Republican Screw-ups

[quantus]

First on our list is Tom DeLay

Get Tom DeLay to the Church on Time

The more I hear about this and the somewhat related rule changes for the Senate Ethics committee, the more I want to get a bible and beat some people upside the head.

[Jonathan]

But sooner or later, conservatives will have to change course or see their movement wither away.

The issues that have been winners for conservatives are fading. White resentment of federal civil rights laws is the ur-conservative issue, the engine that drove the right's rise. Barry Goldwater, by reluctantly voting against the Civil Rights Act, permanently realigned the South and paved the way for Nixon's "Southern strategy." More recently, right-wing strategists successfully mobilized resentment over "values" issues like the "three Gs" -- gays, God and guns. These issues still mobilize some conservative voters, but they aren't nearly as effective as they used to be. Studies show that the electorate, especially younger voters, are moving left on these issues.

Support among voters for conservatism's powerful no-more-taxes wing is dwindling as well. As Bush found out recently, Americans will do anything to save the nation's two largest entitlement programs, Social Security and Medicare, including paying higher taxes.

The fall of communism was another heavy blow to the conservative movement. It was fear of communism, added to white backlash, that handed conservatives control of the country in the Reagan years. Although Bush won reelection in 2004 by convincing enough frightened Americans that a nonexistent entity called "Islamofascism" was the second coming of the Evil Empire, that fear-mongering comparison will not work anymore. The Iraq debacle, and Bush's misguided "war on terror," have made it only too clear that moralistic militarism and disdain for diplomacy only makes the problem worse.

This is a quote from a Salon piece behind the premium wall.

I am pondering the author's assertions.

I believe, prima facie, that the percentage of people <30 for whom the three Gs and white resentment are strong motivations is declining. I'm not sure I buy the assertion about the no-more taxes wing, and I really think I disagree that the American populace has moved past fear-mongering. I think Americans have decided the Iraq* war is no longer helping Americans, but I also think the fear of terrorism will continue to be political hay.

*note: not iRaq. Though, how awesome would that be?

[quantus]

I'm scared of it, but I think a Republican may get elected again. Hilary won't get elected because the 3 G's won't want a woman president and there's the fact that we'll essentially have overlapping dynastic rule for 24+ years (1988-2012) between the Bush's and Clinton's. If someone starts pushing that latter issue with the backdrop of how this country was founded on getting rid of Kings, it may be enough to sway the small number of people necessary away from Hilary. I'm assuming Hilary will win the nomination, which seems pretty likely right now. I agree that the fear-mongering will get Republicans quite a bit of mileage too.

[Dave]

I hope we're in Iran by 09!