There has been a lot of talk since the outcome of the election that the Republican party needs to reevaluate its ideals, or they'll simply lose more elections as the years go on and from there lose its social/political relevance. Would you agree that in order for the Republican party to continue to exist in the future that they need to move more center?

If they don't knock off the extremism with mandatory transvaginal probes, denial of birth control, the effort to make it illegal for a woman to abort after rape, the absurd conspiracy theories, not to mention the issues with SS & Medicare, denial of help for veterans & to the citizens after disasters, the republican party will find themselves going the way of the whigs.

All of that talk is done by liberals who want the Republicans to loose. But here's the problem with that logic. The people who want liberal ideas? They vote Democrat. And they aren't going to stop voting Democrat because the Republican is a moderate. The Republicans tend to do a lot better when they stick to conservative principles. Mitt Romney's biggest problem was that too much of his base stayed home. The Republicans have a base issue right now. The party is run by progressives who want different things than their base.

Look, in 2010 when the Republicans stood for more conservative things, they cleaned up. They didn't really deliver on that for the next 2 years and managed to be annoyances to Obama at best. So in 2012, they paid for it.

If the Republicans want to win elections, they need to move AWAY from the center. Moderate Republicans are losers. The Democrats don't want them and neither do the base. Of course the Democrats want the GOP further in the center. I would too if I were a Democrat. You can still paint them as extremists and they won't be capable of defending it.

Note that the Democrats have moved further to the left than ever and I don't hear anybody telling them they have to moderate in order to win elections. The "Republicans need to moderate" talk is a liberal lie. Unfortunately, the Republicans are stupid and they often believe the lie. The problem with our country is that we got a stupid party (the GOP) going up against a party that is becoming more and more pure evil (the Democrats). Why on earth should Republicans take advice from people who want them to lose? They should be doing the opposite. The further the Republicans move to the center, the more irrelevant they will become. It's already happening.

CeCe wrote:

If they don't knock off the extremism with mandatory transvaginal probes, denial of birth control, the effort to make it illegal for a woman to abort after rape, the absurd conspiracy theories, not to mention the issues with SS & Medicare, denial of help for veterans & to the citizens after disasters, the republican party will find themselves going the way of the whigs.

Yes, this whole reactionary T-party mentality has come home to roost. Ppl are realizing ill-thot, hard-nosed sound bites don't make things work and even the stupid electorate will eventually realize that THEY are the ones being harmed by the monied elite.

And that is democracy, when the 99% realize their own best interest and vote for it.

personally.. i think the parties should be done away with. it is causing a polarization throughout the congress and the country. we are spending billions on elections that could be going to the country's deficit, and most voters don't believe a damn word that the politicians say anyway. They give speeches to suit their audiences, and half the time they contradict each other just in the name of getting elected.

How about we do away with the parties... choose three candidates instead of two and let them talk about how they really feel, not about trying to win votes for this base or that base. I'm just so sick of it. In most cases, we are voting for the lesser of two evils.

wants2laugh wrote:

personally.. i think the parties should be done away with. it is causing a polarization throughout the congress and the country. we are spending billions on elections that could be going to the country's deficit, and most voters don't believe a damn word that the politicians say anyway. They give speeches to suit their audiences, and half the time they contradict each other just in the name of getting elected.

How about we do away with the parties... choose three candidates instead of two and let them talk about how they really feel, not about trying to win votes for this base or that base. I'm just so sick of it. In most cases, we are voting for the lesser of two evils.

Politicians deliberately voting with or against a particular party on important issues is damaging to the country. And this happens all the time with both sides. They take revenge on each other like kids. They haven't behaved like "public servants" doing what's best for the people for a very long time now.

Ideally, they should.....but I don't want them to. I want more of the lunacy to come out into the forefront.

wants2laugh wrote:

personally.. i think the parties should be done away with. it is causing a polarization throughout the congress and the country. we are spending billions on elections that could be going to the country's deficit, and most voters don't believe a damn word that the politicians say anyway. They give speeches to suit their audiences, and half the time they contradict each other just in the name of getting elected.

How about we do away with the parties... choose three candidates instead of two and let them talk about how they really feel, not about trying to win votes for this base or that base. I'm just so sick of it. In most cases, we are voting for the lesser of two evils.

I think we're too attached to the party system. And our elections make it so viable 3rd parties really have no chance 99% of the time. Perhaps if we changed election rules some, it would allow 3rd parties to have a chance for an upset.

And I agree that the 2 parties, for the most part, are essentially trash at this point. I like a good handful of people in the GOP but we gotta get them into more leadership positions because the GOP leaders are terrible.

I also think we need to put in some term limits for the legislators. We need to get rid of the dinosaurs.

i saw a great documentary that talked about the polarization. It discussed how 30yrs ago, congress actually knew and liked each other... they socialized, went to wedding, golfed. Doing so almost forced them to negotiate and compromise to get things done. The movie went on to say that today, they hardly socialize or even like each other. It is really easy to point fingers at someone and fight them when you do not have any personal connection to them. But if the weekend before, the guy you are arguing with was at your kid's baptism, you arent going to be as blunt, crude, or rude as some of these politicans are.

it also went on to discuss how expensive the elections are, how good ppl cant get elected... and that due to all of the PACs and special interests/corps... it is impossible for a good person to stay in office and not cater to those groups.

Yep. It's a sad state of affairs. And of course, it doesn't have to be that way. But it will be, because people are easily talked into believing empty promises. They're so set on some instant utopia that they don't have to lift a finger to achieve, a government that will grant their every wish, that we're going to continue to have both parties sliding further off the rails. And taking the country with them.

There will always be a conservative, right wing base in this country for the party to continue to exist. If the Republican party "moves center" and becomes "Democratic-lite" (which is what people who argue that they should reassess and amend their policies and positions are really wanting them to become) all that will happen is that other political parties will pop up that push the traditionalist values that Republicans used to favor. THAT is when the Republican party will truly be in jeopardy of becoming swallowed and irrelevant. Far as loss of elections go. The US political climate is a pendulum. Wouldn't surprise me one if in 2016 the mood swings back right after 8 years of being left.

Should they? I don't give a damn.

No. That would only strengthen fringe groups like the Tea Party. The Republicans just need to learn how to better pick its battles and candidates. They've become too radical and borderline nutty ever since Clinton took office.

They can move even farther to the right as far as I'm concerned

Alan Smithee wrote:

They can move even farther to the right as far as I'm concerned

That works.