Some Guy Thinks Gop Is In Decline!?

[♦ ficino ♦]

I am just ranting. This clown thinks that the GOP is becoming a minority party, that only 25% of the American electorate identifies as Republican, blah blah.

 

He thinks their gerrymandering and voter suppression tactics won't work.

 

So why do they continue to control the House, stand close to capturing the Senate, and control most state houses?

 

My big reasons for not liking them: they push down working people even more than Democrats do (Dems are not great, but are less bad), and they are pretty much a religious party by this point.

 

Steamed in blue state land,

 

Ficino

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-creamer/out-of-touch-gop-rapidly_b_5650490.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592

[♦ nivek ♦]

ficino,

 

Still a grand majority of persons with franchise have faith in the political party system G. Washington warned us about.

Fuck if I know WHY folks have to zero-sum game life into small chunks of bullshit handed to us by the eternal Political classes.

 

kL

[ExCBooster]

Now, fellas, everyone knows, you must always choose the lesser of two weevils...

[Lerk]

Maybe he's just optimistic. Some days I think that Wendy Davis could beat Greg Abbott in the Texas Governor's race. I know better, yet for some reason I'm hopeful.

 

I think there really is change ahead, but it's hard to say how far in the distance it is. The Republicans will not be able to continue with their current platform 20 years into the future because most of the people who like that platform will have died. Rather than becoming a minority party, what they'll do is eventually change what they're preaching.

[florduh]

There is no lesser of two evils in our current system. Only the empty rhetoric separates parties and politicians. In practice, same-same.

[Sybaris]

IMHO I think the whole U.S. political system is in decline. It probably worked great when the population, economy and infrastructure was much smaller. Now, it's like a collection of snotty entitled teenagers all vying for a golden parachute. I don't know what changes could make it better, term limits and more credentials other than just citizenship and age maybe. Something has got to give.

[Vigile]

IMHO I think the whole U.S. political system is in decline. It probably worked great when the population, economy and infrastructure was much smaller. Now, it's like a collection of snotty entitled teenagers all vying for a golden parachute. I don't know what changes could make it better, term limits and more credentials other than just citizenship and age maybe. Something has got to give.

Real campaign spending reform would go a long ways.  Limit not the amount they can take in, but the amount they can actually spend.  In the UK, at least back when I studied it, pols were allowed to spend only 10k pounds.  Any pol qualified to run by receiving a certain number of public signatures is also given equal air time on public television.

 

The 10k pound, or around $15K is a good amount as it doesn't lock out everyone but the super rich and it doesn't make the pol beholden to campaign donors. 

 

This is all very reasonable, but would be a radical transition from the current system where literally hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on campaigns, which essentially puts our politicians up for sale to those who can afford to buy political access. 

[♦ nivek ♦]

Does it matter what "party" gets to slip it to us in what electoral cycle when?

 

 

 

[♦ ficino ♦]

I agree that campaign spending reform would be a very good thing.

 

I also agree that Dems and Republs both are corrupt. Still, I can't understand the position of some folks who say that because that's true, they are not voting. It seems to me that the practical outcome of such a decision is likely to benefit Republicans. maybe vote for a third party... ? There are some out there.

[florduh]

At the higher levels of government, I see no difference other than style. Each party panders to what they deem a winning demographic. If either party sees a trend where they consistently lose votes, they alter the game plan. The prize of winning the office is the privileged position of being above the law and being handsomely rewarded by the corporate power structure. Regardless of party affiliation, elected individuals do not exhibit performance that matches their pre-election platform or rhetoric. We are firmly set on a course of increasing military intervention, demise of the middle class, enrichment of the rich and curtailing of freedoms, regardless of who sits in the big chair.

[Vigile]

I agree that campaign spending reform would be a very good thing.

 

I also agree that Dems and Republs both are corrupt. Still, I can't understand the position of some folks who say that because that's true, they are not voting. It seems to me that the practical outcome of such a decision is likely to benefit Republicans. maybe vote for a third party... ? There are some out there.

 

Well, unless you live in a swing state, individual votes don't matter anyway.  This isn't just true of presidential elections, but congressional on down as well as majorities in partisan states are almost without exception going to just vote down the party line.

 

Then there's the question of whether it really matters if it benefits one party over another.  I can't for the life of me see that it does and I have a bit of knowledge on the subject to draw on so I don't believe I'm being rash. 

 

Voting 3rd party is the same as not voting in practical terms. 

[DoubtingNate]

It's complicated ,but I think very much of this is generational moreso than one party vs. the other.  I like to think that people my age and younger are fed up with all the bullshit..

 

I'm speaking in very general terms here but there is a mindset amongst older folks that Xs and millennials are entitled, impatient, lazy, or want things to come easy.  This is some bullshit.  The price of college tuition has increased in multiples, but the value of a college degree has declined a the same time.  Health care, housing costs, even worse.  Old people who only watch fox news are not living in the real world.  The truth is that we don't get the same breaks in lives that our parents got like cheap college tuition, easily attainable mortgages and jobs that could support entire families on a single income, and the reason for this is because our policies have been slowly but steadily hollowing out America's middle class for the past 30 years. 

 

Democrats seem to realize this.. Republicans couldn't be more clear that they don't give two shits about these things.  Every generation thinks it will do a better job running things than the previous generation.. but in my case it seems like it would be hard to do much worse.  But it looks like things will need to get worse before they get better.  Maybe much worse

[BrotherJosh]

 

I agree that campaign spending reform would be a very good thing.

 

I also agree that Dems and Republs both are corrupt. Still, I can't understand the position of some folks who say that because that's true, they are not voting. It seems to me that the practical outcome of such a decision is likely to benefit Republicans. maybe vote for a third party... ? There are some out there.

 

Well, unless you live in a swing state, individual votes don't matter anyway.  This isn't just true of presidential elections, but congressional on down as well as majorities in partisan states are almost without exception going to just vote down the party line.

 

Then there's the question of whether it really matters if it benefits one party over another.  I can't for the life of me see that it does and I have a bit of knowledge on the subject to draw on so I don't believe I'm being rash. 

 

Voting 3rd party is the same as not voting in practical terms. 

 

 

Exactly. In a presidential election the average citizen's vote doesn't count. Additionally, any presidential candidate (or congressional) is already bought and paid for. 

 

However, I live in a small enough town that on a local level my vote does count. I just sent in an early ballot for city council members and mayor. At least on a local level we have some say, though I am sure that is much different the larger your town/city is. 

[Lerk]

 

I agree that campaign spending reform would be a very good thing.

 

I also agree that Dems and Republs both are corrupt. Still, I can't understand the position of some folks who say that because that's true, they are not voting. It seems to me that the practical outcome of such a decision is likely to benefit Republicans. maybe vote for a third party... ? There are some out there.

 

Well, unless you live in a swing state, individual votes don't matter anyway.  This isn't just true of presidential elections, but congressional on down as well as majorities in partisan states are almost without exception going to just vote down the party line.

 

Then there's the question of whether it really matters if it benefits one party over another.  I can't for the life of me see that it does and I have a bit of knowledge on the subject to draw on so I don't believe I'm being rash. 

 

Voting 3rd party is the same as not voting in practical terms. 

 

 

Also, unless you live in a swing state, voting Democrat or Republican is the same as not voting in practical terms.