The Republican Party is defunct in New England. Dead as a certain pining parrot.

[cali]

Yes, there's still 3 Republican Senators left- 2 from Maine, and 1 from NH. Vermont has a repuke governor. So does CT, but the state legislatures are controlled by dems and there isn't a single repuke Rep from New England. The party in all 5 states is moribund. And it's actually not just New England, it's New York and Delaware, PA and Maryland as well. It's creeping down into VA.

In VT this year, the repuke party couldn't even find a single republican to run as a sacrificial lamb against freshman dem rep, Peter Welch. This guy's only been in ONE term, and the repuke party is so anemic that they can't recruit a candidate.

I think what we see in the NE is a harbinger of things to come for the repub party. They're marginalizing themselves into a party that's viable only in the south and in the plains. And because they're so ideologically committed to ever moving to the right, it's hard to see them recouping from this.

[Trajan]

1. Well of course .....

The GOP embraces the Southern racial ethos ... to their demise ...

Let's drink: To their demise ....

[HopeFor2006]

2. I'll drink to that

:toast:

[Vogon_Glory]

4. To Paraphrase Turncoat Zell Miller...Hah! Hah! Hah!

To paraphrase turncoat Georgian Democrat Zell Miller: the Republican Party--a national party no more!

:evilgrin:

[ruggerson]

3. May turn out very positively

Weld, Whitman, Collins, Shays, Chafee et al need a party that reflects their views.

I can see a third party rising out of the ashes of this.

[cali]

6. I wouldn't mind that one little bit

though I'm more interested in VT's viable Progressive Party, spreading to other New England states. (The mayor of Burlington is a prog, so are serveral legislators, and the prog candidate for guv did as well as the dem candidate)

[thingy]

9. I'm hoping that

we're a short time away from eliminating the need for a second party, much less a third party.

[ruggerson]

13. You want a one party system?

That is not in the best interests of our nation, imho.

[Arugula Latte]

5. Same in Oregon. We have massive majorities here, two Dem. Senators now.

Dems won all statewide offices. There is only one Republican U.S. Congressmen in our delegation. The state GOP is literally bankrupt.

I LOVE IT!

[StreetKnowledge]

7. Surprised by that?

Look at the last GOP Congressmen from New England and compare them to the people who dominate the Republicans. VERY different, aren't they?

[Warpy]

8. The New England GOP was still the party of Lincoln

when I was there. Often their candidates were more liberal than their Democratic opponents. I couldn't vote for any of them after Reagan handed their party to the worst people in this country, though.

The Reagan coalition has come full circle, though, and the admission of religious fascists and bigots now threatens to destroy that party as they seek total control of it through sheer numbers.

It's going to be fun to watch, anyway, even as I remain a little wistful for the decent people the New England GOP often produced.

[ruggerson]

14. Indeed

I voted for Weld and would do so again. The Democrat he ran against was a tyrannincal rightwinger, if memory serves.

[Gormy Cuss]

16. Yep. John Silber, president of BU, a conservative Democrat.

It wasn't hard to vote for Bill that year.

[Recursion]

18. Oh, the jackass who cancelled BU football to wiggle out of title IX

And made a point of alienating Zinn and Wiesel because "academia is too far left".

[mdmc]

10. I think we will see an eventual division

between one worlders that see benefit in a new world order, and everyone else in the GOP. That will leave us with a NWO coalition (liberals, fundie crusaders, big business, military) vs. the libertarians. One side clinging to superpower status and obligation, the other side just looking out for #1.

The dems still got their big tent under one roof. We got the liberals and professionals buying into the NWO, and we got the #1 crowd (labor unions, peace activist, civil rights activist). All under one roof.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

11. They will begin to recover but it may take one or two more election cycles if not more.

"Big Money" Republicans are interested in results and that means winning elections. They don't give a shit about God, abortion or gays or guns. If that shit is no longer getting them results that allow them to dictate policy, as appears to be the case now, they will shift to find something that does, like possibly appealing to people who are not redneck bigots.

Doesn't mean it will work right away but the corporate types aren't committed to this redneck bullshit, they will change tack if needed.

I'm starting to hear "money" type Republicans in my area complain bitterly about how their party is hostage to the fetus people and gun nuts. They know what's up.

[cali]

12. Nope. First of all there are more than a few big money repubs

who are committed wingnuts. Secondly, the big money repubs who are only interested in results have limited power in the party as to the party platform. If it's to happen, that they stage a comeback, it's going to take waaay longer than 4 years or so. More like a decade- at minimum. And if they become a party moderate enough to compete in New England and New York, they won't be the same party they are now- not even close.

[suston96]

15. Yeah, defunct. Like it was after Watergate and Nixon's resignation. Yeah, defunct.....nt

[cali]

17. In its current guise, it absolutely is defunct in New England

[suston96]

19. Ever been stung by a dead bee.....?

Heard that in a Bogart movie. Defunct means dead. Absolutely dead? I don't think so.

But hey, check out the election results in the different states and look see how "absolutely dead" they are.

And stay away from dead bees.

[KamaAina]

20. Of course, they'll soon pick up a Senate seat in CT

and I don't mean Dodd's. :grr: