I think James Carville was right... there's going to be a bloodbath in the Repub Party

[Blackhatjack]

There is likely going to be a 3 way split for control of what's left of the Repub Party between the fundamentalist religious conservatives, and the conservative fiscal social conservatives, and the moderates.

There won't be any bridging the differences once the blame game is finished, and there will likely be several years wandering in the wilderness before the Repub Party regains any cohesiveness.

I see in the short term a major battle sizing up between the Palin Supporters and Romney Supporters, with Jeb Bush standing in the wings as a unification candidate at some point.

Sure the Bush brand is damaged right now. However, the makeover will be extreme and Jeb will be identified with '41 NOT '43.

Throw in a Michael Bloomberg, and you the makings of a totally split Party fight that will leave nobody standing without political injuries.

[Bucky]

1. They always turn on their own. First blood goes to Romney, by the way, for smearing up Palin

In my heart's nicest places I'd kinda like to see Mike Huckabee win the impending knife fight--he's a nut with a streak of decency in him. But of course Huckabee won't win--nice guys never win over there in Red Land.

[fadedrose]

5. Let's hope that these unscrupulous Reps

don't join the Dem party and be so welcomed that they take over and bury
Democratic ideas once and for all.

[Jade Fox]

2. I'm getting the popcorn ready now......

After the last 8 years, I'm gonna love watching them turn on each other.

[Lisa0825]

3. I want a front row seat!!!

Oooooh, this is gonna be GOOD!!! :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

[saltpoint]

4. Yes. It does have the makings of a major massacre.

There will be some serious grudges held and some very pointed remarks slung back and forth.

I think Sarah Palin thinks she is going to emerge as a major star, but I think a lot of people in the GOP don't see the same destiny for her at all.

[billyoc]

6. Palin WILL be a Republican star.

In the prison Christmas pageant.

[saltpoint]

16. I never liked her much prior to her selection for the GOP ticket

and the more I began to read about her, the uglier and meaner it got.

I didn't care for the aerial wolf hunts one bit.

And I didn't care for her intimidation of that librarian either.

[Honeycombe8]

19. I doubt it. Not a presidential candidate, anyway (tho she probably thinks so).

She will never get the support of anyone in the party other than the far right evangelical. And I think the Repubs will not pander to them again any time soon.

[Blackhatjack]

23. I agree because I don't think the fundamentalists are committing to rebuilding the Party...

... and without them that whole wing of the Repub Party will likely disappear. So goes Palin...

[Liberalboy]

7. I'm surprised Collins and Snowe have not flipped to the Democrats yet.....

New England Republicans are a rare and dying breed, and I can't see them living in a party controlled by the Evangelicals

[Blackhatjack]

8. I've tried to understand the appeal of Palin to the religious right and it still stumps me...

It would seem that the religious right would be searching high and low for an extremely intelligent and effective communicator to fill the role of Party Nominee --things that Palin is definitely not.

Picking a low information and inexperienced figurehead to line up behind just reinforces the stereotypical views of those you have to reach in order to win the general election.

It is one thing to 'fire up the base' and something entirely different to win the Presidency.

[razors edge]

9. Don't forget the Paulites,

they showed good grass roots and they can always carry on where Paul left off. They can dump the brand and keep pushing the issues that brought them to the party using new leaders without the milk toast Ron who is older than McSame. (I think)

I think that in the end they spoke more to the real Pugs than the majors, and they probably got a dollar or two left over.

[Blackhatjack]

11. The Ron Paul 'wing' held their own convention this year, so.....

... you could say that they have already 'left the Party.'

They remind me of the libertarian members who find there is no ground left to stand upon in the Republican Party. They will find their own outside whatever the Repub Party becomes.

[razors edge]

25. You got that right.

I just think they could wheel around and draw more support from this defeat. They didn't run under the Libertarian brand, so they have more mainstream cred and allure than most people from both sides realize.

Will it go anywhere, who knows?

Sometimes the dog fights in the primaries are more interesting than the general.

Edit: This is the most exciting election of my life, I am pretty good with the interest level in this one. The people have both agendas laid before them to chose from, you couldn't ask for more, and I like it this way.

[bushisanidiot]

10. McHate will be torn to shreds. Repukes HATE losers.

sadly, the "old" McCain would have had better chance of winning.. but he decided to run the typical racist, hatefilled campaign that repukes usually run. he just kept throwing that red meat to the angry racist repuke base instead of appealing to moderates. choosing Palin was an exponential error.. and it keeps getting worse every single day. i doubt he'll have much of a career after this.

[Blackhatjack]

12. McCain is through... in every meaningful way you can imagine...

... he won't run again... he will be shunned by every serious candidate for the Party Nomination in 2012 ... he will be blamed for making monumental errors, the worst picking Palin as his VP Choice ... and there are political careers to be resurrected which means the 'blame' must be assigned to people other than themselves.

I think he will become even more bitter ... and will fade from the spotlight. He may even resign before his Senate term ends rather than hang around. Once you have reached for the Brass Ring at 72 yrs old and missed, it is all downhill from here....

[THUNDER HANDS]

13. the fundamentalists will win

they outnumber the other two groups.

[Blackhatjack]

17. I am inclined to disagree....

I think there will be a massive disillusionment among rightwing fundamentalists, and in fact they may turn to other avenues to press their causes since Dems will be firmly in control of the levers of government --especially if we get a 60 vote filibuster proof majority in the Senate.

Plus, religious fundamentalists like to identify with winners and there is not going to be much left of the Repub Party which will take years of base building to regain its competitive standing. I don't see them committed to rebuilding the Party --they would rather put their effort behind their own self-styled spokespeople to make their case.

I believe the social conservative fiscal conservatives will likely take control and resurface the small government meme.

[Blackhatjack]

14. Corrupt Repubs in the Bush Admin are going to be running and hiding for the next 4 yrs....

Once Democrats take control and restore the DOJ, and begin investigating and exposing the absolute evil(ie. torture) that has been practiced by this Bush ADministration, there is going to be a rush for the exits by those who might be prosecuted or required to give back what is left of their ill-gotten gains.

Dems are smart enough to know that if they refuse to investigate the past wrongdoing this time there will be a resurgence of the same powerful corrupt actors again -- honestly, the Iran/Contra actors just keep reappearing like whack-a-moles!

[davidpdx]

15. I agree with you that there is going to be a huge vacuum

in the Republican Party for a year or two. What would be good is if someone like Bloomberg decided to start a third party and pull some of the Republicans over who are unhappy with hard right wing neocon wackos. If anyone is able to do it, Bloomberg would be the person. Then again, Perot tried to do it in 1992 and failed miserably.

[Blackhatjack]

20. I think the reverse is more likely... Bloomberg INSIDE the Repub Party...

IF Bloomberg were to unite the moderates and social conservative fiscal conservatives they would be powerful enough to kick the fundamentalists and neocons to the curb and remake the Repub Brand much quicker.

In order to rebuild the Repub Brand they have to move to the center and drive out the extremist factions.

[fishwax]

18. It's going to be a lot of fun to watch

:woohoo:

:popcorn:

[Honeycombe8]

21. The NEW Republican Party (a back to the roots party): Bobby Jindal.

Bank on it (pun intended!).

Also, Mitt Romney will rise again.

[Blackhatjack]

22. People are overlooking the fact that Palin has been exposed to her Alaskan voters...

... and with the wave of corrupt Alaskan politicians going to jail, she may find it difficult to ward off prosecution for her own shenanigans.

I am impressed that the Alaskans are taking her Troopergate actions seriously.

[AlinPA]

24. The moderates have no place in that party. nt

[Blackhatjack]

26. It all depends... if there is a move to the center they would... n/t

[abumbyanyothername]

27. First of all

Bloomberg is a Dem who switched to Republican to get out of the primary.

Second, there are no moderates in the Republican Party. To the extent they are there they are the same as the fiscal conservatives. The third wing is the War Hawks.

Third, Ron Paul is going to fight Mitt for control of the fiscal conservatives.

Fourth, the whack-jobs, likely headed by Palin, will destroy themselves with unbridled extremism.

I could see the Libertarian Party overtaking the Republicans as the opposition of choice within 10 years.

[TheKentuckian]

28. I don't know, McGollum's overreach may cost the Republiscum

for a while. The American Taliban has a new sense of self importance since being given Phailin. They now believe they should be running the show and are ready to rally behind Phailin/SammiJo The Stooge going forward. I realize this is patently bonkers but they may be worn out with being used by the "Intellectual/Elite" and now believe behind their Queen they can remake America in their twisted image.

I'm not sure the GOP braintrust can regain control of the masses that McGollum unleashed in his desperate attempt to grab power.

I'm also unsure of who these "moderates" are or more crucially what is meant by the use of the word. Are we talking those DLC Democrats that won't bother to switch parties or has the GOP gone so far Reich that were talking Chuck Hagel?
McGollum was usually described as such a moderate but I don't see how he is to the left of Reagan on finances, governing, or even social issues and is probably even more of a hawk. There aren't enough moderate Republicans to fill a cruise ship in the country and not enough on Capital Hill to fill a short bus, just the last of the east coast RINOS.

[ProSense]

29. Tell James to thank Howard

Dean.

[Blackhatjack]

30. Howard Dean has accomplished something that will be studied for years to come...

His 50 state approach was bold and has paid off handsomely.

We all owe him a standing ovation!

[FarCenter]

31. The Republicans are a coalition of at least 8 groups.

International business and finance - like big government backing, but not regulation.

Main street business, with a different set of interests - more local and sometimes protectionist.

Free market theorists, far less practical than either of the above.

Libertarians, who want small government, in contrast to international busines and finance or global imperialists.

Global imperialists, mainly old cold warriors looking for a new global cause - "war on <fill in the blanks>".

Israel supporters, of the neocon type, roughly allied with the imperialists.

Evangelical christian fundamentalists.

Catholic conservatives - mainly allied with evangelicals on abortion - otherwise don't play well together - e.g. Northern Ireland.