What Happens to the GOP When Bush Loses?

[SoDesuKa]

For a long time Bush was proof that the right set of handlers could turn a scarecrow into a "firm, decisive" national leader. The debate showed millions of Americans how wrong they were.

Two separate political vectors will send the Republicans reeling. First, they've been caught at the unethical practice of manufacturing an image out of whole cloth - voters simply won't trust them anymore. Second, there's a huge backlog of policy work that Republicans evaded by defining them out of the problem space.

Winners and losers? McCain is a winner. He stayed close to the center without giving more than formal approval - the minimum that could be expected from the Heir Apparent. Members of Team Bush are huge losers - we'll never hear from any of those people again. The best Colin Powell can hope for now is to be seen as a loyal chump. Rumsfeld will be remembered as a slightly off-kilter liar. Cheney won't be recognized on the street.

[gospelized]

1. 2 words

internment camps

[Big Kahuna]

6. Don't even joke about that shit.

that is the kind of crapola that the nutty militia-types constantly accused Clinton of planning. "They're gonna round us up, take our guns, put us in concentration camps, etc.. etc.."

No doubt, that is what people like Ann Coulter have in mind for us. I'd like to think that we are better than that.

[gospelized]

10. first we should

ban the bible and make abortion mandatory.

getting upset at a joke is lame.

[Booster]

23. Actually, I think you're on to something here. I believe that

the word "right-wing" will become as vile and hated as the word "liberal" did, and that's a good thing. If there's one thing the Dems and true Repubs should do, it's start steering this country away from this ideology - it will only bring us down.

[skylarmae]

8. they turn into rabid dogs

oh, but that gives rabid dogs a bad name. Don't they shoot rabid dogs? Or is it those belly shots? Oh yeah, georgie porgie doesn't drink.............

[ogsball]

2. If the Repubs control the House & Senate

Look out for another Impeachment push. They won't let up and will do everything to bring down a Democratic President.

Hopefully repubs bill be thrown off enough for some serious investigation of the mishandling of government that has happened over the last four years and we can start putting some folks in jail.

[TrustingDog]

16. been waiting for The Hunting of the President here in Canuckland...

this is what they will do if all the e-voting machine trickery and their pocket media doesn't come through for them.

They will make it a living hell for Kerry.

[olddem43]

3. Cheney will join Spiro Agnew in history's dung heap of

nasty and crooked vice presidents.

[punpirate]

4. What happens?

They clear out and start plotting for 2006 and 2008. That's what. New faces, same ol' reactionary agenda. Get the media revved up for attacks on the new administration, try to hamstring it with a stream of misinformation. Same as in 1993.

These guys don't give up, because they know that every time they win, they make gains. The tendency of the Democrats is to not undo bad legislation they inherit. They'd better come to some understanding of what Grover Norquist means by bi-partisanship being just another word for date rape, and start being partisan on behalf of the ordinary people in the country.

[politicat]

5. Eventually, the party will probably split into a 3G&F bable based fundy

political action group and a financial, econo-warrior group.

Both will struggle for control of the name and the official party which owns the political rights, and hopefully, they'll metaphorically kill each other off.

I can hope, anyway...

Pcat

[Ladyhawk]

14. This is what needs to happen.

My mother represents the fundy side; my brother, the econo-warrior side. Familial relations aren't very good right now. I'm openly supporting Kerry, which is considered a sin by the religious right. I've also openly admitted to being an atheist, which has caused a lot of friction between my mother and me. My brother is also an atheist of the Ayn Rand stripe. What he doesn't realize is that he's replaced one kind of dogma with another.

Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I spilled the beans about my brother's atheism?

Dare I? It would be a microcosm of what could happen on a large scale. If we could split the Republican Party into two groups, it would be the end of neo-fascism in this country, at least for awhile.

[politicat]

17. Hon, you are between the proverbial rock and its partner, the hard place..

That's rough... My family grudgingly accepts my atheism and most of them are liberal enough to not be stupid... they even took the environmental flirtations with conservatism in my sisters with equanimity... (we grew up in a Fundy Mormon town for the most part; to blend in, we had to act conservative...)

If you ever need to escape... let me know.

Pcat

[Ladyhawk]

19. I do, actually.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=1773105&mesg_id=1773835

I'm just a wee bit trapped.

[patricia92243]

7. Novak said the Republican Party will implode if they lose. I think them

losing will ensure they will not again run someone who wants to mix church and state.

I hope it will not lead to them trying even harder to take over the media. It is up to Kerry to see that this can NEVER happen. Pass whatever laws are necessary to enforce this.

All in all,I think it will be good for the Republican Party to lose. They can then rethink their way of doing and improve - as much as they are ever going to.

[Orangepeel]

9. they regroup

watergate didn't put them out of business (we had one term afterward), bush I and Iran-Contra didn't put them out of business, and Kerry's win won't either, unfortunately.

[annabanana]

12. But it WILL slow them down.........

And now so much of the underlying crap is out in the sunshine where it can't work it's "magic", the Republicans will have to clean up their shit and try again for a big tent. It could take DECADES!

[Terran]

11. Far too optimistic a picture

A Bush loss is not going wake the ignorant freeper masses up. The can see the truth right in front of their eyes right now, but they're still going to vote for him. His losing isn't going to cause some massive sea-change in the way people perceive their candidates and leaders.

The repubs may lose some credibility because of Bush being another one-term republican, but it will be temporary. They'll find their next big star to run in '08 and move along as if nothing had happened. And of course they'll spend the next four years doing to Kerry what they did to Clinton.

[pinto]

13. they continue to hold the Congress, they play those cards and look

for a 2004 candidate (or more likely look to keep Congressional control in 2002, which may be up for grabs). Other than that, I'm not sure. I think the Kerry presidency will be a great block to the neocon plan for an American "oil curtain" around the Mid East/central Asian states.

[speedoo]

15. The Neocon wing would be in serious jeopardy.

I doubt they will ever have any influence at all over the GOP again.

[bvar22]

20. Which is OK with me.

I can deal with a responsible (but small) party of real Republican Conservatives. Eisenhower, McCain, even Goldwater and Nixon had their saving values and wanted things that they believed was good for Americans...

strong defense
fiscal responsibility
small and less intrusive government
states rights
non-involvement in foreign wars
trade protectionism


Not this NeoCon bunch of crooks, psychopaths, and religious zealots. I want to drive a stake through their evil hearts. The NeoCon doctrine needs to be exposed to ALL for the shameful fraud that it is.

I still can't believe that this bunch of crooks were able resurrect trickle down economics and re-sell it to at least 1/2 of America. Then they scratch their heads and exclaim,"Jobless Recovery! Whoever could have predicted that?"

[Silverhair]

18. Their next candidate WILL be eloquent.

They will NEVER again run somebody who has trouble speaking.

[readmylips]

21. The kkkristian radicals will be contained....

hope dead and the repig will be trying hard to elect Ahhnold the Nazi.

Ahhnold is no different from little bush. He's no Statesman, can't even speak English unless he's reading something Maria wrote. Ahhnold compares himself to Prez Kennedy. He's not even married to a real Kennedy. A real Statesman like Kerry can mop the floor with Ahhnold the Nazi.

[mitchum]

22. I don't really care (as long as they go away)

far far away