Reply #80: Your view of the Republican party is simplistic and not current, and my answer is No [View All]

[slackmaster]

With the exception of the last two-year election cycle, people in my state have been leaving both the Democratic Party and the GOP in droves. As of October 20, independents (known here as "Declined to state") account for 19.9% of California voters.

The California Democratic Party is back up to 44.4% from a 2004 low of 43%. I attribute that small bounce to widespread dissatisfaction with the Bush administration, and I doubt that many among us would disagree.

Both parties need to broaden their appeal. They aren't going to achieve that by tightening down a particular ideology and alienating more and more classes of people.

As for the GOP, some of the more insightful, moderate, and least dogmatic among them understand that their biggest problem is allowing one far-right faction to define who they are.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/11/first_steps_to_gop_recovery.html