so... how does the GOP ever regain legitimacy?

[Lerkfish]

I'm not being overly sarcastic, here.

Although they started the crazy with the Schaivo circus (literally, Jesus on a trailer hitch), and they have careened wildly into batshit territory with the birthers, and finally, they've cozied up to the KKK.

how in the world can they ever return to being a legitimate choice on the ballot? (not that I want them to)

Let's put the shoe on the other foot -- if the Dems had been circling the drain like this, how would we ever return to rationality?

I humbly suggest there is no way for the GOP to ever do so.

the only way possible is for the party to split. I'm sure the saner republicans are HOPING the teabaggers, the Palinites, and the racists are going to do the splitting... but frankly I think they're wrong.
I think once those cockroaches have been let in the door, there is no way to get rid of them.


what's that word? Schaudenfreude?

heh.

[Engineer4Obama]

1. Only if they can figure out how to detach themselves from their radical base

basically if they want to stage a comeback they have to lose a few elections first and convince the crazies that they have no place in their party.

So no no they won't.

[mwb970]

2. Exactly.

As long as the crazies are treated as the basis for the party, the epic fail will continue. I can't think of any equivalent phenomenon on the left, ever. We're in new territory here.

[Lerkfish]

5. right, that's why I'm asking the question: this is new territory.

its the inmates taking over the asylum. The crazies were always in the background, never acknowleged or promoted.
NOW, they're the only "republicans" showing up to events.

This is unprecedented in my memory. As wrong as the GOP has been in the past, they never seemed this self-delegitimized (if that's a word... the spell didn't flash on it! ha!)

[HughBeaumont]

3. Hey, they're the ones not cutting the steel-tight ankle shackles to the fundies and Red-baiters.

The lunatics are running THAT asylum now. Even the non-lunatics have backward to downright boneheaded methods of governing and economics. Proof positive is the massive National Debt and the boarded-up storefronts and factories of small towns everywhere. There ain't no Eisenhowers in this party anymore.

[ejpoeta]

4. the only way they are going to regain anything is if they stand up to the

crazy part of their group. They obviously are afraid to do that right now because most of the normal people with a brain in their heads had split and gone to the independent party and the crazies are pretty much all they have left right now. Any time anyone has tried to stand up to any of these nutjobs they've been smacked by limbaugh and then end up apologizing. They are trapping themselves in a vicious cycle right now.... and unless they stop taking orders from the limbaughs and the glen becks they aren't going to be able to fix it. There are people who WANT to be republicans. can't figure out why, but they do... but their party has been hijacked.

though i must say that the dems aren't helping themselves any. if they would quit trying to appease the people like baucus and grassley et al who have no interest in doing anything but keeping the dems from getting anything done, they are going to end up losing seats and then we will have even more crazies.

[niceypoo]

6. Ditch the religious right

without whom they would be a hollowed out husk

[NewJeffCT]

7. If they survived causing the Great Depression, siding with Hitler in the 30s

and McCarthyism in the 50s, they can survive their current troubles.

[onehandle]

8. Right now they are trying comeback like in the early 90s. After that? 9/11 II. nt

[hobbit709]

9. They are the new "Know Nothings"

[FormerDittoHead]

10. Easy. Let the Dems keep fucking up, losing the message, not stopping corruption, etc.

People are people, and if you don't think that Dems can be corrupt, SEE THE NEW MICHAEL MOORE MOVIE.

Parties get judged by RESULTS. People will accept ANY ideology (at least for a while) if it looks like something DIFFERENT THAN THE THING THAT'S NOT WORKING.

We took over everything after Watergate, but high inflation, gas lines, a hostage crisis and "Billy Beer" were enough to convince people that we needed to do something else, and look what it got us.

I'm not talking about any facts here, BTW, I'm talking about PERCEPTION. (hence the subject re: "losing the message").

[C_U_L8R]

11. They've been teabagged

The republicans quite purposely engaged and energized the worst
of the worst of their base... the racists, the xenophobes, the bigots.
And now they're hopelessly tied to the great white albatross of their own bad intent.
They've done themselves and their political brand more harm while strengthening Democrat resolve.
There are perhaps a few quiet republicans muttering under their breath in shame...
but they've been completely utterly teabagged and they're not getting their GOP back.
No way.

[AlinPA]

12. Only if we as a party continue to allow them to beat us down the way they did Sen. Baucus.

If our "leaders" in congress capitulate the way Pelosi and Reid have.

BTW, we saw leadership in Rep. Clyburn and Rep Stoyer in the resolution of disapproval for Wilson.

[ThomWV]

13. All it would take for the Republicans to come back stronger than ever is one good Leader

And I'd watch out for David Petraeus myself.

[KharmaTrain]

14. They Don't...

We're seeing the death throes of the rushpublican party that has existed for the past 50 years. Their moderate wing was slowly eroded and in the past decade the few remaining were either marginalized for chased out of the party. The boooosh era saw the disconnect of years of talking points and reality. What resulted was a disaster...one this corrupt party created and still refuses to acknowledge. As long as they avoid responsibility, they can't regain credibility that would allow them to gain popularity among the "middle" where elections are won and lost.

What's left now are the crazy and the crazier. The extremists have turned on their handlers. With all their economic and social goals in shatters, all that's left is hate...the ultimate glue that holds all GOOPers together. This monster is now consuming the party as the powers that be can't offend these people who fill their coffers and vote in their primaries and the pull to further right is creating a "five spiral dive".

While the GOOPers can pound their chests and say they're about to make a big comeback...the signs are there for further deterioration. As we saw with the Democrats in the early 00's...losing gets tiring and eventually the party establishment will look away from the extremes and try to find candidates who are more moderate. When that happens, the real fun begins and the extremists will revolt and the party could schism into a bunch of third parties. When that happens, the GOOPers have officially followed their Whig bretheren into history.

Another party or two will emerge...but more consumed with fighting each other and catering to their regional bases than to be ocmpetitive on a national level.

[Doctor_J]

15. What are you talking about? 60 million people voted for them

last November. We are never going to defeat them permanently until you come to grips with the fact that what we see as psychotic behavior has actually grown their numbers. The corporatists are happy to pal around with the teabaggers and Klansmen if it helps to defeat Health Care Reform. And all of their little groups will be voting for Palin in 2012.

Wake up!

[AllentownJake]

18. Someone had a wonderful post yesterday and it, it said

The stupid are leading the greedy.

[DrDan]

16. of course they will be back

who was cozying to the KKK a few decades ago . . .

All they need is a leader with "legitimacy". Palin it ain't. McCain it wasn't. Certainly wasn't huckleberry, fred thompson, santorum.

As soon as that leader emerges, the cycle will start reversing itself.

[AllentownJake]

17. Idiocracy

As ridiculous as they seem to you and me. The country is really stupid. REALLY REALLY STUPID.

[AllentownJake]

19. I was on a campus yesterday

Addressing the College democrats on behalf of a candidate. I asked about the College Republicans. It consisted of 5 people evidently. It used to be 12 but the other 7 left the other 5 to form a Libertarian club.

If you look at the youth the party may actually die and reform as libertarians.

[Doctor_J]

25. Wow. I am impressed

What was the school's demographic? You don't have to give away your location, but can you give us some idea of the campus? S/M/L? Public/private? Allentown/PA?

It's great news anyway.

[Gman2]

20. Who cares, when you have armed insurrection to fall back on!

[Tim01]

21. Now is not their time. But just wait a while. nt

[rug]

22. By having Democrats pass the Baucus bill.

[Hubert Flottz]

23. Why do you think they call them neoCONS?

They lie, cheat, steal and even start wars to "WIN". They create their own reality. There are still many people in America that are stupid enough to be taken in. They still own and dominate the corporate media. Best not to ever let our guard down. The monster may be down, but it's still the monster.(one thing I've learned from a lifetime of watching horror flicks, is to never ever, turn your back on a half dead monster)

The Hell with Grover's bath tub, we need to keep on until we totally flush ALL these sorry turds down the crapper, for the betterment of mankind!

[T Wolf]

24. Take lessons from the Democratic Party about trashing and ignoring your base. Maybe we can

lend them (permanently) a few dozen of our "leaders" to do the job. They pretty much have finished driving the liberal base, if not out of the party, at least out to the parking lot.

[Echo In Light]

26. Scare the populace into supporting 'strong leaders' w/another false flag?