Democrats are fortunate to be on the side of history and also being on the side of where ideas progress. Republicans on the other hand, well, aren't, to put it bluntly.
Another thing going for Democrats is the electorate is slowly but surely in support gay marriage and pro-choice. Republicans, still use these two issues to get their base fired up and the fringe of the base chooses to throw these issues in the electorates face come election time. More so the issue of abortion than gay marriage.
Here is where the Republicans are in a losing battle.
The electorate doesn't want to hear it any longer....but don't tell them that.
It doesn't take much to bait the fringe and even main stream Republicans into debating these issues. Most recently, you had John McCain discussing abortion and using air quotes when speaking of the women's health.
Bad idea John, bad idea.
Until Republicans learn to tame the base to not make these issues front and center and turn off moderates and other on the fencers, the further they will continue to go into the abyss of irrelevancy.
I liked a comment of yours on 538. It was an accurate and succinct assessment of the politics of climate change. I'm afraid the one here is flawed. You're guessing too much.
ReplyDeleteI wish I knew what the electorate was sick and tired of by now. Everyone can have his or her guess, but reality is rarely as simple and uniform as we pretend it is. Listening to Republicans react to their losses of 2008 with the same viciousness and craziness they used last year, building on the oneupsmanship and fear-mongering they've used for many years, I've wondered if we should have elections more frequently, so the electorate could say, "No, we weren't kidding." That's impractical, of course, too costly, too much trouble.
Voters wind up being understood eventually if one party is being suicidal, the way Democrats were being when they weren't pandering enough to the middle class. If Republicans lose enough elections, they will change or indeed become irrelevant. How many is that? One more? Two more? All the way through 2016?
Then what happens if events cloud the voters' lesson for Republicans and let them win some of those elections despite bad strategy and tactics. That would help Republicans be even more resolute in staying their course, despite many voters being sick of it. Do the sick just get sicker, and those who don't care never do care?
I like to think human beings get what they deserve eventually. Of course, people have been believing that for thousands of years, and it never quite works out that way.