Is the GOP a necessary evil for a stable U.S. government?

[Soupy Liberaltarian]

How much further can the GOP afford to wither while still remaining a credible minority party? Would the Congress still be able to function as a deliberative legislative body if the GOP dissolved or split within the next few elections?

As much as I despise 95% of the Republican party, I grudgingly accept, with respect to the two-party system, that the GOP has a role to play. The same principle (sans disparaging remarks) applied to the Democrats under Clinton and Bush Jr.

[PretzelWarrior]

1. no. their demise could usher in a true multiparty system

which is MUCH MUCH better than a 2 party dominated system.

[salguine]

14. The Democrats are as aggressive in their efforts to suppress third parties as the Republicans are.

[old mark]

2. They are less than worthless now, and I expect they will only get worse.

GOP is in the process of self destruction, and I believe will form into at least 2 separate parties the more moderate Publicans left over from the old days and represented by Specter and others like him, and the snake handling religious right who will become revolutionaries and might even actually attempt violent action over the next year or so. These folks future is not certain - I see maybe 3 different small parties there, all against the others and everyone else as well.

I believe the GOP as it has been will be gone by next election.

mark

[rug]

3. Only if you're a Manichean.

[dcindian]

4. No not any more so then is Al-Qeada needed for world peace.

The world is better off with any hate group like the republicans gone.

[RagAss]

5. They've got the "evil" part down pat.....Necessary?,,,No way.

[PretzelWarrior]

6. ok. some of you are being dipsh!ts about this.

quit acting like all Republicans are evil or there is nothing good about true conservativism. it's just not healthy to think like that.

[Bluenorthwest]

9. The question is 'is the GOP necessary'

And the answer is no. This irrational jump from 'not necessary' to 'they are all evil' is the kind of crapola I can not stand.

You have a seperate question I guess. "Are all Republicans evil?" and i'd say no, some of them are Republicans out of stupidity, more than evil. So there. They are not all evil, some are just stupid. Better?
Why don't you explain the good in 'true conservatism', I hear Rush talk about that. What do you see as 'true' conservatisim and why is it good to you?

The Republican Party is not needed. Even if we 'need' a second Party, there is no reason under the sun it has to be that Party. None at all.

[TheCowsCameHome]

7. "Evil" sums it up nicely.

They are the perfect definition of the word.

[Mr. Sparkle]

8. no, the country needs a good strong decent republican party and not the extremists they are today.

I partly blame the Democrats for excusing there illegal behavior from Carter to Clinton and now maybe even Obama.

[Bluenorthwest]

10. Even if the country 'needs' A Party

I don't see why it has to be that Party. Especially as you paint a picture of a GOP of the mind, the country needs a good, strong fuel made out of water, but there is no such thing.

[Mr. Sparkle]

11. True, but i don't see many other dancers on the dance floor.

[ShadowLiberal]

12. We've had much more powerless minority parties in the past

Just take a look back at congress during the civil war and great depression.

In the civil war most of the southern states left the union, leaving very few democrats (then a southern party) left in congress, and republicans (then a party born in the North East that represented the north) with a super majority in both houses.

When the great depression struck the republicans started to lose by VERY big margins in each election cycle, literally only managing to carry like 3 or 4 senate seats a cycle in their very worst years. Republicans at one point only controlled like 15 senate seats during the great depression.

[Danger Mouse]

13. Not really. The GOP's death would be good for the country.

Especially if it meant the formation of a party for moderate Republican types. Isolating the crazed righties would be a good thing.

[mitchum]

15. Are ticks and leeches really necessary to the ecosystem?

[treestar]

16. No, they are becoming the extreme right

The Democrats could well become the conservatives in this country and the two parties being the current Democrats vs. those to the left of the party.

The Republics are phasing out as just being the far right.

[Inuca]

17. Unless we somehow move to

a truly multi-party system, the answer is yes. You do not want to live in a Soviet-style single party system, no matter how noble their principles are on paper, trust me on that.

[11 Bravo]

18. Not sure, are genital warts a necessary evil for good health?

[backscatter712]

19. No, but two parties are pretty much a given in our system.

I am starting to think that if the GOP doesn't pull their heads out of their asses soon (and there's no signs they're going to), they're literally doomed. The extremists have taken over the party - the neocons, the fundies, the Know-Nothings. They've pushed most of the moderates out, and they're screeching like harpies at the few like Snowe and Collins that are left.

Before long, they'll mutate into a regional party that gets little more than a quarter of the vote in the nation, then if they keep with the extremism, they'll go the way of the Whigs.

Of course, about five minutes after the GOP ceases to be a force that's perceivable on the nation's stage, the Democratic Party will schism. That will be a good thing - single-party rule has always turned into totalitarianism. We've already got conflicts between progressive Yellow Dog Democrats and DLC Blue Dog Democrats, and that will be where the party splits.

[malletgirl02]

20. ...

The GOP doesn't have to exist in order for there to be a two party system. The Republicans can go the way of the Whigs and we will still have a two party system, another party will spring up. According to our political climate, I think that party would be to the left of the Democratic party. So the Green party might get their chance. However I don't think the Republican party is going anywhere.

[TheKentuckian]

21. Nope...not at all

the 2nd party certainly doesn't have to be them at all. They are consistently doing 100x more harm than good and that's being extremely generous.

If you're going to say we need the GOP then you also need to explain what they are doing that is constructive. All I see is a wrecking ball with the goal of destroying the country. A new party or two or three will emerge. Worrying about them going the way of the dinosaur is not our job. Apparently, it's theirs.

[cooolandrew]

22. Let the Blue dogs go be the opposing party and I think I could live with that dynamic tension a>

whole lot more. The GOP have to come back to a rational center or they're over seems that straight forward to me. I mean with the blue dogs the Democratic party is a coalition party anyway so even if they gained a large chunk of congress there would still be opposing views.

[Dappleganger]

23. Yin-Yang