dheddle
Posts: 545
Joined: Sep. 2007
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| Quote (stevestory @ Nov. 13 2008,23:54) | Like other political junkies I've been reading dozens of "How to fix the GOP" articles lately. They vary widely. Some are smart, many are not. Tim Pawlenty said something very smart the other day:
| Quote | "We cannot be a majority governing party when we essentially cannot compete in the Northeast, we are losing our ability to compete in Great Lakes states, we cannot compete on the West Coast, we are increasingly in danger of competing in the mid-Atlantic states, and the Democrats are now winning some of the Western states," Pawlenty said. "That is not a formula for being a majority governing party in this nation."
As if that weren't enough, he ticked off a few more challenges.
"Similarly we cannot compete, and prevail, as a majority governing party if we have a significant deficit, as we do, with women, where we have a large deficit with Hispanics, where we have a large deficit with African American voters, where we have a large deficit with people of modest incomes and modest financial circumstances. Those are not factors that make up a formula for success going forward." |
(from WashMo.)
I bring all this up because I have one general observation from reading all those articles. I have discovered that there's one sure sign the person you're reading is a complete nimrod. if they say some variant of "We have to get back to the principles of Ronald Reagan" the person you're reading has no idea what he's talking about. 1980 was very different than today. When Reagan won there'd been a 10 year period of stagnation, today we've seen years of huge corporate profits. When Reagan won, the cold war was in full effect, now it's nonexistent. When Reagan won people were paying 50, 60 90% tax rates. Now even the rich seldom pay 35%. Who gave a crap about the environment in 1980? Granola muchers in Portland? Now anyone with a brain is concerned about the environment. When Reagan won, health care was a nonissue, now it's a total bankrupting crisis. In short, the conditions prevalent today could hardly be more different than the conditions of 1980, and accordingly, what was attractive then would be seen as irrelevant now, which surprise! the GOP is, which is why educated people see them as completely out of touch and voted Democrat.
The way forward is not a cultish worship of Most Holy Ronald. The way forward for the GOP is to understand why young, passionate, educated people are fleeing the GOP like it's a chemical fire. If you look at the demographic trends, a party that primarily appeals to the old, white, southern, rural, and uneducated is a party that is F*$%ed.
(edited for the grammar. I knew I was white, southern, and rural, but apparently I'm uneducated too) |
These geographic comments are fascinating. I recall after Reagan's second election someone famous (but I can't recall who) saying the Democrats are dead because they can't win any state south of the Mason Dixon and west of the Mississippi.
My, how times have changed.
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Mysticism is a rational enterprise. Religion is not. The mystic has recognized something about the nature of consciousness prior to thought, and this recognition is susceptible to rational discussion. The mystic has reason for what he believes, and these reasons are empirical. --Sam Harris
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