Thought
If you build a political core on absolutist rage, it's very difficult to later ask them to moderate.
((Politico) GOP base rejects calls to moderate)
((Politico) GOP base rejects calls to moderate)
posted by mikevotes at
7:25 AM
4 Comments:
I laughed several times reading while reading the Politico article. I don't think that I took it as seriously as you did.
First, the "evidence" of attempts at moderation is weak. Meagan McCain and Schmidt's remarks on gay marriage were tepid; more like trial balloons phrased in a "maybe you should consider this" manner.
"The party’s top elected leaders in Congress, meanwhile, spooked by being attacked as the “party of no,” were recasting themselves as a constructive, respectful opposition to a popular president."
I must have missed that critical event. When was it supposed to have happened? Was it before Republican leaders clamoured for "all out war" over health care reform reconciliation or was it after the release of the comic book known as the Republican "budget"?
Overall, it's a pathetic portrait of Republican leaders wringing their hands over a base that won't permit them to moderate and simultaneously bragging about how powerful they are with that base behind them.
"“There is a fever pitch,” he said, dismissing the notion that the party must sacrifice some of the intensely held views of base voters to expand its coalition to include more young and minority voters. “You don’t get a new coalition by abandoning your old coalition.”"
And thus was the GOP screwed.
Look, the Party created this damn "fever pitch". They've been working overtime to frighten and outrage their base for a year now. And now they pretend this is all spontaneous and somewhat regrettable, but their hands are tied because the base is at a "fever pitch".
""John McCain found out the hard way that being where he was not an asset,” Reed recalled of last year's presidential primary,"
Idiot. The GOP selected McCain because he could appeal to moderates, but then they methodically turned him into someone that a moderate would despise, so that he could win the base. It was playing to the base that destroyed McCain's chances, not being a moderate. And that "moderate" image was largely an illusion anyway. He was a crazy wingnut who had the ability to portray himself as sane for limited periods. That is not a "moderate".
By
Todd Dugdale , at 11:58 AM
First, you're right. The few statements cannot really be called steps towards moderation. My point though really was to look more at the ideological box.
And, this all goes back to that post I did a couple weeks ago about the GOP's decisions to use passionate division to win immediate elections. Southern strategy, 60's reactionary morals issues, gay marriage, etc...
(And, I would argue a bit on your shorthand, "the GOP chose McCain...."
If you'll remember, McCain won the primary in some good part by surviving, not really by winning.)
By
mikevotes, at 12:34 PM
"If you'll remember, McCain won the primary in some good part by surviving, not really by winning.)"
You're right. I really don't consider the Republican primaries to be much more than a show. In caucus states (like Minnesota), the results are not even really binding and only serve to choose delegates to the county and state conventions where they are browbeaten into supporting whoever the leadership has ordained.
So I said "the GOP selected McCain" to indicate that the leadership had already made it known that McCain was the best chance to win the WH in 2008. From there, it was just a question of whether the rank-and-file would follow orders and vote accordingly. In my opinion, it is a sham process designed to make the rank-and-file feel as if they have some kind of control over the Party's destiny; that they have a "stake" in the Party. What little debate over issues there is boils down to whether a candidate is "really tough" on something versus another candidate who is merely "tough".
Just look at the treatment Ron Paul got in the primaries and how it was orchestrated from the leadership. The "word" came down from on high that Paul was not a "serious" candidate, and he became a pre-ordained laughing-stock.
"My point though really was to look more at the ideological box."
Sure. I get that.
My point is that the "box" is their own creation. It is, in fact, the entirety of their strategy.
The GOP is not some hapless "victim" of their base. This is just another "who could have possibly predicted..." moment from the GOP. To pretend that this insanely frothing base just came into existence of its own volition and forced the Republican leadership to the Right is sheer fantasy. This is the main premise of the article, after all.
That wild and crazy base won't let the leadership move to the centre, but that same leadership is also apparently pretty pleased about it.
I guess that I don't see a "box".
But I understand you pointing to the narrative of the putative "box".
By
Todd Dugdale , at 1:38 PM
Agreed. That's why I refernced that post we traded comments on about the GOP's decisions that led them to their current "pure" stripped down party with no way to reach much beyond itself demographically.
By
mikevotes, at 2:12 PM
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