The Republican conundrum

The latest counts reveal that Nebraska’s second congressional district (aka Omaha) has gone for Obama. This is the first time that a state has split its electoral votes (Maine is the only other state that even allows for this possibility). More importantly, it brings Obama’s EV total to 365. This is five EVs less than Bill Clinton got in 1992, but Obama is in a far stronger position than Bill ever was, and the Republican Party is in far deeper trouble.

And that’s putting it mildly. The GOP lost the twenty-something vote by a 38 point margin and is no longer competitive at the presidential level in the cities, while the McCain-Palin “real/fake America” rhetoric turned off educated voters in droves.  Acutely aware of just how shitty the numbers are, members of the (dwindling) GOP brain-trust met last week in Northern Virginia to try and discuss how they can be a more inclusive, “big tent” party. The answer, of course, is that they really can’t unless they can figure out how to deal with the millions of rabid Christians who comprise the backbone of what’s rapidly becoming a regional political party, centered on the Old South.  Fundamentalists are good at a lot of things, but compromise and rational negotiation are not among them, especially with Sarah Palin fully prepared to try to lead her soldiers to victory in 2012.  The prospects for the GOP look bleak indeed, particularly as America continues to become (a) less white, (b) less rural, and (c) less stupid.

Then again, the political landscape can shift in unexpected ways (just look at how it’s shifted since 04).  Obama could fuck up big time, and open the door for a Republican resurgence.  Or the economy could worsen into Dust Bowl proportions, which is always a good climate for extremist politics.  Or another 9-11 could convince the people that they must throw out the sinners who have seized control of the government and made God so #$# angry.  But in the meantime, it’s going to be a lot of fun watching the people who are so good at hating taking it out on each other instead of the rest of us.

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5 Responses to “The Republican conundrum”

  1. Brian Says:

    Let’s just hope the strength of the Dem’s position doesn’t become the problem we all bitch about in 12 months. While I’m glad to see it, there’s a saying about power and corruption we’re all familiar with and has been proven true over the centuries.

    “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.”

    -John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton

  2. David Williams Says:

    I entirely agree, and that’s the thing I should have said as well: we need an effective opposition party, and if the GOP could somehow break beyond its nutjob base and retrench itself around its original principles of Less Government, that’d be a good thing.

  3. Jeff Eaton Says:

    The answer, of course, is that they really can’t unless they can figure out how to deal with the millions of rabid Christians who comprise the backbone of what’s rapidly becoming a regional political party

    It’s even worse than that, if such a thing is even possible. This year, my parents — conservative evangelical pro-life voters who’ve voted Republican since the 60s — voted Obama. That is how grim things are for the GOP.

  4. Brian Says:

    It’s even worse than that, if such a thing is even possible. This year, my parents — conservative evangelical pro-life voters who’ve voted Republican since the 60s — voted Obama. That is how grim things are for the GOP.

    Let’s just hope the defection from the previous base isn’t simply a rejection of the Republican hijacking, but rather turns into some significant move forward in America’s history. Simply trading chairs on the deck of the sinking ship isn’t going to be worth anything other than having slowed the Republicans.

    We’re in desperate need of a tide change here. I believe Obama’s election has started to shift it, but it’s critical the momentum be leveraged and that “defining moment” in American history continue to expand into a new greatness for all of us.

  5. michelle Says:

    obama isn’t the jesus. he’s a man who aspires to great things for his country…(we hope)

    the happy smiling people are gone today from the world as i took the young one to class. people are still concerned about the economy, their jobs and the lives of their children.

    i can assure you that people on the blue side of the fence will no doubt be bitching in 12 months because they won’t understand that some wounds take longer to heal than other ones.

    some of our population look for the quick fix and they think they have it in obama. i am sure he WILL do great things and i look forward to that but people have to be realistic….time will tell us all.