From Amanda Carpenter
... conservative leaders convened for a meeting of the minds to plot a way to reinvigorate the Republican brand ...Bozell saw the 2008 election as a decision between a "moderate" and a "far-left" candidate. The moderate lost. Therefore, "the moderate wing of the Republican Party is dead, it is finished," Bozell said.
...
Bozell pushed [for] "whole new generation of organizations, particularly on the grassroots level" and "massively increasing the fundraising."
Others demanded that conservatives, rather than moderate Republicans, be appointed to fill leading roles on Capitol Hill.
"Conservative are unhappy, upset even angry with national Republican leaders,"..
Comments
Off to... roaming for 40 years in the desert...they'll have quite a legend to tell their kids one day in the far future.
Posted by: Coturnix | November 15, 2008 3:40 PM
Now that's kind of scary. I would be happy for them to squeeze into a far-right corner, if only I were sure that that would make them unelectable. Otherwise we could have the brute squads coming around to arrest the 40% of women who have had abortions.
Posted by: Monado in Toronto | November 15, 2008 3:40 PM
Well, you know what they say: "When you realize you're in a hole, the first thing to do is toss the shovel aside and start 'digging' with dynamite."
Posted by: Azkyroth | November 15, 2008 4:35 PM
"Ye have strayed from the path of righteousness, and thus the Lord punishes God's Own Party for its sin of tolerance! Repent and turn back to the strict ways of true Conservatism, and we shall prosper once more!"
I wonder to what extent the mindset of this traditional religious response to adversity is the cause, here. The religious see a pattern, and react in the way which their worldview dictates will yield a favorable result. I'd be tempted to encourage this, except that grade of whackaloon is focused in the part of the country where starting civil wars is a tradition.
Perhaps we should just try to use this to encourage bipartisan backing for road repair efforts?
Posted by: abb3w | November 15, 2008 10:35 PM
Well the Repubs have truly lost their way since selling out to the religious right. They hava abandoned small government, they have abandoned conservative economics, and abondoned personal freedom.
In the last election I was able to vote for an interesting independent: small government, pro freedom, anti-war fiscal conservative for Congress.
Posted by: jayh | November 16, 2008 8:10 AM
Having lost sight of their original goal, restrained but effective governance, they redouble their efforts.
When the Muslims started losing and were ultimately thrown back from Europe they became more fundamentalist. This is a fair depiction how Wahhabi got their foot in the door. This sort of reflexive response is historically accurate for almost all religions, political movements and established structures. So it goes with most every group struggling in ideological conflicts.
Pretty hard to find exceptions.
It is 'bigger hammer' logic. Insufficient use of force, a lack of dedication and contaminated ideological purity in the organization are always the first things to be blamed for any failure. The goals, motivations and methods are seldom questioned until the point of absolute exhaustion is reached.
So it goes.
Posted by: Art | November 16, 2008 3:26 PM
I do wonder what will happen if the Republicans continue on their rightward move. Will moderate Republicans break off into a third party (which will come to replace the Republicans in the dominant 2-party paradigm)? Or will the Republicans die out all together, leaving only the Democrats? Of course, if that happens, then most likely either a split between the liberal and conservative branches of the Democratic Party would occur, or a new party would arise to fill the center-right void (or perhaps that new party would arise even before the Republicans disappear all together)
Posted by: Paper Hand | November 16, 2008 6:04 PM