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Date Posted: 09:37:33 11/13/08 Thu
Author: Bill
Author Host/IP: 71.250.47.83
Subject: Re: Festung Humpty Dumpty
In reply to: Prairie Dawg 's message, "Festung Humpty Dumpty" on 09:51:28 11/12/08 Wed

The GOP has had a problem for decades understanding that the party was moving AWAY from the far right not eother staying there or moving in that direction.
The prime message used to be for conservative values that had little or nothing to do with the religious right or other radical splinter groups but the splinter groups managed to gain a lot of influence because their people were pretty loyal to the party when it came to pulling the lever in the voting booth.
If the " pro lifers " voted strongly for the R candidate it was not because they were loyal to the party but rather loyal to the pro life position which was more in tune with the GOP than with the Ds who were freedom of choice oriented. The Rs lost a lot of elections on that one question alone when they lost the center because of including that plank in the party platform.
If the fiscal conservatives voted for the Rs because they were promising to clean up spending and balance the budget they were loyal to that principle not to the party in all its positions and if the other side in the election moved more toward those principles than they moved as well.
I really doubt that there has been a " solid " GOP for many decades just as I doubt that the Dems have had as solid a party faithful as would seem to be the case by voting records alone.
That center of the position group of independents that went from a small group of undecideds to about one third of the people who actually go out and vote on things, and candidates, has been the deciding factor for many election cycles now and who gets them or the majority of them in their count is the party that wins.
The problem with the parties is they tend to choose the loudest voices and the more radical leaders to run things which is counterproductive to cooperation and passage of things that would work if there were not such a battle over them for purely partisan reasons. On a National level that trend has stalled action for decades on legislation that could have prevented a lot of the present mess and allowed legislation on some things that have contributed to the mess.
Whatever the GOP does to rebound from their present low point is only a part of the problem that needs to be addressed and only their problem to solve.
If they go more radical right wing it will most likely not be a way to solve that problem just as the movement more toward the center helped the Ds elect a lot of national office holders in the midterm by running more center oriented people who were a lot more in tune with the voting public than the radicals on either side that have lost touch with the population while fighting over who gets to run the country.
People wanted change in this last election on all levels in government where there was a trend toward ignoring the population and it's problems. If your party was in charge then it was seen as a part of the problem rather than the solution.
If the Rs are moving more to the right it is not because the registered republicans have changed in that direction but rather because those who disagree have decided to go independent or at the very least vote as independents while retaining the abillity to vote in a primary on candidate selection by not removing themselves from the voting rosters but not necessarilly voting the party line when it goes too far away from their own interests.

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