I've decided to back Rick Santorum for the GOP nomination. I really want him to win it. Yes, I know his policies on gay rights, abortion, birth control, seperation of church and state are reprehensible -- just for starters. But to me, that's part of his charm. I say that it's about time that the radical right wing of the Republican Party finally took control of the whole shebang. Let's see just how many birther, anti-evolution, anti-birth control, fundamentalist Christian voters there are out there this electoral season. Enquiring minds want to know.
But the first thing I want to talk about are the cycles of American politics as outlined by Arthur Schelsinger. Schlesinger said that every generation or so, a political party runs out of ideas and momentum. It coasts on its old victories, as its base ages and dies off. Meanwhile, the insurgents in the other party are improvising and innovating. The other party becomes a new idea factory. To be sure, the insurgents developing ideas are not in control of the party on the upswing. They have to battle for maybe ten years before they can fully wrest control of the entire party machinery. But the wind is at their back.
The last cycle we had like this extended from 1964 to 1980. Young conservative intellectuals nominated Barry Goldwater and were crushed by the LBJ landslide. But this didn't stop people like Pat Buchanan, Roger Ailes, or other young insurgents. They got shelter and support from the Nixon and Ford administrations, and of course, the revolutionaries finally took over the White House with Ronald Reagan.
Meanwhile, the Democrats were tearing themselves to bits because of the Vietnam War. When George McGovern was running in 1972, the Democrats suffered their greatest defeat in the 2oth Century. Why? Because all of the old, mainline New Deal Democrats sat on their hands working for McGovern, and they voted for Nixon.
Fast forward to today, and we see just the opposite situation between the Republican and Democratic parties. The Tea Party and their ilk are mooning over the good old days of Ronald Reagan, even though he and his ideas have been dead for a long time. And if you read the latest cover story of New York magazine entitled, "GOPocalypse," you can get all the historical and demographic information that you need to see that Republican conservatives are acutely aware that they're in a dying, shrinking minority.
Obviously, George McGovern was not the end of New Deal liberalism. We had to wait until 1980 to see that. And the Republicans still have a very good chance of controlling one or both houses of Congress in the 2012 election, not to mention the Supreme Court.
But with Santorum polling 40 points behind Obama in one recent poll, is it any wonder why an old new lefty can't be behind Rick Santorum 1000%?
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I've been saying for some time that they Republican Party died with Dwight Eisenhower. By adopting the Southern Strategy -- employed by Nixon and every Republican President since, it sold its soul and became the reincarnation of the American Independent Party. As I said elsewhere, Righteous Rick Santorum is just a dumber version of George Wallace.
With a beard and a shtreimel, Santorum would be perfect for an Israeli ultra-Orthodox party
SANTORUM!!! :D
Two things that come to my mind immediately are:
First of all, “liberal” is still a word that is the kiss of death for anyone running for national office. Conservatives politicians still brag about being conservative—even argue about who is most conservative in their debates; liberal politicians never mention the word, because they see it as the albatross it is. There is a reason for that—and the reason does not bode well for Democratic candidates.
Secondly, consider how many of the “liberals” on this board think about Barack Obama. The strongest support from most liberals here runs at about the level of “I hold my nose and vote for him” or “I will vote for him as the lesser of two evils.” The enthusiasm of the conservatives and independents intent on ousting Obama at any costs, on the other hand…is unbounded. All of that does not bode well for Democratic candidates.
Even with a loser like Rick Santorum at the head of the Republican ticket—this election is far from already being decided.
My hopes are for a brokered Republican convention with (I never thought I would ever say this) Jeb Bush being nominated. I honestly think the Republicans are going to win…and of all the Republicans being mentioned, he seems to be the closest to sane.
It may be a much higher number than you think--I think it is around 45% of all voters--not people but those who vote. The Presidential contest is only one thing. The Republicans will almost certainly win control of the Senate and with their redistricting efforts for the House races will probably hold the House also. This crazy group controls almost all the Judicial Branch--Bush appointed hundreds of Liberty University graduated into positions of power and they will be there a long time. The Supreme Court is controlled by the crazies and if a Republican won the presidency would appoint at least one- probably two new justices which would give them control of the Supreme Court for the next two decades at least.
The only positive that can happen is that President Obama gets reelected and is active with the veto pen until the crazy firebaggers on the Left shut the hell up and get the idea for 2016. The crazies control 31 state legislatures. So, to sum up. The crazies will win the Senate, retain control of the House, continue their domination of the courts and control the majority of governorships and state legislatures. Santorum is an idiot but he got a standing ovation in one of those mega-churches recently so he could actually win if the turnout is low enough.
Lefty, I beg you to turn away from the firebagger losers on the Left and consider joining our movement at : thepeoplesview.net
I'd love to see (but it would never happen) a real parliamentary system in our country, which would give a voice to third, fourth, and fifth parties. There are places in the country where someone from a Green party could win. There are places where the Rabid Fundie Christian party could win. A parliamentary system would allow local districts to elect who they will, and then they'd have to form coalitions to get anything done in government. But at least it would be out in the open, and clearly delineated, who is a Rabid Fundie Christian, and who is an Old Rich White Guy.
The reason McGovern lost is because voters identified him with the leftist protesters -- the radical wing. Nixon ran on Law & Order, if you'll recall.
After the 64 Goldwater debacle, the conservatives went dormant. The National Review refused to endorse Nixon because he wasn't a conservative. Ford wasn't either, so the first movement conservative president was Reagan.
Now the conservative demographic is dying off as the radical wing grows more powerful and the GOP is stuck with being identified with their radicals. The reason the candidates are locked in trying to prove they're more "conservative" is because they must play to the radical base, not because "conservative" is highly popular. In fact, it's this conservative-off contest that is dooming the GOP's chances this election, and widening the demographic divide.
Santorum would lose by a wider margin than Romney, and it would be fun watching Rick trying to excommunicate half of America.
If Obama loses, it will be because he empowered the GOP when he should have been dancing on their grave. His futile "centrist" play was in pursuit of a reborn Republican healthcare mandate act where he refused to give the majority of Americans the single-payer plan they wanted. He gave them their own plan and they're in a position to hang him with it.
If enough Dem voters sit this one out, it's Obama's fault, not theirs. In spite of what some shrill political guessers think, he was elected to represent the people, not the other way around.
In the end game, barring some unforeseen occurrence, Mitt won't be able to overcome his rich,disconnected, plastic personality AND his forced error in having to prove how "conservative" he is by having to move radical-right to get past the base yahoos.
So, an incumbent President who refused to see America's populist shift versus a challenger who can't play to the demographic shift.
It'll be interesting.
That fits in with my plan to nominate Newt so his defeat reactivates the Yankee Rocky Repubs. I know you prefer Saintorum. Because Newt and Rick represent different, though largely enmeshed base sects, perhaps we can compromise on a Newt/Rick ticket.
In that order, because the GOP is Newt, from coup to nutballs.
Besides, given their different reputations, everyone that thought about the coupling would know which one should be on top.
Rick will object because it's not reproductive sects, but he'll take one for the Team, in the end.
Santorum is less AuH2O then might be apparent. AuH2O played on foreign policy and Cop of The World. Santorum plays to nostalgia, much of which is fantasy. He's more like Reagan in that respect. Unlike Reagan, he's no interest in actually governing.
To the extent that rightwing states can disenfranchise anyone not to the right of Attila, Santorum can deliver the country to the cabal. Citizen's United is not trivial. The Koch's, et al, really do mean to run the country as an autocracy. They see how Putin lives so much better than the average Russian. Why shouldn't they?
And Desnee, I'm totally aware of the evil plutocrats who are backing the SSantorum spawns to the hilt. There's no mistake that the puppetmasters are intelligent, armed, and dangerous. Having said that, I take issue with Robert Reich about any upward trajectory that they're on. While SSantorum may have a stranglehold on the 30% or so of Christian fundie voters, getting to 31% is a real stretch.
Even the most clever GOP marketing of SSantorum can't hide the fact that in many issues, fundamentally, the man is a mental case. The vast majority of American voters will choke on even considering the idea of a SSantorum presidency. The T Paper supporters are all in, praying to draw on an inside straight against Obama's two pair. But all the money in the world can't turn a pig into a poke at the White House.
Meanwhile, the presence of the SSantorum monster will energize the apathetic base that sat on their hands in the 2010 election. The Koch brothers are probably praying that they can find a pretty boy conservative Democrat to run a third party ticket to split the Obama vote, but it ain't going to happen.
The most likely prospect is for third and even fourth party candidates from the evangelical and libertarian factions to further splinter the Republican vote instead. Meanwhile, the SSantorum supporters must be getting down on their knees in church -- praying for a combination of a European meltdown, Israeli attack on Iran, and a Chinese economic implosion. The odds are now against this trifecta for American conservatives.
I still am very, very apprehensive. To me, this is a lose/lose election.
If Obama loses, we get a Republican beholden to the most dedicated, doctrinaire, conservatives ever. The Republican president will be indebted and obligated to people who make Attila the Hun look reasonable.
If Obama wins…we may see the start of a Second American Civil War. The conservatives of this country will not sit still for a second win by Obama…and will tear this country apart.
We are screwed…BIG TIME.
Similar reasoning applies to Ron Paul. Every reasonable voter KNOWS it's not possible to significantly reduce the gargantuan Amerikan national security apparatus. That is a dream that idealists like Ron Paul can lecture about and it feels good to suspend disbelief, and fantasize about his ideas for a few minutes. But even if Paul got elected he could do extremely little to implement his vision. So voters can feel safe voting for Ricky or Ron because it is a symbolic protest vote...whether these vocal extremists get elected or not gay/lesbian, liberal sexuality/pornography issues will keep steaming along safely, just as the military-industrial complex would be completely safe in a Ron Paul presidency. It's all rhetoric, entertainment.
Sure, F*x News will try to say your vote doesn't matter, or they'll urge people to vote for SSantorum as a protest candidate against people's self interest. But I monitored Marilee Matalin's defense of SSantorum on a radio talk show, and she had to bend herself into a pretzel to come close to spinning for him.
There are a huge percentage of conservatives (those with an IQ greater than 90) that will have huge problems if Santorum is the nominee. The GOP will have additional nightmares in trying to figure out how to energize its base this year, no matter what -- the way things are right now.
What's even more sinister is that the plutocracy/military industrial elites in the US want an Israeli attack also. The negative economic repercussions will give Obama a massive headache and voters might be persuaded to vote Republikan. The loss of some American lives in any haphazard American response to Iranian attacks in the Straits, Iraq, Saudi oilfields, Afghanistan, etc. would be laid at Obama's feet "as a weak, unprepared President." Skyrocketing oil prices would be his fault also. And if a terrorist attack occurred in the US, as part of Iranian/Pakistani etc. blowback, well Obama is cooked and the Amerikan nation is driven hysterical with desires for revenge...and the Forever War the elites covet will finally be here, and without any crazy 9/11 World Trade Center conspiracy theories needed to initiate the knee-jerk American super-patriotic reaction. Priming the pump of jingoism the smart, safe way. It all happens automatically because of the inherent Israeli/Iranian dynamic. I seriously expect the Israeli attack...and egg all over Obama's face. Israel KNOWS it has the Amerikan Zionist Kristians and the entire Red States, and the Republikan party with the tiny exception of the Ron Paul libertarians on its side PLUS all the Democratic Party Jews...BINGO! So Bibi WILL gamble...and good for him. If the American liberals have let themselves be emasculated for so long then maybe they deserve to have their teeth kicked out by the military-industrial/plutocratic complex...wink
See my most recent post on the ONLY way Obama could get himself out of this briny pickle....dubble wink
The country is only going to keep moving to the right as long as we trust greed to save us. That's where the real fight is, everything else is just jacking off.