...
> On Nov 3, 12:15 pm, Too_Many_Tools <too_many_to
...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> Until the Party muzzles the crazies like Gunner, the Republican Party
>> will be a loser.
>> TMT
>> GOP victory Tuesday won't erase party's problems
>> By LIZ SIDOTI, AP National Political Writer Liz Sidoti, Ap National
>> Political Writer
>> WASHINGTON – For Republicans, an election win of any size Tuesday
>> would be a blessing. But victories in Virginia, New Jersey or
>> elsewhere won't erase enormous obstacles the party faces heading into
>> a 2010 midterm election year when control of Congress and statehouses
>> from coast to coast will be up for grabs.
>> It's been a tough few years for the GOP. The party lost control of
>> Congress in 2006 and then lost the White House in 2008 with three
>> traditional Republican states — Indiana, North Carolina and Virginia —
>> abandoning the party.
>> So even if political winds start blowing harder behind them and even
>> if they can capitalize on Democratic missteps, Republicans still will
>> have a long way to go over the next year because of their party's own
>> fundamental problems — divisions over the path forward, the lack of a
>> national leader and a shrinking base in a changing nation.
>> The GOP would overcome none of those hurdles should Republican Bob
>> McDonnell win the Virginia governor's race, Chris Christie emerge
>> victorious in the New Jersey governor's contest, or conservative Doug
>> Hoffman triumph in a hotly contested special congressional election in
>> upstate New York.
>> In fact, 2009 seems to have underscored what may be the biggest
>> impediment for Republicans — the war within their base.
>> Not that the GOP would casually brush off even a small stack of
>> victories on Tuesday.
>> One or more wins would give the Republicans a jolt, and a reason to
>> rally in the coming months. Victories certainly would help with grass-
>> roots fundraising and candidate recruiting. And they might just be
>> enough to reinvigorate a party that controlled the White House and
>> Congress through much of this decade, only to lose power in back-to-
>> back national elections.
>> Viewed from the other side, a GOP sweep would be a setback for
>> Democrats. It could be seen as a negative measure of President Barack
>> Obama's standing and could signal trouble ahead as he seeks to get
>> moderate Democratic lawmakers behind his legislative agenda and
>> protect Democratic majorities in Congress next fall.
>> Still, with Democrats in control, the onus is on the GOP to get its
>> act together. George W. Bush, the president many Republicans came to
>> see as an election-day albatross, is gone, but the party troubles born
>> under him linger.
>> Republican leaders in Washington certainly are mindful of the
>> challenges.
>> "It's going to be a difficult road to walk, to work with relatively
>> new entrants into the political system and to work with them to show
>> them that, by and large, we are the party who represents their
>> interests," House Republican leader John Boehner told CNN on Sunday,
>> arguing that there's "a political rebellion" taking place in the
>> country.
>> Others are more blunt.
>> "Right now there's no central Republican leader to turn to, and
>> there's no central Republican message," conservative talk show host
>> Rush Limbaugh told Fox News on Sunday. "The Republican message is sort
>> of muddied. What do they stand for? Right now it's opposition to
>> Obama."
>> A debate is waging over whether that's enough — or whether the party
>> has to be for something, anything really, to be able to claw its way
>> back to the top. Similar hand-wringing happened in the GOP ahead of
>> the 1994 midterms. Just weeks before those elections, Republicans came
>> up with the Contract with America — and ended up taking control of
>> Congress.
>> Heading into the 2010 elections, the GOP also faces a very real split
>> between conservatives who want to focus on social issues — which tend
>> to work best during peaceful, prosperous times — and the rest of the
>> party, which generally wants a broader vision, particularly given
>> recession.
>> Proof of a divide is in the special election in New York's 23rd
>> Congressional District. Potential 2012 presidential hopefuls trying to
>> solidify their conservative credentials, Sarah Palin and Tim Pawlenty,
>> endorsed Hoffman, a conservative third-party upstart, over the GOP-
>> chosen candidate, moderate Dierdre Scozzafava. Badly trailing in
>> polls, she ended up dropping out and — in a slap at the GOP —
>> endorsing Democrat Bill Owens.
>> The White House is suggesting that those developments show that hard-
>> liners are taking over the GOP and the trend will affect the 2010
>> elections. Predicted presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs on Monday:
>> "This is a model for what you'll see throughout the country."
>> Indeed, there are similar tensions in Senate primaries in Florida,
>> California and elsewhere, where conservatives are challenging
>> establishment-backed candidates.
>> Adding to the party's woes: No one — or rather everyone — is speaking
>> for the GOP.
>> Fiery talk show hosts like Limbaugh and Glenn Beck have become the
>> angry white face of the party, filling a vacuum created by Bush's
>> departure as the its standard-bearer and the lack of one single person
>> to emerge as its next generation leader.
>> The 2008 presidential nominee, John McCain, has all but disappeared
>> from the Republican power structure. His running mate, Palin, refuses
>> to disappear — much to the delight of tabloids and to the chagrin of
>> elder party statesmen. And one of the most unpopular politicians in
>> recent times, former Vice President Dick Cheney, keeps popping up to
>> attack Obama — a reminder of the country's and the party's problems
>> under Bush.
>> What's more, the GOP's ranks are thinning: Only 32 percent of
>> respondents called themselves Republicans in a recent AP-GfK survey
>> compared with 43 percent who called themselves Democrats.
>> Also, the party's power center is mostly limited to the South, the one
>> region McCain dominated last fall; Obama won almost everywhere else —
>> including making inroads in emerging powerhouse regions like the West,
>> although Republicans still solidly control several lightly populated
>> states in the area.
>> And demographic, cultural and, perhaps, economic changes in America
>> tilt in the Democrats' favor. Consider that Hispanics, a part of the
>> Democratic base, are the nation's fastest growing minority group.
>> Consider that more states than ever are permitting same-sex unions;
>> Maine will vote Tuesday on whether to allow gay marriage. Consider
>> that the emerging new industry — so-called "green jobs" — is focused
>> on the environment, a core Democratic issue.
>> Still, Republicans sense opportunity — at least in the short term.
>> The bloom is off the Obama rose, and the public is giving the
>> Democratic-controlled Congress low ratings.
>> Economists say the recession is over but jobs aren't reappearing and
>> unemployment is still expected to hit 10 percent. The war in
>> Afghanistan continues, and the public is deeply divided over it.
>> Obama's expansion of government and budget-busting spending isn't
>> sitting well with most Americans. And independents are tilting away
>> from Democrats.
>> All that raises this question: Can the GOP take advantage of such
>> conditions — or are the problems the party faces too great? Stay tuned
>> to 2010 for the answer.
> LOL...I see two fat white guys staring like deer in the headlights
> again..and who have no idea what they will do to fix the respective
> states problems.
> Looks like the Republicans have yet to realize that will not get you
> national votes by being the Fat White Guy Party.
> It is also very interesting that exit polls showed that the majority
> of the voters APPROVE of Obama and his handling of the issues he is
> dealing with.
> So how long do we wait before asking why these two new Governors
> haven't fixed their State's problems?
> If we are like the wingers, it will be before they take office.
> laugh...laugh...laugh...
> TMT
Hey Too_Many_Moms, Maybe your Fat Ugly Mommies could run as Liberals.
have. If you Fat Ugly Gay Mommies were ever elected, do you think they'd let
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