Yes.
It's sad to see. The further the GOP moves away from the center, the more difficult it will be to win back power.
Exactly right. But so long as the republicans want to be the party of "no" and play with "tea parties" and wedge issues instead of fixing what they broke, the repubs will be more and more marginalized.
Pity, too... as I've said before, I've always felt they should go back to being the smart guys in the room.
Republicans need to purify their core by fire. I frankly don't understand Dems who like Spector and all the other RINO Republicans and then turn around and say things like, "When you guys were in charge, you ran up the deficit, there was no control." Who the F do you think was doing all the spending? It was non-fiscal conservative a-holes like Spector.
Republicans, if they truly wish to stand for something again, must get back to a time when the core of their party stood for principled defense of American traditions and traditional values. Firmly rooted in the foundational documents of this country and informed the great traditions that have formed around those principles.
Further, those principles must be a razor against which past, present and future actions by government are measured. When actions are found wanting, they should be cut out. After developing this core philosophical approach, expansion and inclusion can come. But, people should be on notice of what they are joining before they join.
By the way, I'm under no illusion that the core would be a massive number of people who think like that. There aren't enough people informed enough to think like that, but the leaders must. Once they can articulate those values, there will be a swell of support for those leaders. The Republicans are early on in their process and it's a crap shoot if they will ever get there.
As for being the party of "NO," hey, it worked for the Dems. They never had a plan for anything when they were out of power. Just hate, vitriol and lies. So that must be what works.
