Where does the GOP go from here?

[baffled]

They need to jettison their right wing lunatic fringe and move back towards a more moderate position. Obama's current policies would have been considered appropriate for a moderate Republican candidate like Barry Goldwater back in the late 60s. And the more I read about Goldwater, the more I wish the US had elected him instead of LBJ back then.

Barry Goldwater a moderate?

Go back and read his stuff. He was painted as a war-hawk and a nut-case by the Dems, but his actual speeches and track record in the Senate was that of a decent man with a conscience.

No shit, but a moderate he was not. Not in today's sense at least.

Goldwater is my favorite politician, past or present, but in American politics, a pol with a conscience is an extremist whack job.

[snatch grip]

If Romney takes the popular vote, the GOP doesn't need to do anything but double down and block the shit out of everything that comes off of BHO's mouth or off his desk - the country will be in such a mess they will hand the keys back to the Repugs in 2016.

You mean just like the Democrats did after they won the popular vote in 2000?

A stronger candidate can't survive the GOP primary. Anyone who thinks Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum would have bested Romney's result is high as fucking kite.

As much shit as he gets I think Ron Paul would have had the best chance at challenging Obama in the general election. He would have pulled a lot of the moderate youth vote that Obama dominates, and as a boarder state representative (Texas) could have pulled decent latino vote numbers as well. Problem was the conservative base and mainstream media just wrote him off without second thought...

I think Paul (as the Republican candidate) would have won this election out right. He'd have the republican base + the libertarian base + pull a certain amount of the youth vote that went Obama's way just because they disliked Romney. I'm personally hoping Rand Paul will give it a run in 2016. I think the major knock on Ron is that some people like what he's saying but he can come off as an old coot. Maybe give a shot to a young up and comer with a similar message.

[DARTH]

If Romney takes the popular vote, the GOP doesn't need to do anything but double down and block the shit out of everything that comes off of BHO's mouth or off his desk - the country will be in such a mess they will hand the keys back to the Repugs in 2016.

You mean just like the Democrats did after they won the popular vote in 2000?

A stronger candidate can't survive the GOP primary. Anyone who thinks Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum would have bested Romney's result is high as fucking kite.

As much shit as he gets I think Ron Paul would have had the best chance at challenging Obama in the general election. He would have pulled a lot of the moderate youth vote that Obama dominates, and as a boarder state representative (Texas) could have pulled decent latino vote numbers as well. Problem was the conservative base and mainstream media just wrote him off without second thought...

I think Paul (as the Republican candidate) would have won this election out right. He'd have the republican base + the libertarian base + pull a certain amount of the youth vote that went Obama's way just because they disliked Romney. I'm personally hoping Rand Paul will give it a run in 2016. I think the major knock on Ron is that some people like what he's saying but he can come off as an old coot. Maybe give a shot to a young up and comer with a similar message.

Rand would work better because he does not have his Dad's cooky, "Fine for the pre supersonic age" outlook on defense.

Let's hope we have a fucking election in 2016 or the nigger catches a bullet or impeachment (Benghazi gate, like Watergate but right in our face and 4 people are dead.). Bidens a jerk off but he would jump to the center just to be able to attach his name to progress.

[Gene]

Assuming Romney continues his path to losing tonight - Florida's non-Cuban Hispanic population makes it more and more a blue state, Texas is majority-minority and could be in play by 2020, moderate Democrats aren't doing too bad in the Midwest these days.

Demographics are against the GOP: old white people die off, the Tea Party is running its course (while burning bridges with the growing Latino vote) and Obama's probably going to get some economic bounce in his second term.

How does the GOP recover and hold on? Jettison the rhetoric about the border and minorities? Get on board with homo rights?

Obama won by two or three percentage points of the popular vote. He ran against a Used Car salesman who was smeared during the primaries by his "base" as a "RINO". His party kept the Senate while gaining two seats. The Senate has two "independents".

The Dems did not get the House. Maybe Tip O'Neill was right after all, "Politics are local".

Latinos are as white as many Italians, French and Arabs.

I think Democrats need to reevaluate their positions, especially about Business regulation and their nutty ideas about Hippy Energy.

[Shafpocalypse Now]

ABW hit it on the head. The Repubs lost their way with pandering to the religious right, and tea partners proved to be stupid, racist fucks.

It was Mitts election to lose. His team were a pack of simpletons and grab assers

[DrDonkeyLove]

What Bats said.

Not at all looking forwad to the future. Our kids and grandkids are going to hate this generation when they see what has been left for them to deal with.

I watched the election with my 12 year old grandson. He was taken aback to learn that he's $250K in debt. I didn't have the heart to tell him that it'll be much worse by the time he's an adult.

We had a chance for long term fiscal sanity with Ryan on the team. Makes me terribly sad for what we're leaving our kids and grand kids - a weaker, poorer, and less free country. What a fucking legacy to leave to people you love.

We elected BushBama and are getting what we deserve.

[Steggy]

The ways things are going fiscally the GOP could just set back and wait for things to blow up. I know the CBO has projected a 20 trillion debt by the end of Obama's second term, I'm thinking that is a low ball figure.

[Andy83]

Give away Mo Free Shit.

Troof! Everybody wants free shit and to keep on sucking the gubmint tit for life.

[TerryB]

[I watched the election with my 12 year old grandson. He was taken aback to learn that he's $250K in debt. I didn't have the heart to tell him that it'll be much worse by the time he's an adult.

We had a chance for long term fiscal sanity with Ryan on the team. Makes me terribly sad for what we're leaving our kids and grand kids - a weaker, poorer, and less free country.

oh good grief

THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING!

The idiots on both sides of the aisle can still find a way to work together, if they choose to do something other than obstruct and play politics (that goes for Obama, Reid, McConnell, etc). A budget can get worked out that isn't perfect but probably incorporates some of Ryan's budget, etc etc

The Republicans lost. They need to live with the fact that the Democrats now get to control the legislative process, to at least some extent. If they throw a tantrum and choose to die on their swords over small, stupid shit, the country winds up fucked. And the Dems are happy to do nothing and blame it on the Republicans. As long as that kind of petty bullshit continues, we're fucked.

So I don't thikn the sky is falling because Obama sits in the White House for 4 more years. it really depends if the morons on Capital Hill can work things out rather than worrying constantly about the next election.

[Protobuilder]

Boehner - ‘‘The American people want solutions, and tonight they responded by renewing our House Republican majority. The American people also made clear there’s no mandate for raising tax rates.’’

[Mickey O'neil]

My main worry is the loss of civil liberties and freedom. And the economy of coarse.

[nafod]

The Republicans lost. They need to live with the fact that the Democrats now get to control the legislative process, to at least some extent.

The repubs control the house, same as before. They control the same extent of the legislative as they did before.

[FRKCTL]

put country ahead of obstructionist partisan politics for a change.

Please expand on this platitude.

over the last two years the organizing principle behind the actions of boehner and mcconnell was to make obama a one term president.

[Grandpa's Spells]

They need to jettison their right wing lunatic fringe and move back towards a more moderate position. Obama's current policies would have been considered appropriate for a moderate Republican candidate

This is where the triumph of the data-driven people is most hopeful. Calling the election is one thing, but the media pundits who were lying about the outcome have also been lying about policy. If you can get to a point where the left/right hysteria is constantly tempered with "Here's where this person's policies stand relative to others of the last 30 years," voters will be much better served.

The hacks on the right just got a big black eye, which is almost an advantage long term, since the hacks on the left haven't gotten hit yet, and may not for another 4 or 8 years. My very liberal friends who are thrilled with Obama baffle me. His actual policies on civil liberties, taxes, foreign policy, etc. are mostly not liberal. Much like the right-wing folks who think Obama's a socialist, they're believing things they're told by people who lie for money.

[DrDonkeyLove]

[I watched the election with my 12 year old grandson. He was taken aback to learn that he's $250K in debt. I didn't have the heart to tell him that it'll be much worse by the time he's an adult.

We had a chance for long term fiscal sanity with Ryan on the team. Makes me terribly sad for what we're leaving our kids and grand kids - a weaker, poorer, and less free country.

oh good grief

THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING!

The idiots on both sides of the aisle can still find a way to work together, if they choose to do something other than obstruct and play politics (that goes for Obama, Reid, McConnell, etc). A budget can get worked out that isn't perfect but probably incorporates some of Ryan's budget, etc etc

The Republicans lost. They need to live with the fact that the Democrats now get to control the legislative process, to at least some extent. If they throw a tantrum and choose to die on their swords over small, stupid shit, the country winds up fucked. And the Dems are happy to do nothing and blame it on the Republicans. As long as that kind of petty bullshit continues, we're fucked.

So I don't thikn the sky is falling because Obama sits in the White House for 4 more years. it really depends if the morons on Capital Hill can work things out rather than worrying constantly about the next election.

It may be falling. BushBama gave us two unfunded, overly long, and unsuccessful wars, Obamacare, wasted stimulus, increasing and onerous regulations, and etc, it is certainly much heavier and more weakly supported than it was in 2000.

Our future is in the hands of Obama, Reid, and Boehner. I don't think that the sky falling (at least to some degree) is unreasonable to consider.

[DrDonkeyLove]

Double Post

[Shapecharge]

This was a topic on 60 Minutes last Sunday. Had both Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell together, side-by-side. They can't get anything done. One thing I didn't realize...how often now the fillibuster is used to put the brakes on shit. From the interview they don't do it the old school way where a senator stands at the podium and talks for eight hours...they just threaten to do it...mosty by phone. Reid said that when LBJ was majority leader (6 years) he had to deal with only one fillibuster. Since Reid has been majority leader (just shy of 5 years) he's dealt with 248.

[Alfred_E._Neuman]

This was a topic on 60 Minutes last Sunday. Had both Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell together, side-by-side. They can't get anything done. One thing I didn't realize...how often now the fillibuster is used to put the brakes on shit. From the interview they don't do it the old school way where a senator stands at the podium and talks for eight hours...they just threaten to do it...mosty by phone. Reid said that when LBJ was majority leader (6 years) he had to deal with only one fillibuster. Since Reid has been majority leader (just shy of 5 years) he's dealt with 248.

That's where the major problems with this country lie: absolutely zero chance of compromise because of partisan politics. And it's fucking disgusting and should piss off anyone who gives a damn about the country, period.

We now have career politicians from both sides running on platforms of "I absolutely will not compromise with anyone on the other side of the isle." There's no dialogue between the sides to the tune of "is this bill good for the American people" or "what parts of this bill to I agree with and what kind of compromise can we work out". Now it's all about blocking ANY legislation by the other guys just because it's the other party proposing it.

Now the biggest fight in Congress is to see what type of totally unrelated pork will need to be inserted into a bill to buy enough votes from your own side before the other side kills it.

Fuck this shit. The average American's political views are generally middle, leaning a little right or left depending on the issue. The exact political viewpoint that lends itself to reaching out and compromising to get things done. And we're getting political parties squaring off on increasingly farther extremes of the middle making sure not a damned thing gets done.

[Bob Wildes]

They need to jettison their right wing lunatic fringe and move back towards a more moderate position. Obama's current policies would have been considered appropriate for a moderate Republican candidate

This is where the triumph of the data-driven people is most hopeful. Calling the election is one thing, but the media pundits who were lying about the outcome have also been lying about policy. If you can get to a point where the left/right hysteria is constantly tempered with "Here's where this person's policies stand relative to others of the last 30 years," voters will be much better served.

The hacks on the right just got a big black eye, which is almost an advantage long term, since the hacks on the left haven't gotten hit yet, and may not for another 4 or 8 years. My very liberal friends who are thrilled with Obama baffle me. His actual policies on civil liberties, taxes, foreign policy, etc. are mostly not liberal. Much like the right-wing folks who think Obama's a socialist, they're believing things they're told by people who lie for money.

There were a lot of right leaning talk show hosts that predicted a Romney victory. One that did not was Neil Boortz. Boortz had been predicting an Obama victory for quite some time.

[milosz]

The idea that Paul Ryan or any Republican might swoop in and solve the deficit is amazing. It's almost like those people have never heard of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

[Andy83]

The idea that Paul Ryan or any Republican might swoop in and solve the deficit is amazing. It's almost like those people have never heard of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

You gotta get past all that surface bullshit and realize that elections are won on Sigmund Freud style loins effect and nothing more. The one who makes pussies wet and legs tingle always wins. Every time.

[Turdacious]

They need to jettison their right wing lunatic fringe and move back towards a more moderate position. Obama's current policies would have been considered appropriate for a moderate Republican candidate

This is where the triumph of the data-driven people is most hopeful. Calling the election is one thing, but the media pundits who were lying about the outcome have also been lying about policy.

They weren't necessarily lying about the outcome-- it was a close election that even some Democratic pundits saw possibly going Romney's way.

Every news network that was worth anything knew that projections of a close election were good for their ratings-- that and ad dollars are the only things they care about.

[Andy83]

This was a topic on 60 Minutes last Sunday. Had both Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell together, side-by-side. They can't get anything done. One thing I didn't realize...how often now the fillibuster is used to put the brakes on shit. From the interview they don't do it the old school way where a senator stands at the podium and talks for eight hours...they just threaten to do it...mosty by phone. Reid said that when LBJ was majority leader (6 years) he had to deal with only one fillibuster. Since Reid has been majority leader (just shy of 5 years) he's dealt with 248.

That's where the major problems with this country lie: absolutely zero chance of compromise because of partisan politics. And it's fucking disgusting and should piss off anyone who gives a damn about the country, period.

We now have career politicians from both sides running on platforms of "I absolutely will not compromise with anyone on the other side of the isle." There's no dialogue between the sides to the tune of "is this bill good for the American people" or "what parts of this bill to I agree with and what kind of compromise can we work out". Now it's all about blocking ANY legislation by the other guys just because it's the other party proposing it.

Now the biggest fight in Congress is to see what type of totally unrelated pork will need to be inserted into a bill to buy enough votes from your own side before the other side kills it.

Fuck this shit. The average American's political views are generally middle, leaning a little right or left depending on the issue. The exact political viewpoint that lends itself to reaching out and compromising to get things done. And we're getting political parties squaring off on increasingly farther extremes of the middle making sure not a damned thing gets done.

DOW plunging over 300 this morning. What does that tell you?

[Turdacious]

We now have career politicians from both sides running on platforms of "I absolutely will not compromise with anyone on the other side of the isle." There's no dialogue between the sides to the tune of "is this bill good for the American people" or "what parts of this bill to I agree with and what kind of compromise can we work out". Now it's all about blocking ANY legislation by the other guys just because it's the other party proposing it.

And that's different from the last 200 or so years how? Case in point-- Clinton blocked welfare to work legislation proposed by Gingrich for political reasons, and turned around and proposed basically the same thing so he could get credit for it.

As Bismark said, laws are like sausages...

[Pinky]

put country ahead of obstructionist partisan politics for a change.

Please expand on this platitude.

over the last two years the organizing principle behind the actions of boehner and mcconnell was to make obama a one term president.

People who complain about the partisan behavior of the Republicans over the last two years never seem to remember the behavior of Obama and the Democrats in Congress that gave the Republicans the house. Pretending that only one side of the aisle puts partisan politics over the good of the country is delusional.