Exposed (4.00 / 3)

I think what's going on is that much of the public has woken up and now realizes that the Republican platform and ideals are bankrupt.

It's not that the dog has forgotten how to eat and nap so much as the dog, now being exposed for the fraud that he is, can no longer rely on the same old tricks. The curtain has been lifted, and won't be closed again anytime soon.

---

by: Oaktown Girl @ Thu Oct 23, 2008 at 23:42:19 PM UTC

Nailed it (4.00 / 2)

Hilarious:

It's sort of like watching a dog that has just forgotten how to eat and nap.  Weird.

On a more serious note, I think the reason Republicans don't know what "works" anymore is very simple.  Republicans have never liked government.  They have never tried to make the case that their way of governing was beneficial to the American people.  The Republican platform has been, more or less, "Vote for us, or Democrats will do stuff with your tax dollars! "

That strategy isn't working now, because people are scared about the economy and the way the world is going, and are looking to the government for help.  The Democrats are proposing policies plans to improve our way of life: improve access to health care, create jobs and end our energy dependence.  The Republicans, on the other hand, have spent these last few months, when people are scared, uncertain, and looking for constructive answers, saying, "ooga booga socialistic Muslim!  Shabam!  Vote Republican!"  For them, winning elections and making Democrats look bad has been a goal unto itself, and there has been no thought beyond that as to what the election was for, and why people were voting at all.  

Basically, it has never occurred to the Repubs that people might actually want the government to fix things, that people might judge politicians based on policies instead of buzzwords.  Because to a Republican, those two have always been one and the same.

---

by: mffarrow @ Fri Oct 24, 2008 at 00:10:29 AM UTC

plus (0.00 / 0)

Republicans have never figured out how to explain the fact that they do the exact opposite of what they say they will do: they talk about reducing spending and they raise it. They talk about winning the war and they can't plan the Iraq war past the first week. They (used to) talk about compassion, and they let New Orleans drown and humiliate and torture prisoners. Perhaps some voters don't have any of those issues as their top priority, but they do see GOP politicians failing to live up to their word, which is one thing that conservatives, independents and liberals tend to notice after a while.  

"I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that."
-Lawrence Summers

---

by: kbuck @ Fri Oct 24, 2008 at 01:17:25 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

while we're speculating (0.00 / 0)

My feeling is that the media used to do the hard work of making GOP talking points palatable to the public; various outlets would run different versions of the spin until one of them stuck -- sort of an evolutionary approach to politics.

In any case, many organizations -- even Fox has lightened up! -- are not really doing it as much. They've largely refused to bite on Ayers, for example, or ACORN -- which must be distressing to the GOP management given how easy it was to get Swift Boats all over the news.

What we're seeing is the first draft of the GOP's standing operating procedure -- it's just that the polishers are sniffing the winds and getting ready to "like the Democrats again", so they're not taking the rough cuts and putting them into better shape.

---

by: sdedeo @ Fri Oct 24, 2008 at 02:32:25 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Justice (0.00 / 0)

would require GOP voters to endure 4 more years of their governance; yet that would be an injustice to everyone else... such is the world.

---

by: Paul Goodman @ Fri Oct 24, 2008 at 15:48:05 PM UTC