damned if the republicans haven't played yet another brilliant political strategy....

[mike_c]

Reading Tim Dickinson's article in the Rolling Stone made me realize how brilliant and devious the republican electoral strategy is, whether consciously devised or simply the result of evil intuition. Angry, dissatisfied voters usually piss hardest on the party in power during midterm elections. For the republicans, that means the shortest and most direct route back to power is to insure an angry and dissatisfied electorate. And partisanship provides the perfect cover-- it even gets the democrats to participate in their own slaughter. Clever devils.

Here's the link to Dickinson's article in RS:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/32537691/the_gops_dirty_war/1

Only a year ago, the Republican Party had been given up for dead. Top GOP strategists despaired that their party — decimated by two consecutive bloodbath elections — was leaderless, dominated by Southern conservatives and lurching rightward into irrelevance. "The Republican Party seems to be slipping into a position of being more of a regional party," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned his colleagues. "In politics, there's a name for a regional party: It's called a minority party."

<snip>

The GOP's resurrection has not come on the strength of transformative ideas that can actually solve the nation's problems: Republicans continue to peddle warmed-over Bush — from bankruptcy-inducing tax cuts to the privatization of Social Security. Instead, it has been achieved through what one party strategist admits is "tactical small-ball." The GOP game is as simple as it is hypocritical. First: Reject every Democratic proposal — including some of the exact same initiatives that Republicans championed under Bush — while branding the consensus-seeking Obama as a radical leftist. Second: Stoke populist fury over exploding deficits, even though they're the fallout of eight catastrophic years of Republican rule. (President Bush inherited a projected surplus of $5.6 trillion and left behind a forecasted deficit of $3 trillion.) Three: Promise to fix what's wrong with Washington — despite having waged an all-out war to make government appear as broken as possible.

It has come to this: The unreconstructed party of Jack Abramoff and Dick Cheney is now making the cynical bet that it can win a "change election" of its own this year by drafting a new "Contract With America," focused on initiatives for "good governance" and accountability. And come November, that bet might just pay off. "Does the Republican Party lack a clear leader? Absolutely. Do they lack a positive message? Of course. Do their demographics suck? Yeah," says Cook. "But in a midterm election, none of that matters. Because midterm elections are a referendum on the party in power. And to throw one side out, you've got to throw the other side back in."

more@link

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. I disagree the GOP is resurrected.

Not even close.

[Echo In Light]

3. That feat will require a *miraculous* false flag to rally the masses in a climate of FEAR

[mike_c]

4. it's an interesting proposition, though, and a cynical, nasty trick as well....

That last is the part that makes it sound so GOPish.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. Don't know if it worked though

[AlinPA]

24. Maybe not resurrected, but in much better shape than 10 months ago. Their base is really fired

up, our base is somewhat deflated, angry and disappointed (mostly due to impatience and letdowns by the Congress).

[proud2BlibKansan]

31. Their base is mad at their party

How is that a good thing?

[AlinPA]

34. I don't see it that way. IMO their base is in a state of fury over the Obama administration.

No matter what happens, their base will show up in November, in force voting their passion against the Obama administration. They will undoubtedly be spurred by some late God, Guns and Gays red meat by the RNC and Fox "News" and the rest of the media. Some more racist bait will help their cause, too.

[Arugula Latte]

2. And, sadly, millions of Americans are stupid enough to go along with this.

[Lyric]

18. I don't think it's stupidity.

We are not robots. We do not always do the most coldly logical thing. If the average person doesn't feel like their spouse loves them/pays attention to them/is faithful to them, and no amount of pleading, raging, and begging seems to be working, then they're probably going to file for a divorce--even though divorce is a well-known destroyer of hearts and wallets.

Logically, it makes sense to stay married, even if you're unhappy. Divorce can really screw up your entire life in ways that go FAR beyond merely "unhappy". If it goes badly enough, you could end up destitute and miserable. You could lose your kids. You could lose your home. You could wind up in a new relationship with someone who turns out to be an abusive jerk. But the perceived benefit of ridding yourself of someone who you felt ignored, betrayed, or wronged by is often so compelling that nothing else matters.

I don't think it's stupidity at all. I think millions of Americans feel ignored and/or betrayed, and they're seriously considering divorce--regardless of the negative consequences. It's not logical, but it's certainly comprehensible. In order to avoid it, we need to work hard at making sure that by November, most Americans are NOT feeling ignored, betrayed, or wronged.

[leftstreet]

36. Rec for this post

Nicely done!

:thumbsup:

[jody]

5. 74% of voters white, 55% voted McCain, 34% of voters conservative, 78% voted McCain

Dems needs some support from white, conservative voters to retain control of Congress.

[mike_c]

9. yeah, and white conservatives are sympathetic toward tea parties....

I think those might just turn out to be the wild cards. Depends on whether the mainstream GOP can convince them to go along to get along, much the same way the dems keep the progressives coming back for more abuse each election cycle.

[jody]

14. IMO Obama's decisions that embrace Bush's polices and renege on campaign promises are directed at

white conservatives.

[mike_c]

23. that's a fool's game....

They would hate him if he wore a hood and carried a bible. I don't think it's necessarily a race issue, per se, although I'll grant the importance of racism as a general part of that mindset-- rather, it's more a tribal issue. Obama will never be part of their tribe. They will never be able to identify with him, empathize, whatever. Race is part of that, of course, but not necessarily in a discriminatory sense, more in a self identity sense, a barrier generating sense.

Anyway, I don't think that particular demographic can be mollified-- better to work for their estrangement and schism from the GOP.

[jody]

30. I did not mean "white" in a racist sense but to identify a cultural group with strong feelings.

IMO their are demonstrable differences between "white conservatives" and "African American conservatives" represented by the following well known people.

Rod Paige, former United States Secretary of Education

Condoleezza Rice, former United States Secretary of State, former National Security Advisor

Michael Steele, Current Chairman of the Republican Party.

Clarence Thomas, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, former Equal Employment Opportunity Commission chairman

Terry Anderson (radio), radio talk-show host from Los Angeles, anti-illegal immigration activist

Thomas Sowell, Hoover Institute fellow, economist, author of Basic Economics

Walter E. Williams, economist, columnist, author of More Liberty Means Less Government

Lynn Swann, football player, Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate<20>

Wilt Chamberlain, former basketball player, one of few African American figures to publicly endorse former president Richard Nixon

[tranche]

7. They've been trying to muck up the place since 2006.

[tularetom]

8. Don't give the republicans credit for the Democrat's incompetence

The only reason that the republicans seem to be recovering from the 8 year clusterfuck that was the cheney administration is that the good guys have spent the past year stepping on their johnsons.

And the liberal media have made it their mission to discredit Obama and the Dem congress (not that that was that tough a job).

[mike_c]

10. they haven't made the job of pissing off the voters any harder, have they...?

No.

[Echo In Light]

12. And in my estimation, that 'johnson stepping' has been by design, as 'cowardice' makes no sense

[Cary]

11. What if they do win in November?

By all rights they would win regardless given the huge majority of Democrats and the nature of midterm elections.

If Republicans win, then what? If they win it will be in spite of themselves and not because of it, and then they have to figure out what comes next.

If they do that successfully then I would be impressed, but I suspect it will turn out to be more of a "be careful what you wish for" kind of thing for them.

[jody]

15. If Reps win it would be their worst nightmare, they would have to solve our problems. n/t

[Echo In Light]

16. There'll be a more overt (than even now!) embracing of pro-corp power policies

[Cary]

19. And then what?

Of course this is catastrophic in my own cosmology but let's leave that out of the equation. Do you think it will work any better than it did for George W. Bush?

[Echo In Light]

26. Believe me, you'd not like my speculatory predictions, nor agree with them

When democracies fail it gets very ugly...even more so for a populace comprised of large percentages who apparently don't realize the hows/whys of the failure, coupled with a strong dose of propaganda that coaxes them to revel and gloat within their denial of what should be obvious to anyone following along.

[Cary]

28. Perhaps I wouldn't like for your speculation to come to fruition.

That doesn't mean I don't appreciate your opinion. Whether I agree is of no real consequence.

We have survived some really bad stuff before, including the 8 years of George W. Bush.

[mike_c]

17. many are ideologues, and many are thugs...

...for whom power has instinctual attraction. The ideologues just want to impose their ideologies on the rest of us. I don't think either really gives a rat's buttocks how things turn out-- they just want their ride, and they want it to last as long as possible.

[Cary]

22. It's called "a priori"

. . . meaning that they believe that their ideology is correct and they will not be convinced either by superior analysis or empirical evidence. Objectivists and von Mises types are notorious for this. Of course it applies equally to the religious right.

[elocs]

13. A year ago hoards of DUers were dancing a jig on the GOP gravesite,

or so they thought. For now, they may be having the last laugh. I don't think their distant future (50-100 years)is not bright with our national demographics being a majority of color, voters whom they have written off. The problem is, that at the rate this country is being destroyed, I don't know how much of a nation we will have by then or if it will be worth having.

The bright side for me is that in 50-100 years from now I will be having a dirt nap.

[AlinPA]

35. You're right, it wasn't long ago that DU was loaded with posts about how the republican party was

dead. We don't hear too much about that now, for sure.

[NashVegas]

20. ps - It's a Census Year

And don't think there are no repercussions.

[Romulox]

21. Ummm, you didn't notice that the McCain/Palin ticket wasn't particularly strong?

The Republicans had no intention of winning the 2008 Presidential election!

[mike_c]

25. I dunno, but I'll bet John McCain sabotaged his candidacy....

Actually, now that I think about it, I'm sure the RNC knew he would sabotage it if given half an opportunity. Damn, I think my tinfoil hat needs adjustment....

[Romulox]

27. Like Bob Dole, it was merely John McCain's turn.

Nobody seriously expected him to win, so making him the nominee killed two birds with one stone--it gave him "his turn" and got him out of the way for 2012. Again, much like Bob Dole...

[gulliver]

29. Obama should just call them on it.

When it gets closer to the election, maybe he will.

[Wildewolfe]

32. ahhhh but the poli fu of the democrats is subtle

(kinda joking here, but one never knows)

Things do backlash against the party in power... and the current party in power? The Repubs! They control all legislation through the filibuster etc. and everyone knows it (hell the repubs are telling everyone they are so proud of themselves).

So the repubs get slammed again in the midterms and then we get 2 more years of blue dog excuses.

[Stinky The Clown]

33. They punk us EVERY time. And every time we let them.

We are as effective as a fart in a windstorm.

[zbdent]

37. Maybe we should have Republicans sign legal documents (and have them notarized)

saying that, if they don't have the budget balanced and the national debt eliminated by January 2012, they will be waterboarded until their organs fail ...

but, like the old "I will only serve one term!" pledges of the still-in-Congress Repugniconvicts of the 1994 election, I wouldn't be surprised if they find some way to renege on that, too ...

[bvar22]

38. The Democrats HAVE done the impossible...

They have resurrected a DEAD Political Party and given it credibility for opposing HCR even though this bill contains almost everything they wanted....
without THEM having to take ANY Political risks.

All they have to do now is sit back and say "Yep, We opposed it"
as 40 MILLION Americans are herded into the cattle pens (The "Exchange") and FORCED to BUY Health Insurance most will be UNABLE to use (High Co-Pay/High Deductible).

I tell you, its a fucking miracle!