Where do Republicans go from here?

[Sun_Worshiper]

the Republicans have become a far right party, with an authoritarian streak

That's perhaps an alternate reality or measuring by a new rod.

You are the one living in an alternative reality if you can't see that  trying to overthrow the results of a free and fair election constitutes an authoritarian streak.

That's not the 74 million voters, at all. These won't go away.

I'm sure many of these folks are very fine people, but they supported an authoritarian who tried to destroy American democracy by installing himself as president even after losing the election. And 74m is a lot of people, but not enough to win an electoral majority, which is what this thread is actually about.

[Sun_Worshiper]

Democrats have their problems, but unlike the Republicans the lunatic wing of the Democratic party is (a) not as crazy, (b) not as large, and (c) not in charge of anything. 

Let's wait and see. Anyone who gets to teach little children that (1) there are inherent problems with whiteness and we need to learn how to be 'antiracist' everyday in everything we think say and do, according to someone's limited and one-sided idea of what that would entail, and (2) it's time to start thinking about which gender you want to belong to
is in charge of a lot, very dangerous, and needs to be isolated/marginalized, not reasoned with.
Also, a noisy handful of far-left lunatics are getting a very wide berth among the higher education elite and are emboldened by tenure protections. And that will only get worse. Conservatives can also have tenure but they are far outnumbered. The combined attributes of PhD, publishing of books and tenure can add up to a lot of authority.
The left, if not the hard-left, is a clear majority of Hollywood, half or more of the media and most of talk-show television.

One day the Democrats may have a problem comparable to what Rs are facing now (although I don't see the same level of insanity from people who *gasp* want to prevent racism, as I do from these morons who literally believe that Trump is secretly fighting a cabal of Satan worshiping pedophiles), but the 2020 election suggests that both the Democratic voters and their leading politicians are pretty moderate.

And we have plenty of threads where you an others go on about how awful liberals are. This is a thread intended to discuss the challenges facing the conservative party.

[mahagonny]

For some reason today's democrats think that preventing racism is something they just thought up recently. It is not, and neither is it something where someone may simply announce they are eminently qualified to dictate how something like that should be done.

but the 2020 election suggests that both the Democratic voters and their leading politicians are pretty moderate.

So says a liberal academic.

And we have plenty of threads where you an others go on about how awful liberals are. This is a thread intended to discuss the challenges facing the conservative party.

Which is disingenuous to begin with.

[Sun_Worshiper]

For some reason today's democrats think that preventing racism is something they just thought up recently. It is not, and neither is it something where someone may simply announce they are eminently qualified to dictate how something like that should be done.

but the 2020 election suggests that both the Democratic voters and their leading politicians are pretty moderate.

So says a liberal academic.

Ad hominem

Try sticking to substance, Mahagonny

And we have plenty of threads where you an others go on about how awful liberals are. This is a thread intended to discuss the challenges facing the conservative party.

Which is disingenuous to begin with.

Not really. I genuinely want a sane Republican party that supports and abides by the democratic process, and I'm genuinely curious about how Rs will move forward. If you don't care to discuss these matters, and instead want to do your usual rants about BLM and tenure, then why not start your own thread?

[mahagonny]

For some reason today's democrats think that preventing racism is something they just thought up recently. It is not, and neither is it something where someone may simply announce they are eminently qualified to dictate how something like that should be done.

but the 2020 election suggests that both the Democratic voters and their leading politicians are pretty moderate.

So says a liberal academic.

Ad hominem

Try sticking to substance, Mahagonny

Not at all. I mean no disrespect to you, but I suspect you live in a bubble as a result of, likely, the people you socialize with, your preferred news outlets, movies, etc. Which would mean your perspective might likely be of a certain kind.

[Sun_Worshiper]

For some reason today's democrats think that preventing racism is something they just thought up recently. It is not, and neither is it something where someone may simply announce they are eminently qualified to dictate how something like that should be done.

but the 2020 election suggests that both the Democratic voters and their leading politicians are pretty moderate.

So says a liberal academic.

Ad hominem

Try sticking to substance, Mahagonny

Not at all. I mean no disrespect to you, but I suspect you live in a bubble as a result of, likely, the people you socialize with, your preferred news outlets, movies, etc. Which would mean your perspective might likely be of a certain kind.

Sure, of course we are all ethnocentric, so to speak, and this informs our opinions. But it doesn't make opinions worthless, especially those informed by data (and if you think any opinion is worthless if it comes from a person with a political ideology, then you might as well log off yourself).

The reality is that Democrats ran a lot of candidates in the primary, and those most to the left did not do well. Biden is a moderate (or is at least seen that way) and he won. This shows you two things: Democratic voters prefer moderates, and a moderate is the leader of the party. This is not my bubble, this is reality.

[mahagonny]

Aside from that, the results of 2020 were acknowledged among democratic party strategists to be disappointing compared to what they hoped for and expected. Strongly suggesting they still don't have their finger on the nation's pulse.

on edit: I don't deny that the psychological bullying and self-righteousness of the 'anti-racism' mob have gotten a big foothold recently and I don't deny that we're plenty worried about it. So, congratulations.

[ciao_yall]

the Republicans have become a far right party, with an authoritarian streak

That's perhaps an alternate reality or measuring by a new rod.

You are the one living in an alternative reality if you can't see that  trying to overthrow the results of a free and fair election constitutes an authoritarian streak.

That's not the 74 million voters, at all. These won't go away.

How many of these 74 million are genuinely good people who happen to agree with the Republicans on most issues and are willing to look past Trump and the Proud Boys to make progress on issues they genuinely care about?

[mahagonny]

^ good question and prompts me to ask one.

How many of those who voted for Joe Biden are good people, and by good I mean not only basically nice, but well enough adjusted to want to build good lives together and individually instead of looking for ways to play victim?

[Sun_Worshiper]

Aside from that, the results of 2020 were acknowledged among democratic party strategists to be disappointing compared to what they hoped for and expected. Strongly suggesting they still don't have their finger on the nation's pulse.

on edit: I don't deny that the psychological bullying and self-righteousness of the 'anti-racism' mob have gotten a big foothold recently and I don't deny that we're plenty worried about it. So, congratulations.

Great, thanks for that out of date take on the election and accompanying rant about anti-racism, which is entirely unrelated to the topic of this thread. Lots of great food for thought.

Do you have anything relevant to say about the topic of this thread? Did you read the Sasse op-ed linked to in the opening post? Tell us what you think about Rs moving forward.

[lightning]

"moderate" is relative. With the republicans moving farther and farther to the right, in order to remain viable, people like Biden appear even more and more moderate.

As for where Republicans go from here, their only course for survival is to move farther to the right. They can't win in the center (Bush Sr. couldn't win a 2nd term even with the patriotic boost of beating up on the hapless Iraqi army, Bob Dole lost, McCain lost, Romney lost, and Dubya was barely a win made possible only by courting the far right vote through white-washed xenophobia). But Republicans have found some success moving farther to the right. They will continue to go that direction because it's really their only option. An enigmatic future is a better option than going where one has lost several times before.

The traditional Republican party of fiscal conservatives is dead. The new Republican base loves the benefits of "big government," too, and doesn't care about deficit spending or national debt. Since the traditional Republicans are defined by the their views on the role of government, but do not offer overt cultural identity politics for the new Republican base, they have very little to offer other than a champion to overturn Roe vs Wade.

A better strategy for Republicans is to shore up, defend, and manipulate further, the Republican advantage in the electoral college. This can be achieved through state-level legislatures, many of which are controlled by Republicans in swing states.

No matter what happens in the short-term, history will remember the Republican party as the party that supported the over-turning of an election through violent means.

[mahagonny]

Aside from that, the results of 2020 were acknowledged among democratic party strategists to be disappointing compared to what they hoped for and expected. Strongly suggesting they still don't have their finger on the nation's pulse.

on edit: I don't deny that the psychological bullying and self-righteousness of the 'anti-racism' mob have gotten a big foothold recently and I don't deny that we're plenty worried about it. So, congratulations.

Great, thanks for that out of date take on the election and accompanying rant about anti-racism, which is entirely unrelated to the topic of this thread. Lots of great food for thought.

Wrong again. Anti-'antiracism' and a widely agreed upon astonishment and disgust for the most vocal proponents of the 'antiracism' and 'woke' movements (including and maybe even especially the most educated ones) are current foundations for coalition and will play a role in where the republicans steer themselves next. Preventing bad people from getting control of government is a platform, and it's never been stronger than now during my lifetime. Remember perhaps, Bob Dole: 'a good day in government is usually not getting a good thing to happen. More often it's preventing a bad thing from happening.'
Given Trump's abrasive personality it should have been a cinch to landslide him. Didn't happen.

Not really. I genuinely want a sane Republican party that supports and abides by the democratic process, and I'm genuinely curious about how Rs will move forward. If you don't care to discuss these matters, and instead want to do your usual rants about BLM and tenure, then why not start your own thread?

I've been asked not to, although that may not deter me for long. Why don't you start a forum where only liberals may log in?

[Sun_Worshiper]

Aside from that, the results of 2020 were acknowledged among democratic party strategists to be disappointing compared to what they hoped for and expected. Strongly suggesting they still don't have their finger on the nation's pulse.

on edit: I don't deny that the psychological bullying and self-righteousness of the 'anti-racism' mob have gotten a big foothold recently and I don't deny that we're plenty worried about it. So, congratulations.

Great, thanks for that out of date take on the election and accompanying rant about anti-racism, which is entirely unrelated to the topic of this thread. Lots of great food for thought.

Wrong again. Anti-'antiracism' and a widely agreed upon astonishment and disgust for the most vocal proponents of the 'antiracism' and 'woke' movements (including and maybe even especially the most educated ones) are current foundations for coalition and will play a role in where the republicans steer themselves next. Preventing bad people from getting control of government is a platform, and it's never been stronger than now during my lifetime. Remember perhaps, Bob Dole: 'a good day in government is usually not getting a good thing to happen. More often it's preventing a bad thing from happening.'
Given Trump's abrasive personality it should have been a cinch to landslide him. Didn't happen.

Ok. So the Republican Party's strategy should be running on a platform of preventing bad people from getting control of the government. That is sort of reasonable, but how do they achieve this goal when the party's most popular figure is someone who most people think is a bad person (Trump), and when much of party leadership has cast their lot with far-right authoritarianism?

And to be clear, I'm not trying to attack the Republicans here, I'm just saying that they have a dilemma and asking how they get to where you want them to go.

Not really. I genuinely want a sane Republican party that supports and abides by the democratic process, and I'm genuinely curious about how Rs will move forward. If you don't care to discuss these matters, and instead want to do your usual rants about BLM and tenure, then why not start your own thread?

I've been asked not to, although that may not deter me for long. Why don't you start a forum where only liberals may log in?

I want to hear from conservatives - I have literally just asked you for your opinion on the conservative party. I just wish it didn't take an act of God to make you break character to respond to the thread topic.

[Sun_Worshiper]

I'll just leave this here.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/16/trump-attacks-mcconnell-in-fiery-statement-469150

[mahagonny]

I'll just leave this here.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/16/trump-attacks-mcconnell-in-fiery-statement-469150

I believe I could make a pact with you and others of your style to jump on Trump with both feet if we could see eye to eye on a couple other things.