How Republicans Can Regain Power

by: Chris Bowers

Wed Apr 29, 2009 at 15:30


The political picture can hardly look better for Republicans right now. After all, everything that ever happens is good for Republicans, and since more stuff keeps happening, this must be the best political position Republicans have ever experienced. However, if they want to speed up the process of regaining political power a little bit, here are eight sure-fire ideas:

  1. Raise the voting age to 35: According to exit polls, Barack Obama and John McCain tied among voters who were 35 and over. So, if they simply raise the voting age, they will immediately become competitive. That way, they won't be foiled by those meddling kids anymore.

  2. Give everyone $50,000: According to the same exit polls, Barack Obama and John McCain were even among voters making more than $50,000 a year. So, if they simply gave away enough money so that everyone had at least $50K, then they would instantly become competitive again. Given that about 50,000,000 voters made less than $50K in 2008, this plan would cost, at most, only $2.5 trillion.

  3. Give everyone a gun: If handing out $50K to everyone is either too expensive or simply distasteful to Republicans, they could also hand out a gun to everyone in the United States. This would only cost a few billion dollars, and John McCain won gun-owners by 25%.

  4. Declare everyone to be legally married: John McCain also won the married vote. So, if Republicans simply declared that everyone was married (except homosexuals, of course), then they would be back in business. The details on exactly to whom everyone would become married can be worked out later. Maybe they could use a lottery system.

  5. Spend every hour of every day freaking everyone out about terrorism: John McCain narrowly won voters who were either "very worried" or "somewhat worried" about another terrorist attack on the United States. Also, when voters were asked about their top issue, McCain only won the 9% of voters who cited "terrorism." So, Republicans should stop campaigning altogether, and just spend all of their money funding Stephen Colbert's Doom Bunker.

  6. Make church attendance mandatory: John McCain also comfortably defeated Barack Obama among people who attend church once a month or more. As such, it seems that Republicans would have done well to make attending church at least once a month mandatory. (And yes, I mean "church" attendance. If people all start going to mosques, synagogues, or some other heretical place of worship, the political situation will actually deteriorate for Republicans.)

  7. Give everyone free health care: If all else fails, Republicans should simply give everyone free, high-quality health care. After all, John McCain handily won among voters who are unconcerned about health care costs. So, the obvious path back to power for Republicans is to make sure that no one is worried about health care costs.

  8. All of the above: To really hammer home their political advantage, Republicans could give everyone $50K, a gun, free health care, make church attendance mandatory, force everyone to get married, raise the voting age to 35, and require all media outlets to only and ever talk about threats of terrorist attacks. There is no way anything bad could ever come from disenfranchising young people, freaking them out, giving them all lots of money, guns and doctors, and then forcing them to do stuff they don't enjoy.
Other ideas that come to mind include red-state secession, repealing universal suffrage (McCain handily won white men, after all), converting everyone to Protestantism (this might be done via a Supreme Court ruling soon anyway), and abolishing all cities (McCain would have won if there were no cities). What ideas did I miss?
Chris Bowers :: How Republicans Can Regain Power

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Make It a Felony to Hate America (4.00 / 5)
Where hating America is defined as doing things like voting for Obama.  Then make sure that felons are disenfranchised in every state.

Republicans ran pretty well among voters who didn't vote for Obama, after all.

Things You Don't Talk About in Polite Company: Religion, Politics, the Occasional Intersection of Both


that is the Bachmann / McCarthy plan (0.00 / 0)
   Remember Michele Bachmann's appearance on Hardball?

******

MR. MATTHEWS: Well, he's a United States senator from Illinois. He's one of the people you suspect as being anti-American. How many people in the Congress of the United States do you think are anti- American? You've already suspected Barack Obama. Is he alone, or are there others? How many do you suspect of your colleagues as being anti-American?

REP. BACHMANN: What I would say -- what I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America? I think people would love to see an expose like that.

Luke 12:48 "to whom much is given, of him shall much be required". Would Jesus want progressive taxation, or regressive taxation?


[ Parent ]
Hmm... (0.00 / 0)
I sense great sarcasm in you...

The simplest plan is... (4.00 / 1)
...to allow the Dems massive super majorities and allow them free reign to do what they wish...wait for something bad to happen...and win the biggest blame game ever.

This is something I've always found to be an intriguing situation, is it BAD to have super majorities across the board in the long term?  Some states have done ok (in both directions) maintaining stability with Super Majorities in both houses, but often the Governor is of the opposite party or decidedly more moderate than the Legislature.  (Vermont, R Gov/D Legislature; Utah, Moderate R Gov, Far Right Leg)

Is the dynamic or risk different on the national level?  Foreign Policy comes in to play, as does a wider range of natural disaster and other such events...


Please, please don't give them any ideas (4.00 / 3)
After all, these are the people who think that Colbert is a right-wing talk show host.

hurry up then (0.00 / 0)
one of them needs a light bulbs to go off in their heads telling them that this is a good idea. that way they can kick the democrats out! lol!

I have a few ideas. (4.00 / 2)
The GOP can rename the both political parties.  The GOP becomes the 'God Bless America' Party and the Democrats become the Democrat Socialist Party.  

Second, instead of putting actual names of candidates on the ballot (because that does not seem to be working so well for them at this point) the GOP can put symbols and the voter can check next to which symbol their prefer.  

God Bless America Party symbol will of course be the American Flag and the Democrat Socialist Party symbol will be the U.S.S.R Flag.  

Yeah, that's the ticket.  


Ever play NationStates? (0.00 / 0)
Your summary at number 8 sounds like the odd jumble that you only ever see in that game.  It's a simple premise, guide your theoretical nation through one policy choice after another and just see what happens to its economy, civil rights, tax rate, type of government, etc.

For instance, here's my nation, which at the moment seems pretty typical of the loony left.  Others, however, are just loony (and this one is downright disturbing).

Tim Wolfe


You forgot... (4.00 / 1)
1) Make all Liberals and Moderates non-voters. Being a Liberal is a felony, isn't it?

2) No new voters! End voting registration - forever. Unfortunately, this only limits the damage (unless you can also get a lot of new voters in the past 4 years or so to stop voting); couple it with another solution.

Or more realistically:

1) Slow down the progress of the Democratic party, so that their better reforms won't work in time for the next election, and
2) Hope that this economy will continue to look like it's getting worse indefinitely up until the next election, and that the voters will blame the Democratic party for the worsening.


I've got a few: (4.00 / 2)
Make all Jews become Evangelical Christians.  Jews vote 80% Democratic, Evangelicals vote like 65% Republican.  Making all the Jews convert to Christianity would help the GOP win elections.  If they complain about not having a choice, give them the opportunity to become Mormon instead.

Make all the gays straight.  This one seems obvious.  

Make all the women into men.  Women vote, what, 6 or seven points more Democratic then men?  That's half of the margin of the 2008 election right there.  Making women become men would help the GOP.

Turn black people into white people.  This would help the GOP a lot.  95% Democratic into 55% Republican?  This alone would flip Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida back to the GOP, and maybe Ohio too.  That's like 85 electoral votes, just by turning black Americans into white Americans.  

Basically, the Republicans need a nation composed only of Christian, straight, white men.  Then they could start winning elections again.  As soon as they can figure out how to turn the 75% or so of Americans who are not Christian, straight, white men into Christian, straight white men, we Democrats are going to be in some really serious trouble.


HR 676 (4.00 / 3)
Give everyone free health care: If all else fails, Republicans should simply give everyone free, high-quality health care. After all, John McCain handily won among voters who are unconcerned about health care costs. So, the obvious path back to power for Republicans is to make sure that no one is worried about health care costs.

Actually that is a pretty good idea. Obama keeps saying that single payer is off the table. The first Republican senator who breaks ranks on this one snatches the issue from Obama and becomes the hero of the day. The base is so authortarian that they can celebrate it just as they praised Nixon going to China.


How about demagoguery (4.00 / 1)
If the emerging neoliberal consensus as represented by the Obama/Kaine Democratic Party continues to promote "free trade" while ignoring EFCA, look for the GOP to use the bailout effectively in painting the Dems as antipopulist.  This will become particularly acute if the economy - at least insofar as it's measured by Versailles - remains moribund:  two years is a long time, 21% or no.  

Never Underestimate (0.00 / 0)
the ability of American voters to do stupid things for stupid reasons. I mean, yeah, it's all fun to pick on the Republicans for their current foibles. But overconfidence is always the achilles heel of any political party. And the Republicans don;t have a monopoly on hubris.

Every election cycle you hear the same thing about one party or the other being on the brink of oblivion. To assume the Republicans can't come back again - and quickly - is to bet against history.


don't get cocky (4.00 / 1)
stuff like this makes me sad. remember back in 2004 when everybody was asking whether the democratic party would ever be back? when half the people on cable news were pronouncing it DOA? the republicans will be back, and they'll be back a lot sooner and a lot meaner if we keep up talk like this. i know it's a joke, but the more we marginalize them here the easier it will be for them to stage a comeback without making the kind of serious platform concessions that will turn them into a semi-respectable party instead of the idiots they've been in the past. make them come back by getting better, not by lowering ourselves to their level.

Exit poll comparisons (0.00 / 0)
According to your exit poll numbers, McCain won.  I think you need to do a bit more research.  D.

Got problems with reading? (0.00 / 0)
I think you need to read this story more carefully. Chris shows the exit polls for voters aged 35 and older. Obama won because of the youth vote.

[ Parent ]
Fox News (4.00 / 1)
Make Fox News the only approved TV channel.  Fox News viewers, after all, vote overwhelmingly Republican.  No need to change radio as it is already overwhelmingly Republican.

In 1994- (0.00 / 0)
Republican who got elected to the US Senate
1)Kyl-AZ- DEM Seat(Deconcini-D)
2)Arianna's ex almost defeated DiFi (CA)
2)Snowe-ME- DEM seat (Mitchell-D)
3)Abraham-MI- DEM seat (Reigle-D)
4)Grams-MN- replaced a moderate GOP (Durenberger-R)
5)Ashcroft-MO- replaced a moderate GOP (Danforth-R)
6)DeWine-OH- DEM seat (Metzenbaum-D)
7)Inhofe-OK- DEM seat (Boren-D)
8)Santorum-PA DEM seat (Wofford-D)
9)Frist-TN Dem Seat (Sasser-D)
10)Thompson-TN Dem Seat (Gore seat)
11)Hutchison-TX Dem seat (Bentsen seat)
12)Thomas-WY replaced moderate GOP (Wallop-R)
Shelby-AL and Nighthorse Campbell-CO switched parties

Abraham-MI,Grams-MN,Ashcroft-MO,along with Roth-DE and Gorton-WA lost. Dems gained FL(Mack Seat). We lost NV(Bryan Seat) and VA(Robb Seat). Jeffords-VT leaves the GOP Party.

Thompson becomes Arthur Branch of L&O. Replaced by Lamar Alexander.

Campbell-CO retires in 2004 is replaced by Democrat Ken Salazar who is now Interior Secretary. Democrat Michael Bennett occupies this seat.

In 2006 DEMS hold on to DE(Carper)FL(Nelson),MD(OPEN-Sarbanes),MI(Stabenow),MN(OPEN-Dayton),NE(Nelson),NJ(OPEN-Corzine),NY (Clinton) and WA(Cantwell) and win back MO(Talent),pick up MT(Burns),OH(DeWine),PA(Santorum),RI(Chaffee)and VA(Allen). Thomas of WY passes away. Fri st-TN retires and is replaced by Corker-TN.


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