As Republicans go ever farther out on the wingnut limb

[smoogatz]

you have to wonder how they'll ever walk it back to something that looks like moderate conservatism, which is the only way they'll ever win back either house of congress, or the presidency. I don't see how, in the current climate, the Republicans nominate anyone for president in 2012 who isn't a far-right, Palin style whacko/ignoramus. Or in 2016, or 2020. The farther left the rest of the country trends--and the demographics going forward look pretty inexorable--the harder right Fox News and the internet fringe are dragging the Republican party. They've driven out all the moderates, and they're now officially the Wingnut Party. Where do they go from here? Any thoughts?

[Jennicut]

1. Their #'s make Obama's look spectacular. 20% approval at the highest.

[HughBeaumont]

2. You've wrapped it up. They're past the "point of no return."

The "Eisenhower Conservative" political model is gone and not coming back. I'm not sure anyone in the current Republican/Libertarian/Conservative paradigm would actually listen or consider such a person in this time period anyway. The lunatics have taken over that asylum, and it's killing them. The American people aren't going to be bamboozled by any more Bush-shit bait-and-switch.

That's why these people that say Obama's going to be a "one-termer" make me laugh. Seriously, fringe candidates, who are the most popular of Republicans, appeal to just that: the Fringe. Mainstream America isn't going to be down with fundamentalpatient nutters like Huckabee, Palin or Bachmann.

[Jackpine Radical]

3. Question # 2 is,

How do you keep the Democrats from moving rightward to fill the vacuum created by the defunct Republicans?

Or maybe you just let them, and create a Progressive Green party to occupy the space the "mainstream" (DLC, DNC) Dems are apparently planning to vacate on the left?

[smoogatz]

4. There will always be opportunists.

But I think what we're looking at is a real leftward movement of the political center; I mean, we're having an actual conversation about national healthcare. It's crazy, and maybe we're losing right now, but we're having the conversation. If you look at the demographics, young people are much more progressive than their parents and grandparents, on just about every issue across the board. Latinos are ever more suspicious of Republicans on immigration, education and government services issues--and Republicans just can't stop themselves from responding to that suspicion with racist hate-speech at every turn. The shift in the spectrum is long overdue, IMO--it's been drifting rightward since Truman took office.

[Jackpine Radical]

5. I strikes me that your post could have dropped out of a time warp from 1968.

Well, not exactly, but I trust you take my point. We were there once before, civil rights, antiwar sentiment, ready to start talking about national health care...

[LiberalAndProud]

6. It might well lead to a schism in the Democratic party.

If the country is trending further left as the RepubliCons move further toward the fringe (is that possible?), the Democratic party's tent gets bigger and bigger, leading to a huge ideological divide within our ranks.

[smoogatz]

7. Maybe.

If a viable progressive party came out of that, it wouldn't be such a bad thing. For awhile I thought it was more likely we'd see a schism within the Republicans--the money boyz vs the fundie/racist nutjobs--but I'd forgotten that the fundie/racists were too dumb to realize they were getting screwed over, and too full of reactionary rage to care.

[LiberalAndProud]

8. A schism within the Republicans ...

You mean like kicking Colin Powell out of the party? That kind of schism? I know Rush couldn't actually kick him out, but the voice of reason has certainly been muted therein.

[smoogatz]

9. A split between the corporate interests

that got McCain nominated and the wingnut rabble that preferred Palin or the Huckster. All but the dumbest of the dumb had figured out, toward the end of Bush's second term, that he wasn't really on their side--particularly on hot-button issues like immigration. When the even-less-wingnutty McCain got the nom, there was considerable wailing and gnashing of teeth among the far-right loons who've currently got control of the megaphone. But I forgot two things: the money boyz own the megaphone, and can give it to whoever they want--watch the Becks and Limbaughs change their tune and start trying to sound all moderate when the next election comes along. I also forgot just how incredibly dumb the wingnut rubes really are--they still don't understand how easily the money boyz have played and continue to play them. Wave a gun and talk a little Jesus and you're golden! Drop a little dog-whistle race-baiting and you're in! After '08, I really thought the Republicans were going to split into the corporate party and the Jesus party--but it didn't happen; the money boyz figured out how to rally their little wingnut cadres (second verse, same as the first), and now all is forgiven and it's off to the races. Amazing.