And so it begins: "Team of rivals: GOP base rips new group"

[Perky]

From Politico:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22242.html

Social conservatives are blasting the National Council for a New America, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor’s (R-Va.) nascent effort to rebrand the Republican Party, as a misguided and weak-kneed initiative that is out of touch with the GOP rank and file.

The council, unveiled last week by Cantor and Sen. John McCain, is designed to be a “forward-looking, grass-roots caucus” that formulates policy prescriptions and communicates with voters in a way that could expand the Republican ranks. In announcing the formation of the group, McCain said he hoped the group would attract moderates and “like-minded Democrats” to a series of public forums around the country.

But social conservatives couldn’t help but notice that the policy areas the group will focus on included no mention of same-sex marriage, immigration or abortion. And the roster of GOP luminaries who signed on to the effort was missing a few of the pols who are most popular with values voters.

“The moderates have been saying the same thing all these years, and now they’re just seeing a renewed opportunity to push their ideas,” said Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), a leading opponent of gay marriage.

“It’s a losing proposition to try to divide social and economic conservatives,” Ken Blackwell, a one-time Ohio secretary of state and former candidate for Republican National Committee chairman, told POLITICO. “They will constantly find themselves backpedaling and apologizing and repositioning because the composition of that group does not reflect a basic reality, which is that social and economic conservatives complement one another.”

Blackwell noted that the slight did not go unnoticed among social conservatives, as they “have the experience of being used and then abused and then forgotten.”

Mike Huckabee, the former presidential candidate who was not invited to join the so-called GOP panel of experts involved with the effort — a list that included Govs. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Sarah Palin of Alaska and Haley Barbour of Mississippi and former Govs. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Jeb Bush of Florida — said that it was “sad day” in Republican politics when “we think it is necessary to form a ‘listening group’ to find out what Americans think we should be fighting for.”

The long anticipated fight for the heart and soul of the GOP has begun.


Blackwell's comments are at once extraordinarly arrogant and extraordinarily accurate. He touches on the raw exposed nerve. There are not enough social conservatives out there willing to allow moderate voices to be included in the echo chamber. and both the grass roots and the fundraising engine of the party is with the fundies. While they conto9l the party, theyt also contol all the dumbness as well.

But the nation has opted for "smart people" in leadership. You may disagree but it is mot so much liberalism that is winning, its intelligence. That siesmic shift in voting pattern the last two cycles , (to be amplified after reapportionment) is something that the fundies have no answer for.

There is no Party leadership any more. just a few guys with megaphones, who either feign social comservativism to boost rating. or sow fear among the faithful to sell book s and conferences and National days of Prayers'


And niether the Limbaughs or the DObsons of the world have much uses for a bunch of "has beens", "wannabees" and "never weres", particular if they want to igmotr the fundies and create a new way forward.

So while the "RLC" may struggle to find their voice (or their ears for thier listening) the fundies are going to continue to shout them down as betrayers of the Reagan Recolution and not speaking to or for the base..

Now to be honest these patterns ebb and flow.... but this cancer on the GOP is pronounced, embittering and the discord is going to grow even louder between the various elements. The fracture lines are growing daily and if you think and, and if you think about it.....really hard... there is no one out there who will emerger to lead this crowd out of the wilderness. They are calling for the same thing I suppose, but they are too dumb and too angry to realize the Reagan Coalition has died.


What's remarkable to me is how similar this is to the rout that the DLC took after we "lost our way"

[The Magistrate]

1. Well Said Indeed, Sir!

This in particular bears repeating....

"But the nation has opted for 'smart people' in leadership. You may disagree but it is mot so much liberalism that is winning, its intelligence. That siesmic shift in voting pattern the last two cycles , (to be amplified after reapportionment) is something that the fundies have no answer for."

[opihimoimoi]

2. I disagree that we Dems Lost our way...we knew but was over whelmed by PUB TRICKS and THEFT

The GOP has lost all of it CREDs and Respect.....people are leaving them in droves...21% is their BASE....and ita gonna get worse...far worse....

their Party is over....put away the food and drink, no one is here...they all left....the musicians left 1 hour ago,,,,Its time to call it a night...the Party is OVER

[Perky]

3. I was channeling the DLC sentiment....not endorsing it.

[opihimoimoi]

8. ahhhso...sorry...got a bit defensive....my wife just lost her job...I am pissed at the GOP and Bush

[Peacetrain]

4. *Rubbing hands together gleefully as the Republicans come apart at the seams*

Does that make me a bad person? :evilgrin:

[Cha]

6. It makes you a

pragmatist:)

[Cha]

5. mccain sounds like he's

been listening to his daughter..trying to form a gop without wedgies and stupid attacks.

It was bound to happen..internecine gop wars..what took them?

[Jade Fox]

7. Conservatives = slow learners.......

When called on to analyze mistakes and forge a new path, conservatives reveal how dependent they are on the smarty-pants Liberal types they claim to loath. Really, they only thrive when we fall apart, as we did after the Clinton "scandal" and 9/11, when so many Dems bought the Repub fear-and-moral-outrage rhetoric (the antithesis of smart). Hopefully, some lessons have been learned.

Voting for smart. Thank god!

Excellent commentary, by the way! :thumbsup:

[Beetwasher]

16. Conservatives=NO Learners

They're not slow, they REFUSE to learn. Period.

Trust me, nothing's been learned, at least by the people w/ most control over direction of the party.

Did you read the article this morning about the Cheney interview?

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/05/07/cheney-mistake-for-gop-to-‘moderate’/

[Clio the Leo]

9. Two weeks ago Cantor was on my "possible GOP threats" list....

.... at this point, I'm almost worried that I will, in fact, find the 2012 Presidential campaign REALLY REALLY boring! :)

"Obama wins all 50 states plus two Canadian provinces who held a symbolic votes just because they wanted to join the fun." .... I'm tellin' ya, that's what the headlines are gonna look like.

[glitch]

10. They're going to kill themselves fighting over something sold long ago.

There is no heart and soul to the GOP, just zombie decay.

Wait, can zombies kill zombies?

[Kaleko]

11. Happens all the time.

When zombies run out of fresh human blood, they turn on each other, definitely.

It's a gory spectacle and we're watching it live.

[davidpdx]

12. Notices that Burnt Crist (Charlie) isn't invited either

The GOP doesn't love him either. I have to wonder if the people NOT on that list have a better chance in 2012. Oh wait, they are still Republican, what was I thinking?

[olegramps]

13. The vast majority of Republicans would not be welcome in the Democratic Party.

There are three major segments of the Republican constituency.

There are the Christian Fundamentalists who what to impose their brand of Christianity on the entirety of American society. In affect they are determined to transform the nation from a secular Republic into a theocracy.

The other segment are the outright racists who would gladly deport anyone who isn't a white racist.

The third group consists of members who subscribe to both of these tenets.

Lastly there is also a minor segment. These are the ultra wealthy who totally control the party and use it to satisfy their greed and regard the majority of the party as little more than "useful idiots."

[Perky]

14. You gorget about the Libertarian wing and the pro-defense types and the fiiscallly responsbsible

The Reagan coalation is typically definec by Socila conservatives, Civil Libertarians and fiscal Conservatives (who believe in low taxes and small govenment)

Two of thos leges are neither religious or actively racist.

[Beetwasher]

15. Hot Damn This Is FUN To Watch!

The greatest political crack up of all time!

Comedy gold!

[Perky]

17. yep