the thing you have to remember about the Republican party today is that winning elections is really not that important to them. Ideological purity - as in being a true Far Right Wing Republican and not one of those dreaded RINO's - is the important thing. And long may it remain so for them.
And that's the Republican Party's undoing. They're a party without an identity right now. The old guard, the old ideals - they no longer hold water.
Fact is, this country doesn't work from a position of one-party rule. And what has transpired for much of the last 40 years has been right-wing economic policies that have brought this country the closest its ever been to ruin. If you doubt me, do your homework and study up on peak oil in the US, the gold standard versus the oil standard and how Nixon linked the U.S. dollar to oil, how inflation is systematically controlled in two ways: 1) via the Treasury/Federal Reserve moreso by burning money to keep excess dollars out of circulation and 2) changing the tax code either temporarily (i.e., the Bush tax cuts) or long-term (1986 tax reform), how our nation's economic policies have centered around debt and consumption through financial services rather than manufacturing. It's no wonder people are worried we will face the same problems as Greece if we don't bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.
There are a host of issues that are affecting this country right now. The only way to really understand it all is to read, study the issues and accept a few harsh realities. Once again, here's my short reading list:
Bad Money - Kevin Phillips
Too Big to Fail - Andrew Sorkin
Your Government Failed You - Richard A. Clarke
Broken Government - John Dean
Those four publications alone should open most people's eyes to how bad things were and just how close we came to losing it all under Republican economic policies. Now, I'm not saying President Obama's economic policies will be much better. But if he does what I think he'll do (and he's already shown signs of that, i.e., lowering the corporate tax rate at or below 30%, raising the capital gains tax, eliminating the Bush tax cuts specifically for the upper crust and brining manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.), there won't be a reason for people not to re-elect him. In fact, I'd say that the only way he doesn't get re-elected are:
1) a significant corruption scandal (which the Republican party hasn't been able to find or make stick, i.e. Fast and Furious, Solyndra or even aiding the Lybian rebels which I admit even I was 50/50 over)
2) taking this country to war with either Iran or Syria.
Anything short of these two aspects will assure his re-election. The economy will fix itself because U.S. investors realize they've pretty much stopped the bleeding from European markets and are now poised to focus strictly on repairing the U.S. economy. Believe me, they won't let American businesses fail.
Sidenote: Sorry...didn't mean to hijack the thread, but I felt the quote above desereved a broad response.
