Discussion: Let The GOP Electability Games Begin!

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Discussion for article #238510

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Mr. Kilgore provides a very well reasoned, logical argument for “electability”; one that would have resonated 20 years ago.

But today, my sense is that it is passion–specifically hatred–that drives the GOP. Their warped view of reality, their bias, their prejudice, their feelings of injustice, are what will drive them to the polls. Not electability.

Evidence? If electability were the GOP’s primary concern then why is Donald Trump–that paragon of altruism and virtue (not)-- leading in the polls?

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Excellent analysis, Ed. I think you especially capture the essence of the ideological conservatives in the race, Walker in particular. Would like to read more about your thoughts on the liberal side of the nomination race, as that was given somewhat shorter shrift in your article.

Let’s hope we get a real choice this November: a hard-core throw-back (in the mold of Joe McCarthy) conservative like Walker versus a principled progressive (I’ll take Bernie or Hillary at this point). In that scenario I think the country will choose clearly and wisely.

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Money. Positioning needs money to make it stick. In my view, any analysis of GOP electability in post-Citizens United America has to include money.

The candidates’ weaknesses also matter, but aren’t discussed.

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Last week someone wrote and suggested a “Hunger Games” style contest to whittle down the field. Hell, I would even go for a reality show based on the CBS “Survivor” format. After the season’s end, the people would know all the candidates very well. That would not help anyone of them IMHO.

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Go all the way and turn it into a game show and I nominate the man who is uniquely qualified to host it!

GOP Klown Kar.jpg960×540 106 KB

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“Path to 270”. Anyway you slice it,Hillary and JEB have the most arguable paths to 270. As much as it might suck,the argument still begins and ends with a Florida too. JEB is the only candidate in the GOP that has a chance to beat Hillary in FLA. Please nominate Walker or Rubio GOPs. Please.

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What an abundance of riches, huh?

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Republicans 2016: Cirque du SoLame’

Come one! Come all!
Fun for mindless morons!
Bring your bibles!
Bring your guns!
And all inside the world’s smallest tent!

And
clowns, clowns, clowns. Chuckle to Ted the Turd, Ridiculous Rand, Thirsty MarkO’ RubeeO’, Señor Jolly Jebby, Tooting Trump, Ricky Oops, Bayou Piyush, Huckster Mike, Krazee’ Carly, Missy Graham, Squishy Santorum, Ben the Honkee’ and Corpulent Christie
AND MORE! A cast of 
dozens!
http://www.ifyouonlynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/cpac-clowns.jpg

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have a superior ability to attract Latino voters (Bush because of his Spanish fluency and Mexican-American wife and Rubio because of his own Cuban-American heritage—not a factor that fellow Cuban-American or Cuban-Canadian-American Ted Cruz seems to have much interest in pursuing).

Mother of Christ
 when will people stop assuming that minorities vote melanin content over policy? It is INSULTING to insinuate that Hispanics/Latinos will only vote for someone who ‘talks pretty’ en Espanol (or has the obligatory Hispanic ‘best friend’). They, LIKE ANY OTHER CONSTITUENCY, will vote for the candidate they feel will best address the issues that are important to them.

edited to add: The same goes for Ben Carson. If being black were all it took to excite the black vote, our first black president would have been Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton. Obama is the first black president
not the first black presidential candidate.

I am black and I have a vagina. But guess what? Instead of using either of those two things when I vote, I use my brain. I wouldn’t support Condi Rice for president, because although we share vaginas of color, we have differing political ideologies.

STOP INSULTING ME BY IMPLYING OTHERWISE.

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Ed overlooks a very important factor. It is vital to the Fox News business model that the Republican base continue watching. Since the Republican base is addicted to crazy Fox can’t allow any candidate to move strongly to the center. Can you imagine the Fox freak out if Rubio or Jeb actually made the immigration move that would attract Latino voters in large numbers? It could be argued that Nikki Haley’s recent leadership on the confederate flag is intended to make the Republican party less toxic to African American voters. Fox has not exactly embraced the Haley position.

Frum was right, the Republican party has become the wholly owned subsidiary of a for profit media empire. Since the prime directive of the media empire is generate profits and they are stuck with old technology and an aging and angry customer base, the Republican party can’t move to the center.

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The GOP can create all the alternate realities they want. I’m sure there is a niche market for poorly written science fiction :-p

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What about the “pure hatred” faction – You know, the ones who’s ideology absolutely cancel out any chances of utilizing reason – Those need to figure into the mix –

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Give them the perfect gift for this election season?

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This. It’s getting nearly impossible to truly break down the dynamics of Republican politics, and especially Republican presidential politics in any sane or traditional manner anymore. You have to look at it through a lens where half of these nut cases running on the GOP side are just there to sell trashy bargain books (Obama’s Tyranny!: Blah, Blah, Blah - the new bestseller!) to idiot Rush Limbaugh fans. The base is just a commodity. Just ask the Koch’s and the Murdoch’s who they want, and that’s who they’ll get.

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There were two grossly fraudulent notions that influenced the 2000 election: 1) There was no meaningful difference between Bush and Gore; and 2) George W. Bush was a “compassionate conservative.” The first one played a critical role in the outcome in New Hampshire and Florida, and helped create the conditions leading to the Supreme Court putsch. The second undoubtedly had a major influence across the entire country, but not just for the election itself, as Bush’s judicial appointments are a toxic by-product that will be with us for many years to come.

Bush’s strategy of making himself appear more “moderate” to appeal to conservative white Democrats stands in apparent stark contrast to Walker’s professed goal of hewing to an unapologetically conservative path. There’s no doubt that the GOP base will eagerly support Walker’s triumphal display of bloody Democratic scalps. The crucial question is whether Walker can bamboozle enough white Democrats and those few true undecideds to vote for him. This in turn will be affected by how successful the Democrats are in communicating the destructive and radical nature of what Walker has done in Wisconsin to the Dem base.

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Actually, it is a paranoid obsession with the Sisyphean unobtainable trait of “PURITY”.
Fear, Resentment, Racism, Xenophobia, and Misogyny are the major components of the lizard-brain that drives the “Primary Voter” in the Republican Primaries but this cycle it seems they are just concerned with PURITY.
If you are not a PURE enough candidate (you have to hate ALL the right-kind of people ALL the time!) you won’t get their vote.
That is why I think Walker will eventually prevail. He hits all the right notes, hates all the “right-kind” of people, screws with all the “lefties” all the time, screws with the “edu-macated elites”, and “those damn Unions”.
He also is not seen as:
“Too Elitist” (like Bush)
“Too Rich” (like Trump)
“Too East-Coast” (like Christie)
“Too Establishment” (like Graham)
“Too Ambitious” (like Cruz)
“Too Unreliable” (like Paul)
“Too Stupid” (like Perry)
“Too Cuban” (like Rubio)
“Too Foreign” (like Jindal)
“Too Female” (like Fiorina)
“Too Grifter” (like Huckabee)
and has the MASSIVE money-machine of the KOCH Bros. behind him.

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Thanks so much for that – Even though, I’m not so sure that’s how I wanted to start out this morning :grimacing:

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from the U.S. Supreme Court to Vienna

Vienna?

Ok, I consider myself somewhat politically astute, but that sailed right over my head.

What does Vienna have to do with anything? Vienna sausage? Vienna, Austria? What?

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I think we need to end the nonsense that is the GOP debates.

A debate is a reasoned, well-researched discussion of two sides of an issue, not a 15-person screaming match with uneducated, “I’m not a _________” arguments that have no basis in reality.

This will be, more accurately, a forum.

It will all still be BS, But at least it will be more accurately identified.