It’s interesting to see former Bush speechwriters like David Frum and Michael Gerson try to talk reason to the Republican base. It just strikes me as a lot like Dr. Frankenstein trying to talk reason to his monster. Also, too, genies and bottles, Pandora and her box.
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
But when will the monster eat the GOP alive, is what I want to know? Hopefully 2012 for starters.
FWIW, I don’t think it will be a quick and easy process. I expect it will take several years, and will proceed unevenly (two steps up, one step back).
So, we saw some hopeful signs in the consecutive “wave” elections of Democrats to Congress in 2006 and 2008. Republicans might have won control of the Senate in 2010 but for the voters’ rejection of extremist Republican candidates in states like Colorado, Delaware and Nevada.
The election results this year in Wisconsin (2 successful state senate recalls, more recalls on the way), Ohio (Question 2), and Arizona (successful recall of Russell Pearce, Democratic mayors elected in Phoenix and Tucson) are, I suggest, further hopeful signs—as is the turmoil in states like Alabama and Georgia caused by extremist anti-immigrant legislation.
If (and it’s a big if at this point) Obama wins reelection despite the horrendous economy, I would take that as a further sign of hope.
Finally, there’s the slow but inexorable wave of demographic change across the country. Based on current voting patterns, every year for the next decade Democrats will net an additional 400,000+ votes as young people turn 18 (and older voters who tend to vote Republican die).
And younger, more liberal people become older, more conservative people?
The comfort taken in the specatacle of dying old conservatives replaced by liberals just arriving at voting age is illusory.
Thanks for the response. Let me clarify: I’m not taking comfort in the death of old conservatives. I’m doing my Joe Friday imitation: “Just the facts.”
18-29 year olds voted for Obama over McCain by something like a 68-29 margin. By contrast, McCain won the over-65 vote by a 54-44 margin. (http://articles.cnn.com/2008-11-04/politics/exit.polls_1_exit-polls-obama-camp-john-mccain?_s=PM:POL
ITICS)
These are the numbers that keep Karl Rove up at night. They’re the numbers that helped drive Rove’s (and Bush’s) “compassionate conservative” agenda.
There’s nothing inevitable about election outcomes in the future. Young voters might turn on Obama and the Democrats. Republicans might rediscover a “compassionate conservative”, “law and order”, “small government” agenda that attracts swing voters. Baby boomers (just reaching retirement age) might shift to the right in ever-growing numbers. Any of these things is possible.
My two main points are:
1 – to the extent demographics matter, liberals and Democrats have reason to be somewhat optimistic about the trends in the coming decade or two;
2 – the history of American nativism is that, although it persists, it tends to erupt powerfully for a short span of time, and then to recede relatively quickly as most Americans conclude that they don’t agree with—or want to live with—the consequences of a nativist society.
The question really has nothing to do with the GOP politicians. They are evil persons, who say things that are false, and arise from a false and venal world view.
The main issue is the GOP voter. These evil men who run the GOP do well because their evil lies are rewarded by votes. When a person says something that is evil, and this results in a reward of re-election, they are likely to say more evil things.
Why are the GOP voters so evil? This has gone beyond the misguided or confused voter. When people at a debate applaud and cheer the idea of someone dying due to a lack of insurance, that is evil. When Ron Paul defends the fact that his campaign aid died of a treatable illness because Ron Paul did not provide insurance for his staff, that too is evil.
There is a sickness on the right.
Well, OK, evil.
We are the same human race that was perfectly comfortable with mass slavery for most of its history and still is in many places.
When the real thing is not on offer wage-slavery will do.
Marx was right about humans, history, and human society, except for that optimistic bit at the end.
Sad, really.
Good point, dataguy. Thomas Jefferson once argued that the main difference in the outcomes of the American and French Revolutions was not the difference in the leaders, but the difference in the followers.
Americans were, basically, better followers. They were more politically aware and savvy. They were more capable and competent at engaging in public debate and deliberation and decision-making. The French on the other hand—partly because…okay, according to Jefferson, mostly because—they were ignorant Papists too easily led by tyrants and authoritarians failed in their attempt to create and sustain a democratic republic.
It’s also worth recalling we’ve gone through previous bouts of this “sickness on the right” and emerged stronger and healthier as a nation:
*the “Know Nothing” movement of the 1840s and 50s failed to stem the wave of Catholic (and later, Jewish) immigrants to the US, and their subsequent rise to political and economic power;
*the nativist movement of the 1910s and 20s (Prohibition, rise of the second KKK with its unifying hatred of “Koons, Kikes and Katholics”) was followed in the 1930s by repeal of the Volstead Act and the New Deal;
*the virulent anti-communism of the McCarthy Era was followed by the Great Society, the successes of the Civil Rights movement and the continuing expansion of freedom domestically (e.g., gay marriage and repeal of DADT) and internationally (the end of European colonial empires, the nonviolent revolutions in Eastern Europe of 1989, this year’s Arab Spring, etc.).
I don’t think anyone of this is inevitable. And I don’t think it will be easy to overcome this “sickness on the right”. It will take skill, determination and hard work on our part. But I do think it can be done.
I’m glad you used the word evil.
it’s on point
I don’t think it was inevitable that the party went further to the right after bush. I think a lot of mainstream republicans were ready to tack back to the center after the bush losses of 2006 and 2008. I think they were just as surprised as the dems when the senate obstruction of McConnell married with the tea party anti government populism to rejuvenate the party.
The candidates were more moderate in 2008 than they are now. I think the Palin selection was the thing that threw the whole moderation process out of whack.
Yep. McCain weaponized the crazy.
I thought it was that he weaponized the stupid.
But weaponization of the crazy stupid religiowack is also an accurate description.
McCain’s selection of Palin might prove to be a turning point. Before Palin, the 27-percenters mostly voted for establishment candidates. After Palin, they got the idea of “Hey, we can have our own candidates!” They’re dropping the party’s mask.
Bushies defending Bush Republicanism.
As time passes and the necon wars cease to obscure their domestic policies it emerges that GW at home was not that far to the right of his father.
And the neo-Birchers and true blue conservatives hated Bush 41 with all their Reagan-loving hearts.
Remember, for example, how George Will used to go on about him?
I do remember. In Will’s eyes, 41 committed the cardinal sin of not being Reagan.
If I recall correctly, Will fell in love with Reagan when he made his speech for Goldwater at the convention.
He was more consistently Goldwater than Goldwater, even that early in his career.
Romney needs to choose a non-crazy-type for the VP slot to let the Conservatives know they’re completely out of the loop this election cycle.
What are the chances?
it is funny
It’s pretty simple: pandering assholes like Frum and Gerson never expected the peasants to threaten their own privileged perches a party “wise men”. Now that they’re about to be left behind in the dust of organized psychopathy they desperately want to massage the monster back to being a good dog. Guess they never got it about long-term consequences coming ’round to bite you on the backside.