national contests.

Is it even possible to reform the GOP now? I was hoping it would collapse and a Libertarian Party assume its place, but we haven't got that yet.

I was a lifelong Republican until 2006, when totally disgusted with the losing forever war and fooled by the antiwar stance of the Dems, I reregistered Independent.

I'm not going back to the GOP because they have become essentially anti-woman in almost every stance.

--women hate war, but Republicans never saw a war they didn't want to charge right into.
--women hate all these guns and school shootings, but Republicans love guns and the NRA mailing list is equivalent to the GOP.
--woman hate sex marauders like Herman Cain but Republican (men) will defend him to the death as a great presidential candidate!
--women hate rape but at least two candidates for the Senate actually spoke in favor of rape!! Simply incredible. Both lost, of course.
--most women want abortion freedoms protected for all women. Republican men, of course, want control, control, control over women's reproduction, though it's none of their business.
--women have have been building birth control freedoms since 1929, but a major presidential candidate (Santorum) came out AGAINST birth control! Incredible.
--most women think it's an insult for a boob bimbo to be picked as a VP candidate: Hello, Sarah Palin!
--the cruelties and crimes of Mormons against women and young girls are well-known and there are many tell-all books by "sister wives" that women read. So who did the Republicans pick to run for president?? You guessed it: a Mormon!

As there are substantially more women than men in the population, as women vote disporportionately to our already greater proportion, and since we achieve much lower unemployment and have 55% of all BA degrees and 60% of all masters degrees awarded, I question how much political sense it really makes for the Republican Party to be so inimical toward women.

I don't see how the GOP can come back. They've lost the women, and there are more women voters than the other kind, so that's that. Time for a new party.

Anyone else think the GOP can't recover now? Too old, too white, too .....male?

 

[TNHarley]

Who cares? Fuck both of em'. They both have ruined us
And I am sure they can "reform" just like the dems could and should

 

[oldfart]

Is it even possible to reform the GOP now?....

I don't see how the GOP can come back. They've lost the women, and there are more women voters than the other kind, so that's that. Time for a new party.

Anyone else think the GOP can't recover now? Too old, too white, too .....male?

The GOP I remember was the party of Eisenhower, Dirksen, Rockefeller, Baker, and Ford. It had a right wing, a left wing (gasp!) and a center. It had a tiny John Bircher element, but no Southern wing. It won elections as a national party and did well locally everywhere but the South. This is the party I think a lot of nostalgic Republicans want to re-create.

Like all sentimental memories, the Republican Party of old was not as great in fact as it was in memory. It was not particularly good on women's issues (but neither was any other party short of the Socialist Worker's) in the 50's and early 60's. But the most important thing is that it had not begun to shrink itself by sacrifices on the alters of ideological purity (except for a brief fling by Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin).

Could such a "big tent" Republican Party be re-created? Of course it could. Will it be reconstituted? Of course not. As I see it, today the Republican Party is composed of several overlapping and inconsistent groups: there are social conservatives (which provides much of the core voters), military neo-con hardliners, libertarians, organized racists, big business interests (where the money comes from), and some special interests such as gun-manufacturers (NRA).

What there is not is a believable fiscal conservatism, a coherent economic policy, or a sense of identity. You can't run a party as being united only in its desire for power and its hatred of the other parts of the body politic. These thinks are not impossible to create; the people in the current Republican Party have generally no desire to create them. It would be easier to build a brand new party than it would be to reform the old baggage of the GOP.

A lot of Democrats argue that a healthy two-party system is necessary in the US and therefore they hope the GOP can redeem itself. I think that's hogwash. Every so often American politics reconstitutes itself and old parties die (Whig, Dixiecrat/American) and new third and fourth parties emerge (Look at the election of 1912!). Sometimes parties are not worth saving, and I think the GOP is the poster child of that today. No one in it seems to be happy with it unless they are in total control.

So support the Libertarian Party or the Green Party; make the major parties fight for minor party endorsements at the local level, elect some US Representatives and governors and state legislators. That's the only way to change a major party.

 

[AVG-JOE]

How to reform the Republican Party?

Start by abandoning all interest in Trickle Down Economics. Follow that up with a call for fair and simple taxes, transparency in politics and public budgets that are balanced by law.

That's the plan that will bring me back to the right.

 

[Circe]

How to reform the Republican Party?

Start by abandoning all interest in Trickle Down Economics. Follow that up with a call for fair and simple taxes, transparency in politics and public budgets that are balanced by law.

That's the plan that will bring me back to the right.

Get entirely out of social issues? And concentrate on rightwing economic positions. Yeah, I would like that, too. Given that most of the GOP's social issues are basically anti-women, just entirely giving up all social issues couldn't hurt. The ones that aren't about women (such as homosexual marriage, blacks, Hispanics) also deduct YET MORE voters from the GOP.........

And at some point, all they've got is a few old white guys yelling, "You kids get off my lawn!!"

God knows I have nothing against old white guys in general, but it's not a large enough voter pool to ever win another election.

And it leaves me with no one to vote for! I'm no Democrat, Libertarians don't actually have any real candidates, all I can do now is give up on democracy. The GOP cannot really expect me to vote for the party of no legal birth control, Herman Cain for president, rape is "legitimate."

Darn. We so need a party switch-out. I think women would FLOCK to a Libertarian Party. Isn't that basically what women want in politics? Men to mind their own damn business and quit trying to control us and sex us up even when we don't like them. Remember Jack Ryan of Illinois? That's how Obama got into the Senate and then quickly into the White House. The GOP ran a guy who had shopped his wife around at sex clubs, against her will, and she divorced him for it! Oh, good move, GOP.

 

[editec]

How to reform the Republican Party?

Reform Republicans and the party follows.

duh!

 

[Circe]

The GOP I remember was the party of Eisenhower, Dirksen, Rockefeller, Baker, and Ford. It had a right wing, a left wing (gasp!) and a center. It had a tiny John Bircher element, but no Southern wing. It won elections as a national party and did well locally everywhere but the South. This is the party I think a lot of nostalgic Republicans want to re-create.

Like all sentimental memories, the Republican Party of old was not as great in fact as it was in memory. It was not particularly good on women's issues (but neither was any other party short of the Socialist Worker's) in the 50's and early 60's. But the most important thing is that it had not begun to shrink itself by sacrifices on the alters of ideological purity (except for a brief fling by Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin).

Right. That's certainly what I want. By the late '60s, when I was voting finally, the GOP was fine for women. There was a compact, and we all knew it --- women discussed it. The GOP would pretend to be mildly against some women's issues, notably abortion, but would not discuss it much, as being not very nice to talk about and then they would do nothing once in power. And that totally worked for me and I voted Republican in EVERY election, always turned out.

Could such a "big tent" Republican Party be re-created? Of course it could. Will it be reconstituted? Of course not. As I see it, today the Republican Party is composed of several overlapping and inconsistent groups: there are social conservatives (which provides much of the core voters), military neo-con hardliners, libertarians, organized racists, big business interests (where the money comes from), and some special interests such as gun-manufacturers (NRA).

What there is not is a believable fiscal conservatism, a coherent economic policy, or a sense of identity. You can't run a party as being united only in its desire for power and its hatred of the other parts of the body politic.

Well, that's the thing, you know? That's what I'm saying, too, with respect to women: whose bright idea was it to make the GOP come out strongly and profanely against everything favoring women? Who make up well over 50% of the electorate????

I tear my hair.

It would be easier to build a brand new party than it would be to reform the old baggage of the GOP.

A lot of Democrats argue that a healthy two-party system is necessary in the US and therefore they hope the GOP can redeem itself. I think that's hogwash. Every so often American politics reconstitutes itself and old parties die (Whig, Dixiecrat/American) and new third and fourth parties emerge (Look at the election of 1912!). Sometimes parties are not worth saving, and I think the GOP is the poster child of that today. No one in it seems to be happy with it unless they are in total control.

I think you've summarized the general hopelessness of the GOP very well. I don't think it can recover either. I would so love to see the Libertarian Party replace it, but I don't see that even close. Not anywhere CLOSE. Might as well say the Green Party could replace the Dems --- it's just not on the horizon, even.

I think people like me --- hate the Dems because of their AWFUL economics and many other things, hate the GOP because they hate me as a woman --- we'll just have to withdraw from politics and democracy until things change. Until the revolution, until the Libertarians, until something big happens, if ever. The thing to do is stop caring.

 

[AVG-JOE]

I got to thinkin' when I heard this...

81% of Americans under 30 support gay marriage

If The Republican Party, Inc. wants more market share, it needs to take on a more market approach to the viewpoints that it allows in the door, and if republicans begin to change to better reflect the changing demographics of the people that they are asking to lead, it will be the social issues pushed by the current religious base that are sacrificed. Smaller and smaller grows the percentage of the population who cares enough to be politically active about such things outside of their own circle of influence. If I could be a republican and not give a shit about gay marriage or abortion, leaving those decisions to the individual consumer as a personal choice, I'd take a look.

The success enjoyed by both The Republican Party, Inc. and The Democratic Party, Inc. in limiting American politics to a two party duopoly is proving interesting. The danger of a two party system lay in one party or the other getting hijacked by a subgroup with an agenda. Just as America was blossoming into a diverse population with many different viewpoints, Religious America, finding itself losing control over every soul through the church, looked to politics. Religious Americans did exactly what they were supposed to do in this country when Monkeys with resources fear for something they feel is important, they organize. Hijacking Republican, Inc. to defend and maintain the codification of their morals in law when the winds of change and diversification began blowing more fiercely in the 60's just made good economic sense.

This was a big deal back when Pat Robertson was testing the Presidential Primary waters. Obviously he didn't run then, but he looked. Fortunately, there were other, popular and more moderate republican candidates back then. Between then and now though, it seems that the republican candidate quality has been fading to the religious right, making a Pat Robertson type candidate look possible, and making any candidate who can please the base in the primaries a bit of a buffoon in the general.

The next two elections are going to be very interesting.

What happens in our two-party system if one party garners 81% of the vote because the opposition leadership is just plain stubborn? Makes The Democratic Party, Inc. primary elections something to participate in, if a Monkey can.



Either the Republicans jettison their base and its stubborn opposition to certain social freedoms or the party dies.

Either way, it appears that the end of codified religious morals in America is in sight.

`​

 

[Circe]

Either the Republicans jettison their base and its stubborn opposition to certain social freedoms or the party dies.

I think there is another problem with the GOP and that is their selection of really bad candidates. That's a marketing problem, too.

The GOP was supposed to take the Senate this election, but after two senatorial candidates turned out to be rape enthusiasts and lost, the GOP actually lost a Senate seat, rather than gaining control.

McCain -- you gotta love his health and vigor, but that's all -- chose a VP who turned him on sexually, evidently, but was such a low-IQ bimbo with such peculiar ideas and such a direly messed-up family, who could vote for her? And therefore him?

The pool of supposed candidates in the 2012 election was so bad that's all the news focused on -- one was actually into regular sexual assault of blond women and had also kept a white mistress for 15 years, Herman Cain, one of them, Perry, had a meltdown on stage and couldn't talk for 30 seconds of live air time --- and on and on. The very last anyone-but-Romney guy, Santorum, actually wanted to make birth control illegal!!!

Then they selected the guy they always meant to select, as we all knew and desperately didn't want, the Mormon with his money in three tax havens, Bermuda, Switzerland, and the Cayman Islands.

This is marketing? This is a disaster. You've got to have SOME sort of decent product to offer the voter that appeals to them.

 

[AVG-JOE]

​

Fortunately, there were other, popular and more moderate republican candidates back then. Between then and now though, it seems that the republican candidate quality has been fading to the religious right, making a Pat Robertson type candidate look possible, and making any candidate who can please the base in the primaries a bit of a buffoon in the general.

`​

 

[oldfart]

Either the Republicans jettison their base and its stubborn opposition to certain social freedoms or the party dies.

I think there is another problem with the GOP and that is their selection of really bad candidates. That's a marketing problem, too.

The GOP was supposed to take the Senate this election, but after two senatorial candidates turned out to be rape enthusiasts and lost, the GOP actually lost a Senate seat, rather than gaining control.

This is marketing? This is a disaster. You've got to have SOME sort of decent product to offer the voter that appeals to them.

I think the near future will see the decline of the GOP as a national party, but a virulent and nastier party at the state level. They have real success in electing governors and state legislators. Don't think nationally; look at North Dakota, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. The program is to control state legislatures and gerrymander districts to keep control of the legislatures and a majority in the US House of Representatives; resist reform of health care financing, Wall Street regulation, raising the minimum wage, immigration reform, gay & women's rights, gun control, etc.; and criminalize abortion & contraception, push school vouchers, break public employee unions, and so forth on the local level.

This probably means two Americas for a couple of decades. I don't see Nebraska or Mississippi changing soon, but Texas could hit a tipping point, as could Georgia and South Carolina. Republicans will survive in Blue States only if they keep a distance from the Republican Parties in the Red States. The Republican Party in the Very Red States will become more reactionary and extremist. The Democratic Party will shift to more progressive positions in almost all states and may divide into two or three wings (Progressive, Fiscal Conservative Democrats, Corporatists?) Should be interesting.

 

[TNHarley]

We get it
If the GOP wants a chance to survive, they should help destroy the nation and become liberal

 

[Circe]

We get it
If the GOP wants a chance to survive, they should help destroy the nation and become liberal

No, no ---- keep on doing what you are doing; it's working so well for you.

 

[TNHarley]

We will see
LOL liberalism is the only way to be!
De-criminalize(except for freedom)
Amnesty (yea fuck the rest of us, and stab the back of the law-abiding immigrants)
gun control(especially edit)
pussifying America
I could go on and on
People are starting to wake up
Just hope it wont be too late
And the GOP is filled with dumbasses, I am not claiming that they are not
ALL THIS BS about how they need to reform(basically lean left) they are doomed
LOL@U

 

[KevinWestern]

Personally, I think we need a party that is fiscally conservative and not so backwards on the social issues.

It might be hard for some of the USMB posters to understand this concept, but it IS possible to believe in limited government AND ALSO support gay marriage in your community, abortion (choice), ect, ect. Why does everything have to be so damned black and white all of the time? Personally, I want to drastically reduce the size and reach of the Federal Gov't, but still support things like a progressive income tax system. There's so much good that can come from breaking down the black-and-white barriers our Media masters construct for us.

Too, I think many Democrats really need to accept the fact if cuts are proposed to Medicare, ect, it's NOT because conservatives "hate old people" or "the poor". Perhaps we just think that if we don't make the cuts, everyone will lose down the road; it's a necessity. Some of you need to understand that conservatives aren't this mindless evil force hell bent on making the rich richer and the poor poorer. In fact, I'd argue that it's often BIG GOV'T that is responsible for making the rich richer; many of these so called 'regulations' are designed to keep the small players out of the market, and they're designed that way because the corporations can afford the lobbyists (who end up drafting a great majority of our laws). Politicians don't have time to read through the fine print or review new laws word for word - they're usually too busy fundraising.

Anyways, just my 2 cents.

 

[AVG-JOE]

We get it
If the GOP wants a chance to survive, they should help destroy the nation and become liberal

Noooooooo...

They need to lighten up on their desire to restrict certain social freedoms.

A call for fair and simple taxes wouldn't hurt either... just let the few libertarians that remain take the wheel for a few years and tell the religious right to pound sand. Easy-Squeezy!!

 

[Circe]

I think the near future will see the decline of the GOP as a national party, but a virulent and nastier party at the state level. They have real success in electing governors and state legislators. Don't think nationally; look at North Dakota, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. The program is to control state legislatures and gerrymander districts to keep control of the legislatures and a majority in the US House of Representatives; resist reform of health care financing, Wall Street regulation, raising the minimum wage, immigration reform, gay & women's rights, gun control, etc.; and criminalize abortion & contraception, push school vouchers, break public employee unions, and so forth on the local level.

This probably means two Americas for a couple of decades. I don't see Nebraska or Mississippi changing soon, but Texas could hit a tipping point, as could Georgia and South Carolina. Republicans will survive in Blue States only if they keep a distance from the Republican Parties in the Red States. The Republican Party in the Very Red States will become more reactionary and extremist. The Democratic Party will shift to more progressive positions in almost all states and may divide into two or three wings (Progressive, Fiscal Conservative Democrats, Corporatists?) Should be interesting.

Yes, the Journal is saying something very like this also, that the GOP is strong locally, but the national elections are not going well. Maybe that's because national pols are trying to be as rightwing as locals because otherwise they'll be castigated as RINOs.

Can we be Two Americas for two decades without blowing apart? I'd say no --- I am perennially amazed we've stayed together this long; it's historically rare. And such a large land-mass, too! Usually it blows apart and reforms a number of times in this timeframe we've had. Look at Russia. Or Germany. Or anywhere, really.

I don't foresee unity again, anyway. Last time we were this disunited, we had a Civil War, of course.

 

[PaulS1950]

Make the libertarian party the second party.... Let the republicans join it to get elected and follow the "hands off" policy of the Libertarian platform.

 

[PaulS1950]

The Libertarians have a good ticket! Get the feds out of peoples pockets, bedrooms, businesses, and lives. Let people have the freedom to excell. Stop being "the world police" at least unless the countries that want intervention are willing to pay the bill for it.
Stop illegal immigration - the number one crime in the country and live by the constitutional limits placed on the federal government. It worked well for 150+ years so let's get back to it.

 

[oldfart]

Yes, the Journal is saying something very like this also, that the GOP is strong locally, but the national elections are not going well. Maybe that's because national pols are trying to be as rightwing as locals because otherwise they'll be castigated as RINOs.

I think the best way to look at it is to take each element of the GOP (or the Dems) and see what they contribute and get out of it, and what options they have. So take the Big Money, which has two wings, Financial Services (Wall Street) and Real Economy (mainly Energy). These two broad groups are not necessarily on the same page. I don't see why the Koch brothers would have a great interest in protecting hedge fund managers. They could back a populist anti-Wall Street effort in either or both parties, although the GOP is a better fit. Wall Street might switch back to Democrats if they think the Dems will back off real financial reform and regulation.

Social Conservatives can control the party at the state level and achieve most of their goals there. I don't see them moving anywhere. We can do the same kind of reasoning for other groups. Where do you think the Christian Environmental movement will end up?

Can we be Two Americas for two decades without blowing apart? I'd say no --- I am perennially amazed we've stayed together this long; it's historically rare. And such a large land-mass, too! Usually it blows apart and reforms a number of times in this timeframe we've had. Look at Russia. Or Germany. Or anywhere, really.

I don't foresee unity again, anyway. Last time we were this disunited, we had a Civil War, of course.

I've studied enough history (and lived enough!) to realize that the good old days were pretty rotten. Those golden days of unity were characterized by lynchings, church burnings, private armies and federal troops shooting into striking workers, child labor in coal mines (the kids were short enough to work standing up), and most of the WCTU buzzed on cocaine. Remember "Reefer Madness"?

So I think we will get through this period somehow, at the probable cost of a few hundred thousand extra deaths, millions of unnecessarily ruined American lives, and scenes of degradation and depravity seen nowhere else in the civilized world.