[Please don’t forget the FUNDRAISER. I’m really in a hole right now. All help appreciated.]
I didn’t watch last night’s GOP debate, but the reviews say Rick Perry is toast, and the baggers are standing by their man — Herman Cain.
Among voters who are likely to vote in a Republican primary Cain and Romney have been tied at the top for about a month, closely followed by “Not Sure.” The most recent polls I’ve seen don’t show any change, although they don’t cover the last two or three days. Here’s the most recent Gallup poll results, taken a couple of days ago:
Mitt Romney 22%
Herman Cain 22%
Unsure 20%
Newt Gingrich 13%
Rick Perry 11%
Ron Paul 6%
Michele Bachmann 3%
Rick Santorum 2%
Jon Huntsman 1%
Again, it’s possible there’s been some movement away from Cain over the past couple of days, but you wouldn’t know that from reading rightie bloggers or noting the audience reaction at the debates. And I’m calling Newt the “line of viability.” Candidates ahead of Newt in the polls have a shot at the nomination; below Newt, they don’t.
But then, what is the GOP establishment these days? The party is no longer being directed by its elected officials, but by a self-appointed shadow committee made up of people who are mostly interested in using the party to make themselves wealthier and more powerful. They left “movement conservatism” a long time ago; it’s all about their own wallets now. Kay wrote,
It wasn’t the Tea Party that pushed the anti-union agenda in Ohio. It was moneyed interests that are absolutely central to the national GOP, and it was state legislators who did not arrive in any “Tea Party†wave, but are (supposedly) mainstream Republicans. Governor Kasich was in the US House from 1993 to 2001. He’s about as plugged in and mainstream as a Republican can be. This was his law. Further, each and every GOP candidate for President endorsed Kasich’s law. The Tea Party actually pushed the ridiculous constitutional amendment on health care. The union-busting law wasn’t their issue.
However, the baggers can be counted on to support union-busting, because they’ve been trained to do so.
And then there are the media mouthpieces, like Bobo and Rush, who more or less say what the Powers That Be expect them to say. Rush may be a little out of control sometimes, but you know that if he ever went completely off the reservation his microphone would be unplugged.
There has been talk that the Tea Party will destroy the GOP, but I think that’s backwards. The baggers are the symptom, not the disease. The GOP has been taken over by people who are utterly disinterested in governing and only want to influence policy to serve their own interests. In a sense, the Republican Party as an actual political party is already gone.
The baggers are the symptom, not the disease.
I agree, but I think the baggers are also a handy little puppet for when the Powers want to pretend something is “populist.” They hire a crowd to wave some signs and pose for the TV cameras in Revolutionary drag and then they can say “Gosh, I guess if it’s the will of the people, I’ll reluctantly sign that new capital gains tax cut.”
The New Republican Party consists of varying degrees of each of the following:
Hedonist’s
Narcissist’s
Nihilist’s
Anarchist’s
Take any candidate, and you will find some blend of all 4 in each of them.
Here are my prevailing two for each.
Newt’s a anarchistic hedonist.
Mitt’s a narcissistic hedonist.
Cain’s a hedonistic nihilist.
Perry’s as hedonistic anarchist.
Bachmann’s a narcissisitic anarchist.
Paul’s a nihilistic anarchist.
Santorum’s a anarchistic narcissist.
And Huntsman, who really should be their candidate, because he’s by far the most sane, ist trying to find the right combination for himself, but not doing well at it.
That’s my take.
Whoa, my silly brain read “antichrist” for “anarchist,” leading to:
“Bachmann’s a narcissistic antichrist…. [Ron] Paul’s a nihilistic antichrist.”
Or maybe… not so silly after all?
joan,
Yeah, it was tough for me, too.
As I was writing it, I had to keep checking that I didn’t write “antichrist.”
To be honest, all but Huntsman, and to a lesser extent Romney, fit that bill nicely.
Narcissists, hedonists, anarchists and nihilists… interesting analysis. Note that the first two are psychological conditions, and the second are political and philosophical. Therefore, by your reckoning, Ron Paul is the only one running on a political philosophy.
Your list has two overlaps:
Newt’s an anarchistic hedonist, Perry’s a hedonistic anarchist:
Santorum’s an anarchist narcissist; Bachmann’s a narcissist anarchist.
Also, you left out narcissist nihilist, which I think describes them all.
I didn’t say it was perfect! 🙂
And, as Frank Luntz will tell you, word order matters.
I really didn’t give this hours of thought, since I had to run out an run errands for my parents.
I threw this out there 0n a whim for people to talk and argue about, hoping they’d have some fun.
Bachmann is a mix between children of the Corn and a Steppford wife. She’s posssesed! She dwells in that place between light and shadow, better known as the twilight zone.
And Santorum needs to see a shrink..He’s got deep seated problems understanding maleness.
That’s not true. Rush is the leader of the Republican party. He cannot go off the reservation; he decides what the boundaries of the reservation are. The (other) GOP Powers-That-Be know that it would be a good idea long-term not to piss off EVERY person in the United States with darker skin than John Boehner, but they can’t stop Rush from doing it.
“Unsure” is about to become the front runner!
Seriously– Cain’s all too able; Mittens is all too transparent; and Perry’s problem isn’t his brain freeze– it’s his failure to comprehend that education, commerce and energy GOOD for the country- not things to be tossed on a heap or handed on to corrupt private-sector toadies.
I wonder if the rightwing bloggers who are supporting Cain despite his history of sexual harrassment are the same rightwing bloggers who castigated Clinton for his consensual affair with Monica Lewinsky. Of course, it is a waste of time to try to point out the hypocrisy of the rightwingers; since, that is their M.O.
There’s an idea gaining traction that the GOP wants to lose this election so the Real Wunderkinden (Bush, etc.) don’t have to run against a Republican incumbent, and there is some chance that their crazy ideas might be able to jump-start the economy after the Democrats repair all the breaks (like they always are tasked to do).
Then there are some who think the powers behind the GOP want the public employees union pension money, too…
Who really knows much, except front line Republicans can be led to believe whatever their masters want them to believe.
This is truly disgusting; but, you have to consider the source:
And Rush Limbaugh suggested today that women who’ve accused Herman Cain of sexual harassment may be coordinating a joint press conference “to synchronize their menstrual periods.†Remember, Rush Limbaugh is one of the most powerful and influential voices in Republican politics.
This came from The Washington Monthly. I just plain don’t understand why ANY woman would vote Republican. Their hatred for women is monumental.
Me neither, Bonnie!
“I just plain don’t understand why ANY woman would vote Republican.”
It seems to me that the reason is they want a strong “big daddy”. Everything about the conservative movement revolves around male dominance and order.
This has profound psycho-sexual manifestations in the party, and explains the fascination with Bachmann and Palin, they are the dominatrix / fluffer forbidden fruit.
It’s also why I don’t think Perry is done. Bush proved an anti intellictual could win twice.
They still follow Limbaugh, even he has been proven wrong time and time again, got busted for posession of controlled substance, and is a putrid pustule on the anus of America.