BTW, on a local level I don't see the GOP party taking any real hits at least and until the D-tribe can mount some good candidates. Not having choices that are competitive is never a good thing whether it be in politics, business, or other. 

Same thing is true of voters. The ones that vote straight ticket and just pull the big blue or red lever are just as much part of the problem. 

Goose wrote:

As Ross Douthat wrote in the NYT:

 The Trump uprising is first and foremost a Republican and conservative problem: There would be no Trumpism if George W. Bush’s presidency hadn’t cratered, no Trumpism if the party hadn’t alternated between stoking and ignoring working-class grievances, no Trump as front-runner if the party leadership and his rivals had committed fully to stopping him before now.

The Iraq war was the reatest foreign policy disaster in a generation. Middle class wages continue to stagnate. Meanwhile GOP leaders have stoked irrational fears about immigrants, guns, culture wars, even the President's patriotism.
They stoke these fears to a fever pitch to raise money and win elections. But they can't deliver on their promises. Now the GOP establishment has been ditched in favor of the greatest over-promiser of all.
Not a pretty trend. The GOP can only stop this slide with effective leadership, foreign policy competence, and addressing the actual needs of Americans. They have to reject the short game of playing up the crazy.
Unfortunately, they have unleashed a very ugly genie. I think that the GOP remains intact, as a cruder, and even more intransigent beast.

Does EITHER party have an answer to the middle class wages? I am not hearing one that will solve the problem. Those OLD good paying jobs are not coming back (at least as they were).

Last edited by tennyson (3/01/2016 8:58 am)

If Republican party leaders do not condemn Trump for his latest racist acts there does not need to be a party of people who call themselves Republicans.  Trump demanded a group of young blacks be removed from his GA rally last night and earlier in the day another group of blacks were removed from his rally in VA.  Neither group was misbehaving, but merely making a presence.  How is it that our FBI agents are in the control of a racist like Donald Trump and take orders from him and behave like Nazi SS Troopers. How is it that groups of people are merely standing along with hundreds/thousands of others but are herded out like future concentration victims?  How can any political party allow this Nazi-like behavior to continue and not shout out to the heavens condemning it?  If this is what the Republican party is all about, what it really stands for God help us all.

TheLagerLad wrote:

Q: Is the party irreparably damaged

A: Nah. It is definitely taking it on the chin now, but it is wayyyyyyyyy too early to tell what the long term affects of the Trump ascension might be. Let's say Trump gets the nomination but loses to Hillary by the same electoral margin that McCain lost to Obama in 2008. It would be a complete repudiation of the nationalist fervor Trump instituted on the party as a whole. And both Trump and his followers go away and the establishment reestablishes itself so to speak.

Q: What are the alternatives 

A: In the short term, not much. If Trump wins the nomination I suppose Ted Cruz could run over to the Constitution Party and run as their nominee. The hope would be from conservatives that in a three way race no one would get the 270 electoral votes required to win and a GOP controlled House would hand the presidency to Cruz. In reality, all that does is pave the way for Hillary to win in a landslide. 

Longer term, I think the Trump wing breaks off and tries to create a nationalist party. But it will die a quick death as it won't be able to fund itself or gain any widespread popularity.

Q: What will the emerging image of the party be that can allow it to maintain dominance both locally and nationally.  

A: I don't know but my prediction is this. The GOP for a generation has become a southern party. I look for the northeast, rust belt, mountain west, and West Coast republicans to wrestle it back. That means an emphasis on smaller government, less regulation, financial responsibility, entitlement reform, lower taxes, and national security. It will also mean less of a focus on social issues, old school immigration fights, and religion. And I really think under a Clinton administration, you'll see a majority of younger people flock to the GOP 

In the end, if the Republicans really think about what the American people want long term, they theoretically could emerge much stronger because of Trump. 

 

You might be correct on that because many of them flocked to Sanders, but that said, does the GOP really have any good solutions for them either. I am not seeing it right now. I don't see either party really having the things that the younger generation is looking for (whether that is good or bad, I don't know. I DO know that many of our ideas change as we become older and perhaps that will happen to them as well. I am sure that they feel totally left out of sharing in Social Security, etc the way the picture is painted right now). 

 

So I suppose the GOP is down to the two candidates I loathe the most.

Bible thumpin', no compromisin' Ted Cruz vs. Megalomaniac Donald Trump.

And to be honest, if I had to vote for one of them, I'd choose Trump.