The recipe for a GOP makeover

Feb 3, 2013, 12:30 PM

The recipe for a GOP makeover
John Farmer/The Star-Ledger By John Farmer/The Star-Ledger
on February 03, 2013 at 5:55 AM, updated February 03, 2013 at 5:56 AM

The Republican Party, its heralds say, is hell-bent for reform. Or, as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal put it, to stop being “the stupid party.” Stupidity is tough to overcome, but we should all wish them well.

The last thing we need is one-party dominance, which is where we’re headed for if the Grand Old Puddinheads proceed much further down the road to irrelevance.

The betting here is that Republicans will, despite themselves, figure a way to offer modern and moderate answers to the challenges of a society whose swift change they have failed to grasp.

There’s a rhythm to these things; neither party is on top for too long in modern American politics. Odds are the GOP will get it right in due time.

But first it must deal with four basic problems: the role of the South and the tea party; its need for new leaders; its understanding of the role of the federal government; and, basic to everything else, its image of itself.

The South, sad to say, has been an indigestible lump in the body politic from the first days of the Republic. We’re still paying for its enshrinement of slavery in the Constitution, which ultimately made the country ungovernable.

Today, the South’s inordinately large role in the GOP — its near dominance in the House of Representatives with its hefty contingent of tea party loyalists — is a prime factor pushing the party to the extreme right. The GOP needs a more liberal immigration stance to heal its breach with Hispanics if it’s to flourish in national politics, but every effort to close that gap faces stiff opposition from Southern Republicans.

In short, things won’t get much better for the GOP unless its Dixie die-hards are brought to heel.

A wise and appealing set of leaders in Washington would help, people with some combination of competency and conviviality, but Republicans are stuck for the moment with House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Boehner, from all accounts, is a nice guy but in over his head. And I’ve never come across anybody who accused the slick McConnell of being a “nice guy.” Convivial, in other words.

Maybe someone will turn up; stranger things have happened. But maybe it’s time Republicans looked for leadership outside Washington, to their governors, perhaps.

Unlike their party brethren in Washington, Republican governors, some of them, actually believe government is not all bad and can be made to work. Even Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a tea party hero who took office slashing state spending, especially for schools, had a Road-to-Damascus conversion last week. With his popularity in the latrine as he faces re-election, Scott announced a dramatic hike in school spending.

“It’s the right thing to do for our children,” Scott said. Now he tells us.

The often irrational hostility to government among Washington Republicans has made the party a magnet for the most unhinged, anti-social and anti-intellectual elements on the far right. The assault rifle loonies. Global warming deniers. Survivalists, with fantasies about black helicopters and a life-or-death struggle with forces of the federal government.

There’s more. It’s a cornerstone of the GOP catechism, that government doesn’t create jobs. What a whopper, as we discovered last week when economic growth in the last quarter screeched to a halt. Why? Primarily, as economists noted, because of sharp cuts in defense spending and declines in state and federal employment. That’s government spending, right?

The GOP’s got a lot to do to recover its mojo. But nothing’s more important than how it sees itself.

Washington Republicans are awash in self-pity. They’ve been stiffed, they claim, by an aloof president who won’t give them the time of day. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Think back a bit. Barack Obama had just taken the oath in 2009 when a band of Senate Republicans decided they’d oppose everything he proposed to deny him any achievement. Less than two years later, McConnell proclaimed that preventing Obama’s re-election was the top priority of the GOP.

Obama’s no warm and friendly guy, but Boehner spurned at least six invitations to White House dinners and McConnell all but one.

What it amounted to is this: The GOP, which beats its breast about patriotism, opted to destroy a young presidency and leave the federal government becalmed and impotent at a most dangerous time in history.

Who the hell did these guys think they were?

“Stupid” is too mild a description.

http://blog.nj.com/njv_john_farmer/2013/02/farmer_the_recipe_for_a_gop_ma.html

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the left prescribing what the GOP needs to do, as if this is some sort of historic event and the party is on the verge of collapse.

What they fail to see is nothing is further from the truth. We control ~33 of 50 governorships and a majority of state legislatures (I put the tilde there because I'm not going to look it up, it is 30+ I think 33, if it turns out to be 31 or 35 go ahead and report it to mediamatters.org, because I don't give a ####).

The GOP also controls the House, will retain the house and gain seats in the senate in 2014 (go ahead and mark that down).

What "we" need to do is NOT listen to our opponents diagnosis of the 2 defeats and how to adjust. "We" need to do a couple things. STOP nominating RINO candidates who ALWAYS lose general elections. Nominating the candidates who have more in common with the left (McCain/Romney) and are actually liked more by the left then the candidates UNTIL they win the nomination will never work. Its like me cheering for UGA over SC, does that mean I will then cheer for UGA over Clemson when they play?

These candidates do nothing to energize the vote. Democrats and left wing independents aren't going to vote for them, they will vote for the D regardless.

If the lefts prescriptions were worthless, and in many ways they are a trap. In that regard the GOP is stupid, don't fall for the trap. And if they do they deserve to lose, as McCain and Romney and their RINO predecessors always do.

The recipe for a GOP makeover

Its so interesting how losing 2 presidential elections has

The GOP have lost 4 out of 6. The 2 wins were stolen..

Whenever I'm feeling stupid about something

OK so 2 of the last 4 won by Dems were with under 50%

i don't think the party is on life support, as some think.

so flip on all those issues and i'm gone along with every

don't flip and continue to bleed certain demographics and

Guys like him would rather die before

Re: Guys like him would rather die before

Fiscal conservatism is not what dems do

GOP. lol.***

So the answer is to become democrats.

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