There's a lot of talk about Sarah Palin's role in the GOP. Some people believe she was bad for John McCain's campaign and some people believe that she has tapped into the GOP's base -- anti-gay, pro-gun, right wing Christian believers. I think Palin's days in the GOP are numbered. When people aren't sure whether or not they can keep their homes, they suddenly don't give a rat's ass about gays getting married. When people are worried about putting food on their tables, they don't much care about being able to buy Uzis at gun shows.
That's where the GOP is now. If McCain loses this election, the GOP is going to need to do some heavy rebuilding. This election is proving that the GOP can't count on the gun, anti-gay crowd to get them elected. If the GOP not only loses the Presidential election, but loses the ability to fillibust in the Senate; they'll really have to go back to the drawing board.
In the last eight years -- and possibily even before -- the GOP's base didn't care what happened as long as the politician was pro-gun, anti-gay and right wing Christian. Start a war in Iraq, fine by us -- just don't let those queers get married. Give tax breaks to the rich, but keep spending like there's no tomorrow -- you got it, just let me buy my assault rifle.
I left the GOP behind a long time ago. Had I been able to vote, I would've voted for Reagan -- both times. I made Alex P. Keaton look like a liberal back in those days. But, I've had to leave my beloved party behind because more and more they've lost sight of what makes a great Republican. They've forgotten that it was Lincoln who freed the slaves. Theodore Roosevelt was progressive.
Maybe, if the GOP gets back to the idea of a better government -- one that supports rights for all Americans and doesn't believe in subsidies to large businesses, maybe the Republican party can survive. When that day happens, the anti-Conservative Conservatives will have to fall by the wayside. There won't be any room for Sarah Palin in the mix.
If they don't dump the far right ideas, the Republican Party won't survive.
And that would be a sad day indeed.
God Bless
Top Of My Head
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Palin and the GOP
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2 comments:
I think this was an interesting read. I agree with most everything you say. It is amazing to see how the "bases" of these parties have evolved. The Republicans being the birth of a party out of the Civil War, after the fall of the Whig party, came out with the message and idea that the country must be united. Now it seems that the Republicans have indeed lost sight of this one America idea, and even spends less time focusing on the needs of all of America and more interested in focusing on those people that already have an organized voice in the political process.
I would disagree with you on Palin however. I think that the Republicans now have to find their message and their new "base". However, I honestly think that this will not be the end for Palin, because she still managed to energize the base, and had this country not been in the political and economic quagmire it is in, we as Americans might have gotten easily distracted by the uniqueness of Palin. (I mean we did this in 2004 when Bush won comfortably for a second term, when we all knew his first term was one mired in deception and inconsistency. However Kerry's lack of personality and vagueness on what he was offering that was different or fresh is what cost him) She is polarizing in that you love her or hate her, but if you are a party that has just been licked in a General Election, you look to someone that energize your base. She is an attention grabber. Give her 4 years, lots of coaching, and some talking points, and the GOP might try to enter her in the race in 2012.
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You have a point that Palin is energizing, but I think the GOP is at a crossroads. If they continue down this "moral" path, they may not win too many elections. However; I was just thinking this morning that in bad times, America turns to Democrats to see them through, but in good times they turn to the GOP. This thought made me think there's two possiblities for this: 1) In good times, you have more time to worry about what the other guy has. When you don't have to worry about putting a roof over your head, you start looking in your neighbors' yards and wonder how did he/she get that? And 2) You start worrying about morals. Suddently, that gay person down the street is some sort of threat.
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