Houston, they don't know they have a problem

[ProSense]

Houston, they don't know they have a problem

By Steve Benen

The cover story in the new issue of National Journal says the Republican Party "has finally admitted it has a problem." There is, however, ample evidence to the contrary.

The Republican Party honchos who huddled in (Charlotte, N.C.) for their first big gathering since the election devoted lots of time talking about the need to welcome Latinos and women, close the technology gap with Democrats and stop the self-destructive talk about rape.

But the party's main problem, dozens of Republican National Committee members argued in interviews over three days this week, is who delivers its message and how, not the message itself. Overwhelmingly they insisted that substantive policy changes aren't the answer to last year's losses.

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus declared, "It's not the platform of the party that's the issue. In many cases, it's how we communicate about it. It is a couple dumb things that people have said."

An RNC member from West Virginia added, "We don't need a new pair of shoes; we just need to shine our shoes."

I see. So a few months after a national election in which President Obama won re-election fairly easily, Senate Democrats unexpectedly expanded their majority, and House Democrats received well over 1 million more votes than House Republicans, GOP officials took a long look in the mirror and decided ... they're awesome just the way they are.

- more -

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/01/28/16738012-houston-they-dont-know-they-have-a-problem

[HughBeaumont]

1. "We don't need to flush this turd, we need to polish it!"

Keep on LOSING!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Yes, Pintos explode, so we need

a better advertising campaign that will persuade people that they're safe and don't explode. Yes, our party is racist and sexist and xenophobic and lacking the faintest understanding of real-world economics, so our campaign advertising needs to have more women and minorities and poor people to make voters think we aren't.

[ProSense]

3. Yes, they need more

"Yes, our party is racist and sexist and xenophobic and lacking the faintest understanding of real-world economics, so our campaign advertising needs to have more women and minorities and poor people to make voters think we aren't."

...people like the "Ubeki-beki-beki-stan-stan" guy to tell blacks that they're "brainwashed."

Morons.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

4. They're stuck between a rock and a hard place.

The reality is, a large block of the voters they've courted are bigoted, sexist and racist. If they change their message to be more inclusive, they alienate those voters. If they don't, they continue on alienating minorities and women voters.

[randome]

5. Reince Priebus looks and acts like a used car salesman.

He does not inspire confidence or reassurance. On the optics alone, you can see that the GOP is still bereft of leaders who can rally any but the basest of their base.

[Initech]

6. Just a bunch of turds circling the drain at this point.

[Bake]

7. Yeah, Priebus, it's the platform. Hell, it's the whole damn party.

Not just the messengers.

War on women? Check. War on the middle class? Check. War on non-whites? Check.

Yeah, it's the party. The message. The whole damn thing.

Bake