WE'VE MOVED! Democratic Convention Watch is now at http://www.DemocraticConventionWatch.com
As many of us stand here, tired beyond tired, gleeful, ready to start work on governing, we may want to consider the GOP.
As reported earlier, there will be a meeting in Northern Virginia tomorrow so that the power bases can discuss where the party needs to head.
Remember, the minority party can choose to work with the majority, or they can choose to endeavor to be obstructionist. (If you haven't read Federalist Paper #10, by James Madison, now would be a good time.) Remember, a LOT of elected Republicans ran ads pointing out their ties to President-elect Obama. They may want to work with the administration, and not against it.
But those are the elected officials, and while they are elected, they are not "the party". "The Party" is the people who provide the money, write the platform, and commit to what the party will represent.
What are their options? Their current Senate leader is Mitch McConnell, who won a squeaker. And in the House, we have John Boehner, who may not survive in a leadership role, after losing two cycles in a row. Bush is the titular head of the party, since McCain lost. A new RNC chair will soon be chosen, and with him/her a whole crop of state and local operatives. Not to mention the pundits that lean right, the moneyed backers, the rank-and-file members and voters. And potentially, the Church.
So, how now brown cow? Here are the factions, in no particular order:
The Evangelical Right, which wants the party to move further right on SOCIAL issues, and doesn't care about much else.
The Co-Opted Base, aka the "old" Republicans, who are socially moderate (or don't care at all because they don't believe that the government should legislate social issues) which wants smaller government, fewer regulations, and less taxes.
The Realists, the group which believes that politics is not only philosophy, but also a career choice, and will want to do what is necessary to stay employed. This group includes the people who are willing to reach towards the center to the end of moving the country forward. This groups somewhat overlaps with:
The Right Intellectuals, including people like Karl Rove and Newt Gingrich. These folks want to be back in power on philosophical grounds as well as employment grounds, and can see a path to working with the Democrats to the end of recapturing the huge swatch of black America, Hispanic America, and intellectual America from whom they are now completely removed.
They will determine whether the GOP turns centrist in terms of economy, or right in terms of old-guard economic policy; whether they decide to let Church doctrine dictate social policy, or whether it moderates; and whether the neo-cons have a place at the table, or whether they will be ostracized.
We don't know how the negotiations will go, nor who will be willing to splinter and walk away.
From these discussions will arise the new Republican leadership. They will show themselves in who their leaders are in the House and Senate, how they advertise, how they use the MSM, as well as whether they are able to rebuild their party. It is possible that the Bush Republicans may evaporate, replaced with something else.
One of the major decisions will be the role of the Church in the party. Yes, I know about the separation of Church and State idea. The GOP does not. They used the churches to great advantage in 2000 and 2004 in their GOTV efforts. They have pandered shamelessly to the Evangelical right since the days of Reagan while simultaneously mocking them behind closed doors. Rick Warren didn't get national air time with President-elect Obama and McCain because of his looks.
The Democratic Party is a big tent, and will need to find a way to integrate the centrists and the left, and the far left. How far centrist are we willing to go to work with the GOP to the end of reaching national goals? I don't know the answer to that question, but I know that the Democratic Party, MY party, stands for freedom and inclusion, for the rights of ALL, and will not kowtow to a minority party dedicated to repression, exclusion, and a restriction of human and civil rights. And the people determining the future of the GOP know that also.
It will all be interesting to watch.
Logging you in...
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RichardC · 856 weeks ago
Why haven't more people considered that the Republican party is in the middle of something even more earth shattering, like the death of their party completely- aka the Whig party. Republicans as we know it could be on the verge of becoming a historical footnote. If they continue to suffer defeats in 2010, 2012 and 2016 which today seem likely, the party may splinter and die in such a way that some new party (parties) rise up to replace it. I don't think its such a long shot, their brand and ideology is essentially destroyed and on a path to not recover anytime soon.
JohnCz · 856 weeks ago
KarenAnne 67p · 856 weeks ago
Missouri:
McCain 1,442,613
Obama 1,436,745
diff 5,868 = 0.2%
North Carolina:
Obama 2,101,991
McCain 2,089,828
diff 12,163 = 0.3%
Don't know where they are with provisional or absentee ballots, but maybe those differences are low enough to trigger automatic recounts.
TW · 856 weeks ago
Now, I have to say, it would surely do more to oppose the tyranny of faction, to dump the US Constitution today, and to adopt the German Grundgesetz in its place. I wonder if Madison would agree.
uplandpoet 69p · 856 weeks ago
we may get 4 yrs of complete control, but if we are not moving fast enough to solve the economy, or if we end up creeping the tax increases down below say 150K, we will see congress clean house on 2010 and Obama will be on borrowed time for the next two years and have a real fight for reelection. he seems smart enough that i think the progressive agenda will get mostly shelved until 2013, look for economic stimulus and energy/infrastructure public works/public-private funding to be the focus on the first admin, then we can sell 4 more years of peace and prosperity and maybe keep congress even past the next 8 yrs, but i doubt we will hold both congress and the whitehouse past a 2nd obama admin, such things are systemically self preventing.
The GOP lost a couple of big games, but anybody who has ever cheered agaisnt the Yankees, Cowboys, or notre Dame knows not to get too cocky when the big dogs have a flat season. We must continue to build the party, support the admin ( with plaudits and brick bats, when needed) and continue to struggle against the interests who are always arrayed against the disenfranchised, the poor and the weak!
tmess2 70p · 856 weeks ago
I saw five "pro-life" issues (three abortion, one stem cell, one physician assisted suicide). On all five, the pro-life side lost.
I saw several issues related to gay marriage. While the majority of the country still opposes gay marriage, the margins are getting smaller.
I saw two anti-affirmative action issues. In one state, it was too close to call. In the other state, the measure passed, but with less than 60%. That state was Nebraska, about as hard core red as you can get.
The only issue on which the Palin/Huckabee wing of the Republican Party did well was the anti-immigration issue, but that one is a long-term loser for the Republicans.
I see an era of hard-right theo-con/populist control of the Republican Party which will lead to it being a regional party of the Bible Belt.
uplandpoet 69p · 856 weeks ago
and keep in mind that the democratic party is a very big tent. if the gop does become a sold 30% of country then look to see a labor vs green split in the dems in less than a decade, probably a build up of greens, which could lead as likely to the destruction of the dems and to the gop. maybe not, i hope not, but just want to caution against the complacency of thinking we will be the national partty for the next generation.
i would love that, but dont count on it, we lost two of the easiest elections in the past 50 years and only won this time because of the specter of the great depression. remember, palin did not sink the ticket as much as the colapse of the financial markets and the bailout. if mccain had offered some clarity and a reasonably well thought out plan for ecomonic recovery, then he might have won or kept it a lot closer.
whatever you do, do not think the dragon is slain. it is in its cave licking its wounds and improving its fire breathing skills/
Henry · 854 weeks ago