How would you fix the Republican Party?
       |           

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?
March 28, 2024, 05:07:40 PM
News: Election Simulator 2.0 Released. Senate/Gubernatorial maps, proportional electoral votes, and more - Read more

  Talk Elections
  General Politics
  U.S. General Discussion (Moderators: The Dowager Mod, Chancellor Tanterterg)
  How would you fix the Republican Party?
« previous next »
Pages: [1] 2 3
Author Topic: How would you fix the Republican Party?  (Read 4504 times)
Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook
The Obamanation
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 8,853
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« on: September 22, 2014, 07:39:36 PM »

The Republican Party is in danger. They only have support from old whites. They are the hawk-ier party. They say stupid things about rape. They claim Democrats are unpatriotic. They use religion to justify and/or motivate their hatred. They miss a miserable failure like George W. Bush. They are against civil rights for anyone not in their ideal mold. Their patron saint was an out of touch old man that may or may not have been senile durring his term. They claim that there is a war on (insert anything other than drugs or terror here.) They oppose the Democrat incumbet far stronger than the other way around. None of their major candidates appealed strongly last election. Worst of all, there are revisionist historians within the party claiming that they were always the superior of the two parties.


Anyway, the GOP is broken, how would you fix it?
Logged
Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck
HockeyDude
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 11,376
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #1 on: September 22, 2014, 07:59:13 PM »

How can you fix something that is truly rotten at its very core?  The GOP base is a double whammy of religious conservatives and a rich class that openly supports a certain brand of economic Darwinism.  Neither of these things are sustainable.  You don't seem to be asking, "How can the GOP win again"?  The GOP needs to gradually metamorphose back into a libertarian-leaning party that has pragmatic and realistic goals that are achievable through a market economy.  Then again, until we get back to a period of sustained economic growth that spread across all income classes, there's no way for the GOP to shill it's brand of right-wing economics WITHOUT all the social conservatism BS to distract people.  Voters in Louisiana, given two parties that are both liberal socially, are going to go with the party that will do more for them economically.  That would be the Democrats. 

The GOP, as it is, is a disgusting organization that feeds power to the upper classes through mass appeal to traditionalists and whites on issues that should not matter to them.  With income disparity continually increasing, I would say the puppetmasters of the GOP are doing their job just fine.  I'm not sure they want any "fixing", and any "fixing" that could be done in terms of becoming a party that is not gravely immoral would cost them any power they have. 

So, yea... a slow a gradual shift towards libertarianism coinciding with better times for all.  Basically, they'll come back to becoming a relevant source for something resembling "good" after progressive Democrats have cleansed the United States of all the awful crap the GOP itself has done to it in the last 35 years.  Hey, it happened with Eisenhower after FDR brought us back from the brink. 
Logged
bedstuy
YaBB God
*****
Posts: 4,526


Political Matrix
E: -1.16, S: -4.35

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #2 on: September 22, 2014, 08:20:59 PM »

It's a conundrum.  I think they can't win presidential elections in normal circumstances at this point.  Go back 25 years, they've hit 50% once.  Their coalition does not tend to include 50% of the United States.  It's more dire than most people realize.

My diagnosis is fairly basic, their policies are too conservative and dictate that their message will only appeal to conservatives.  They had this brief window where conservative messaging attracted southern democrats and could add with their traditional base to win elections.  Now that's over, the parties have sorted into ideologies and conservatism doesn't appeal to the persuadable bloc. 

So, you would think the answer is to go in the moderate direction.  I don't think it is at all.  There are no moderate Republicans in Congress or significant elected offices.  Even somewhat moderate Republicans get tossed out of the party.  Moderating their policies would probably be a cure that's worse than the disease or at least, it's totally infeasible given the beliefs of the Republican base. 

My solution would be a type of GOP populism.  Stay right on immigration, social services, regulation, taxes, but moderate on war, their love for Wall Street and perhaps something like infrastructure spending.  That way maybe you keep the base and appeal to a few more libertarians and moderate white men.  But, even that won't really work and the candidate with the cred to run on that strategy, Rand Paul would get electorally curb-stomped by Hillary.

And, then just as an intellectual matter, Republicans need to figure out what their vision is for improving the country.  I just don't see how an honest person looks at the current situation and says, "you know what would get us back on the right track?  Massive spending cuts!"  It's crazy, you listen to conservatives and you would think our main problem is out of control inflation.  They said it was going to happen, and then it didn't, yet they go on acting like it happened. 

So, there you have it, how can you be credible in offering solutions if you insist on living in a whimsical fantasy land of your own imagination?  Republicans are now the party of magical thinking, the stimulus created massive inflation because it did in our imagination, Benghazi is a massive scandal because we wish it was, etc.  Republicans don't realize that the rest of the country doesn't share their basic assumptions about reality and, until they do, they are a hopeless party.  They will continue to exist as a major force, but they will be simply a cancer on our country, holding us back from even basic governing and problem solving.
Logged
Indy Texas
independentTX
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 12,258
United States


Political Matrix
E: 0.52, S: -3.48

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #3 on: September 22, 2014, 08:44:01 PM »

It doesn't help when one of your party leaders claims that unemployed people are out of work because they'd "rather just sit around."
Logged
Frodo
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 24,509
United States


WWW Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #4 on: September 22, 2014, 09:07:03 PM »

I am not sure there is much that can be done in the short term except wait for the older, more conservative and evangelical generation to pass on.  If you try to go more libertarian too soon, you incur the wrath of the Religious Right which, while in decline, is still a potent force within the GOP. 

And then there's the immigration issue.  Both the New Zealand National and the Canadian Conservative parties have learned how to appeal to immigrants.  But due to the rampant nativism within the nearly all-white GOP, that path appears closed.  Perhaps it is also simply a matter of waiting for generational change.     
Logged
Lief 🗽
Lief
Atlas Legend
*****
Posts: 44,876


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #5 on: September 22, 2014, 09:22:13 PM »

The same way Travis "fixed" Old Yeller.
Logged
Cory
YaBB God
*****
Posts: 3,709


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #6 on: September 22, 2014, 09:25:30 PM »

How can you fix something that is truly rotten at its very core?  The GOP base is a double whammy of religious conservatives and a rich class that openly supports a certain brand of economic Darwinism.  Neither of these things are sustainable.  You don't seem to be asking, "How can the GOP win again"?  The GOP needs to gradually metamorphose back into a libertarian-leaning party that has pragmatic and realistic goals that are achievable through a market economy.  Then again, until we get back to a period of sustained economic growth that spread across all income classes, there's no way for the GOP to shill it's brand of right-wing economics WITHOUT all the social conservatism BS to distract people.  Voters in Louisiana, given two parties that are both liberal socially, are going to go with the party that will do more for them economically.  That would be the Democrats. 

The GOP, as it is, is a disgusting organization that feeds power to the upper classes through mass appeal to traditionalists and whites on issues that should not matter to them.  With income disparity continually increasing, I would say the puppetmasters of the GOP are doing their job just fine.  I'm not sure they want any "fixing", and any "fixing" that could be done in terms of becoming a party that is not gravely immoral would cost them any power they have. 

So, yea... a slow a gradual shift towards libertarianism coinciding with better times for all.  Basically, they'll come back to becoming a relevant source for something resembling "good" after progressive Democrats have cleansed the United States of all the awful crap the GOP itself has done to it in the last 35 years.  Hey, it happened with Eisenhower after FDR brought us back from the brink. 
Logged
Anti Democrat Democrat Club
SawxDem
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 14,094
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #7 on: September 22, 2014, 09:35:54 PM »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPh_Ih5hOBs
Logged
TNF
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 13,440


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #8 on: September 22, 2014, 09:36:36 PM »

1. Support a $15 an hour minimum wage. What's more conservative than opposing government handouts to businesses that pay their employees so little that they have to take advantage of food stamps and other government programs in order to make ends meet?

2. Support the right to organize and repeal anti-union legislation. If the Republican Party really wants to avoid state-mandated redistribution of wealth, why shouldn't it support free individuals entering into agreements with one another and then bargaining collectively over wages, hours, and working conditions?

3. Support a universal basic income program. Again, if the Republicans want to get serious about slimming down the size of the state, why not implement a universal basic income program in lieu of traditional welfare programs? Send everyone a check every week and get rid of the counterproductive and often wasteful bureaucratic behemoths that deliver inadequate services and waste public money. As an added bonus, such a program would allow mothers to spend more time with their children (thus strengthening the family unit the GOP cares so much about!) rather than being swept up into the labor force after child birth.

4. Support paid parental leave and other family-friendly additions to the welfare state. Again, what's more conservative than allowing mothers time to take off work and provide for their children? What might strengthen the family unit more than allowing families more time off from work and more time with their children in the most critical years of their lives?

5. Support comparable worth laws for women. Pretty self-explanatory. If you want strong families, you should at least support paying women the same wages that men are paid, rather than put them in a situation whereby they are unable to provide for their families in the event that something tragic happens and the father is no longer around, no?
Logged
Redalgo
Sr. Member
****
Posts: 2,681
United States


WWW Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #9 on: September 23, 2014, 12:58:31 AM »

It depends on whether the "fix" is realistic.

Ideally, the Republican Party would be liberal in the traditional sense and have tremendous appeal to voters who like balanced budgets, realpolitik, and defend conservative values by delegating controversial issues to the individual instead of codifying their preferences using whichever tier(s) of government they happen to control at any given time. Their faith in capitalism and reluctance to change would be tempered by suspicion of supernatural claims and a trust in science.

Realistically, Republicans need to discover Christian democracy and refer resident laissez-faire types to the Libertarians.
Logged
AggregateDemand
Jr. Member
***
Posts: 1,873
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #10 on: September 23, 2014, 02:14:14 AM »

The social platform is laughable in the 21st century, and it infects they way conservatives handle economic issues. For instance, conservatives get-off by denying access to economic privileges for homosexual couples. This leads them to believe that our tax system and healthcare laws and so forth should be retained as backdoor gay-bashing. Another classic is Republicans who've been complaining about Medicare spending for decades, suddenly lambast Obama for trying to cut $500B from Medicare over 10 years. Suddenly, Medicare is a cons best friend when it helps them block Obamacare.

It's basically just the Sean Hannity wing of the GOP.
Logged
Person Man
Angry_Weasel
Atlas Superstar
*****
Posts: 36,681
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #11 on: September 23, 2014, 11:30:02 AM »

The social platform is laughable in the 21st century, and it infects they way conservatives handle economic issues. For instance, conservatives get-off by denying access to economic privileges for homosexual couples. This leads them to believe that our tax system and healthcare laws and so forth should be retained as backdoor gay-bashing. Another classic is Republicans who've been complaining about Medicare spending for decades, suddenly lambast Obama for trying to cut $500B from Medicare over 10 years. Suddenly, Medicare is a cons best friend when it helps them block Obamacare.

It's basically just the Sean Hannity wing of the GOP.

Or Karl Rove wing. Basically bland "American" Nationalism. A "majority of the majority", right? I think the Republican Party will either have to go all in as a Southern Populist party or go back to being a white collar party or just wait for Democrats to take us to the brink. Democrats were in this same position 8 years ago.                 
Logged
politicus
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 10,174
Denmark


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #12 on: September 23, 2014, 11:46:29 AM »
« Edited: September 23, 2014, 11:49:21 AM by politicus »

1. Support a $15 an hour minimum wage. What's more conservative than opposing government handouts to businesses that pay their employees so little that they have to take advantage of food stamps and other government programs in order to make ends meet?

2. Support the right to organize and repeal anti-union legislation. If the Republican Party really wants to avoid state-mandated redistribution of wealth, why shouldn't it support free individuals entering into agreements with one another and then bargaining collectively over wages, hours, and working conditions?

3. Support a universal basic income program. Again, if the Republicans want to get serious about slimming down the size of the state, why not implement a universal basic income program in lieu of traditional welfare programs? Send everyone a check every week and get rid of the counterproductive and often wasteful bureaucratic behemoths that deliver inadequate services and waste public money. As an added bonus, such a program would allow mothers to spend more time with their children (thus strengthening the family unit the GOP cares so much about!) rather than being swept up into the labor force after child birth.

4. Support paid parental leave and other family-friendly additions to the welfare state. Again, what's more conservative than allowing mothers time to take off work and provide for their children? What might strengthen the family unit more than allowing families more time off from work and more time with their children in the most critical years of their lives?

5. Support comparable worth laws for women. Pretty self-explanatory. If you want strong families, you should at least support paying women the same wages that men are paid, rather than put them in a situation whereby they are unable to provide for their families in the event that something tragic happens and the father is no longer around, no?

That would transform the Republicans into something akin to the so called "wage earner wing" of the German CDU. Given how right wing most conservative Americans are on economics and labour market issues, this would be impossible to sell.
Logged
The Mikado
Moderators
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 21,677


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #13 on: September 23, 2014, 11:56:25 AM »

Is the Republican Party truly in danger?  I doubt it.  The utter clusterf**k that is the US economy is pinned squarely on Obama now, rightly or wrongly (wrongly), and the GOP had a deathgrip on one of the two houses of Congress and can and have ground Democratic Presidents to a total halt in terms of agenda.  None of this will change if Clinton wins in 2016, she will flounder as ineffectually as Obama has now that the GOP has realized that they can just...not pass anything.
Logged
Del Tachi
Republican95
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 17,711
United States


Political Matrix
E: 0.52, S: 1.46

P P P

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #14 on: September 23, 2014, 12:14:02 PM »

The United States is starting to look more like Europe.  Therefore, the GOP of the future will highly resemble the centre-right parties of Western Europe.  That doesn't mean becoming more libertarian - in no Western country today can the main centre-right party be described as primarily "libertarian".  Trust me, there's no future for a party that rejects things like corporate welfare, bailouts and government largess.  In the 21st Century, big government is good for big business.  The GOP's relevancy in the future depends on it being able to make the case that it can use big government as a way to create a more efficient, better society rather than only using it as a means to achieve a welfare-based culture as the Democrats seem to be doing. 

Alternatively, a just-as-feasible electoral paradigm for the future GOP would be to resort to overtly racial rhetoric in an increasingly multicultural United States as a way to shore-up support among Whites.  Honestly, it doesn't matter if Democrats win >90% of the minority votes if the GOP can start consistently start winning more than 72%-ish of Whites.  That could probably be accomplished by a large, very direct "law and order" style campaign that plays very well in lily-White suburbs that may even tilt D right now.   

So, the future of the GOP either looks like neo-Nazism or...neo-Nazisim?   
Logged
AggregateDemand
Jr. Member
***
Posts: 1,873
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #15 on: September 23, 2014, 12:31:41 PM »
« Edited: September 23, 2014, 01:45:20 PM by AggregateDemand »

1. Support a $15 an hour minimum wage. What's more conservative than opposing government handouts to businesses that pay their employees so little that they have to take advantage of food stamps and other government programs in order to make ends meet?

Doesn't work that way. Higher min wage is associated with lower levels of employment, lower labor efficiency, and higher entitlement spending.

2. Support the right to organize and repeal anti-union legislation. If the Republican Party really wants to avoid state-mandated redistribution of wealth, why shouldn't it support free individuals entering into agreements with one another and then bargaining collectively over wages, hours, and working conditions?

Unions have no acquitted themselves as being agents of the employees they represent. Their mission statement cannot overcome their recent history.

3. Support a universal basic income program. Again, if the Republicans want to get serious about slimming down the size of the state, why not implement a universal basic income program in lieu of traditional welfare programs? Send everyone a check every week and get rid of the counterproductive and often wasteful bureaucratic behemoths that deliver inadequate services and waste public money. As an added bonus, such a program would allow mothers to spend more time with their children (thus strengthening the family unit the GOP cares so much about!) rather than being swept up into the labor force after child birth.

The marginal tax rate is 100% for workers who do not eclipse the minimum income threshold. The current system is nearly as bad. Expanding the problem is not a solution, and no one wins if we continue pandering to the know-nothings.

4. Support paid parental leave and other family-friendly additions to the welfare state. Again, what's more conservative than allowing mothers time to take off work and provide for their children? What might strengthen the family unit more than allowing families more time off from work and more time with their children in the most critical years of their lives?

More conservative and liberal is creating an economy where the mother can choose to remain at home, if she is so inclined.

5. Support comparable worth laws for women. Pretty self-explanatory. If you want strong families, you should at least support paying women the same wages that men are paid, rather than put them in a situation whereby they are unable to provide for their families in the event that something tragic happens and the father is no longer around, no?

Women with equal education and experience are paid the same as men. The "pay gap" is a fictitious construct, exploited by amoral politicians who wish to disparage women for sacrificing compensation to have stable careers with lots of flex time (e.g. teaching).
Logged
Person Man
Angry_Weasel
Atlas Superstar
*****
Posts: 36,681
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #16 on: September 23, 2014, 01:09:07 PM »
« Edited: September 23, 2014, 01:24:45 PM by MooMooMoo »

The United States is starting to look more like Europe.  Therefore, the GOP of the future will highly resemble the centre-right parties of Western Europe.  That doesn't mean becoming more libertarian - in no Western country today can the main centre-right party be described as primarily "libertarian".  Trust me, there's no future for a party that rejects things like corporate welfare, bailouts and government largess.  In the 21st Century, big government is good for big business.  The GOP's relevancy in the future depends on it being able to make the case that it can use big government as a way to create a more efficient, better society rather than only using it as a means to achieve a welfare-based culture as the Democrats seem to be doing.  

Alternatively, a just-as-feasible electoral paradigm for the future GOP would be to resort to overtly racial rhetoric in an increasingly multicultural United States as a way to shore-up support among Whites.  Honestly, it doesn't matter if Democrats win >90% of the minority votes if the GOP can start consistently start winning more than 72%-ish of Whites.  That could probably be accomplished by a large, very direct "law and order" style campaign that plays very well in lily-White suburbs that may even tilt D right now.    

So, the future of the GOP either looks like neo-Nazism or...neo-Nazisim?  


                                          R.I.P Sir Spany Rodriguez (2006-2013)

Basically Fergusson or Alabama is the whole of America, if not Western Civilization, in the 2030s?
Logged
Del Tachi
Republican95
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 17,711
United States


Political Matrix
E: 0.52, S: 1.46

P P P

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #17 on: September 23, 2014, 01:35:06 PM »

The United States is starting to look more like Europe.  Therefore, the GOP of the future will highly resemble the centre-right parties of Western Europe.  That doesn't mean becoming more libertarian - in no Western country today can the main centre-right party be described as primarily "libertarian".  Trust me, there's no future for a party that rejects things like corporate welfare, bailouts and government largess.  In the 21st Century, big government is good for big business.  The GOP's relevancy in the future depends on it being able to make the case that it can use big government as a way to create a more efficient, better society rather than only using it as a means to achieve a welfare-based culture as the Democrats seem to be doing. 

Alternatively, a just-as-feasible electoral paradigm for the future GOP would be to resort to overtly racial rhetoric in an increasingly multicultural United States as a way to shore-up support among Whites.  Honestly, it doesn't matter if Democrats win >90% of the minority votes if the GOP can start consistently start winning more than 72%-ish of Whites.  That could probably be accomplished by a large, very direct "law and order" style campaign that plays very well in lily-White suburbs that may even tilt D right now.   

So, the future of the GOP either looks like neo-Nazism or...neo-Nazisim?   


                                          R.I.P Sir Spany Rodriguez (2006-2013)

Basically Fergusson or Alabama is the whole of America, if not Western Civilization, in the 2030s?

I mean, make the Hipsters and Yuppies afraid of the brown man and you'll have them voting GOP no matter how "urban" or "educated" they may be. 
Logged
🦀🎂🦀🎂
CrabCake
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 19,192
Kiribati


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #18 on: September 23, 2014, 01:40:01 PM »

Declare it a Marxist-Leninist revolutionary vanguard party and immediately pass platforms in opposition to the bourgeois, duh.
Logged
Free Bird
TheHawk
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 5,918
United States


Political Matrix
E: 0.84, S: -5.48

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #19 on: September 23, 2014, 01:50:24 PM »

Go more moderate on social issues. Follow the Collins model. Be nice socially and you'll start winning back blue states. Most like your economic plans. It's just youre so awful with social issues that it turns people off.
Logged
Atlas Has Shrugged
ChairmanSanchez
Atlas Superstar
*****
Posts: 38,096
United States


Political Matrix
E: 5.29, S: -5.04


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #20 on: September 23, 2014, 02:36:12 PM »

Bedstuy actually was in the right direction, to my surprise. I think he slightly underates Rand Paul, though Clinton is a formidable opponent.
Logged
Negusa Nagast 🚀
Nagas
Sr. Member
****
Posts: 2,826
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #21 on: September 23, 2014, 02:38:30 PM »

Women with equal education and experience are paid the same as men. The "pay gap" is a fictitious construct, exploited by amoral politicians who wish to disparage women for sacrificing compensation to have stable careers with lots of flex time (e.g. teaching).

And Republicans wonder why they continue to perform poorly with women voters.
Logged
politicus
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 10,174
Denmark


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #22 on: September 23, 2014, 02:51:20 PM »
« Edited: September 23, 2014, 03:07:52 PM by politicus »

Go more moderate on social issues. Follow the Collins model. Be nice socially and you'll start winning back blue states. Most like your economic plans. It's just youre so awful with social issues that it turns people off.

Do you have a link to polls that support that?
The polling I have seen shows the majority basically agrees with the Democrats on socioeconomic issues.
Logged
🦀🎂🦀🎂
CrabCake
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 19,192
Kiribati


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #23 on: September 23, 2014, 02:58:19 PM »

I don't think it's a particularly good idea to just ditch the social stuff. It's silly just to abandon your base to grab whatever floaters you can find - advice to "be fiscally conservative, but socially liberal" is pretty much feel-good rubbish.

Instead they need to apply the social conservative tendency to a ethnically diverse and more urbane demographic.
Logged
King
intermoderate
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 29,357
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #24 on: September 23, 2014, 03:01:32 PM »

Instead they need to apply the social conservative tendency to a ethnically diverse and more urbane demographic.

That's abandoning the #1 American social conservative principle: make everything as WASP as possible.

Members of ethnic social conservative religions like Catholicism and Black Protestants are considered heretics. The American Evangelical Right wants no part of them.
Logged
Pages: [1] 2 3  
« previous next »
Jump to:  


Login with username, password and session length

Terms of Service - DMCA Agent and Policy - Privacy Policy and Cookies

Powered by SMF 1.1.21 | SMF © 2015, Simple Machines

Page created in 0.069 seconds with 12 queries.