Memo to GOP: It’s not just about demographics
Time for an end to magical thinking?
In the first flush of post-election analysis, a lot of pundits are pointing to the massive structural problems within the modern Republican Party.
And it’s true that the GOP has embraced policies and ideas that have steadily alienated the minorities — primarily Hispanics — who make up the fastest-growing slice of the American electorate.
Conservatives have also infuriated many women (who went for Barack Obama by double-digit margins Tuesday) with bitter and divisive talk about rape and abortion and contraceptives.
Women, it happens, are on the rise in our society, taking more positions of power, moving into careers that generate more wealth, and earning more high-level college degrees.
So yes, Republicans are on the wrong side of history when it comes to appealing to the next generation of American voters.
But that’s not the whole story.
The bigger, more painful truth is that conservatives — who once prided themselves on being realistic, grounded pragmatists — have embraced a basket of ideas that range from the fanciful to the frightening.
Global warming is probably the easiest place to start this conversation. Scientists say it’s real. Scientists say we’re causing it. And those same scientists say climate change poses huge dangers to our society.
Yet many conservatives continue to simply pretend it’s not true, exhibiting the same kind of magical thinking they accused hippies of indulging in through the 1960s and ’70s.
The same goes for modern conservative economics. The Ayn Randian vision of all-powerful and benevolent free markets is idealistic to the point of dreaminess.
Yes, capitalism is a powerful and important tool, one of the pillars of our society.
But without progressive tax policies, common sense regulation, and other modest interventions by a democratically elected civil authority, capitalism produces some really awful things, ranging from huge income inequality to toxic medicines.
That’s not an ideological argument. It is observed, recorded fact.
It is also long past time for Republicans to finally and utterly abandon a political brand based in large measure on appealing to the racial anxieties of white people.
The GOP — in its common-sense era — was the laboratory for pro-active thinking about civil rights, economic fairness and racial equity.
But too many party leaders have bought into the “southern strategy” delusion that people of color are lazy, or unAmerican, or — I’m not making this up — diseased.
So enough already with the “bell curve” winking and “welfare queen” nudging and the “urban” dog whistling. Enough of Fox News’ fixation with the one pathetic Black Panther activist standing outside the polling station.
Those characterizations of minorities in America aren’t factually true and they’re not helping the conservative movement win elections, not anymore.
The GOP also has a big problem with politicians who are, bluntly and plainly, incompetent or nutty. When you have top-tier Senate candidates talking about “legitimate” rape, it’s bad — very bad.
When many of your most prominent legislators are people like Michelle Bachmann and Alan West, it’s bad, very bad. And when your most prominent voices are bigoted oafs or crude parodies like Rush Limbaugh and Donald Trump, it’s even worse.
Finally Republicans have to get over their phobia about cities. American cities are where most of the wealth and culture are created in our society. That’s where most of our people live.
That’s not to say that anyone wants to abandon beautiful elements of our small town roots, but it’s time to acknowledge that East LA is just as true to our culture as Mayberry.
The modern conservative claim is that without this kind of looniness, this ginned-up base froth, the GOP just can’t win elections.
But that argument is belied by the long and honorable track record of post-War Republican policy moderates who won handily, from Dwight Eisenhower to Richard Nixon to George H.W. Bush.
And it’s also belied by yesterday’s dismal results, in the presidential race and in Senate contests.
So how does the Republican Party begin to turn the corner, rediscovering its good old fashioned boring sense of responsible political and fiscal duty?
The first step is to acknowledge that Barack Obama is the legitimate president of the United States, a man who despite his skin color, his middle name, his Chicago roots, and his post-modern life story is every bit as “real” and American as any other citizen.
The second step is to confront the reality that he’s not outside the political mainstream in our Republic, and never has been.
That’s not to say Republicans have to agree with his ideas. But when the president talks about returning taxation levels to those of the Clinton years, it’s not radical communism, or anti-capitalism, or a secret Muslim colonial-hating plot.
It’s just a policy that you oppose. And that’s enough.
When he creates an oversight board to propose new ways to reduce the costs of Medicare, it’s not a “death” panel. It’s just a policy you oppose. And that’s enough.
And when he uses measures like an industry bail-out or a stimulus — which have been standard tools for managing economies for decades — he’s not staging a socialist coup.
In practical terms, this means Republican leaders should fundamentally and publicly reject the idea that anyone should want our elected president to fail.
Top GOP officials should make it clear that they plan to compromise with their President, offering significant concessions on everything from healthcare to taxes to entitlements — and that they fully expect him to compromise in turn.
Then conservatives should pivot to the real task at hand, which is dragging their own movement and party back to the real principles of American conservatism — moderation, civility, pragmatism, fact-based thinking and fiscal responsibility.
When this work is done, our nation will be a little less divided, a little less unhinged.
And in 2016, Republicans might just win back a sizable chunk of Hispanic and perhaps even African American votes, while also healing their dangerous rift with women.
Tags: election12
Romney is hardly moderate…more like a chameleon whackamole: Last century he was an urban Mass. guncontrolling governor, later identifying with the 2nd Amendment redneck by selecting a card-carrying-Cabela shopper as his running mate. Later he collected $1000 a plate from FL 1%ers, (no redneck hunters allowed), assuring them behind closed doors, that it’s okay to disregard 47% of the population. A while back, he sounded like an urban Mass. women’s-right-to-choose governor, only to later become a Planned Parenthood funeral director. RDC debate-time he was a suspect because he was in a non-Christian cult from the liberal Northeast. The next day he was blessed by Billy Graham & Son. Who was the real Mitt Romney?
Tough to be lead by a standard bearer who kept carrying different banners.
Acknowledging some guilt for having these thoughts, I figured that the only people he would honor, were other billionaires and Mormons.
The Light of Creation shines in all beings – even beings brimming with hate and fear.
Depending on the person’s willingness, that light will shine either dimly or brightly.
He actually had about 3 months of a filibuster – proof Senate when you consider the traditional two month summer recess in 2009. Even this short amount wasn’t even continuous but I believe spread out over the year of 2009. Either way, hardly enough time given the snails pace at which the Senate operates.
As pointed out by various bloggers the most effective medicine that POTUS Obama can/should administer to the recalcitrant Republicans in Congress, from here on, is to use his bully pulpit regularly/often to bring to the attention of the US public any/all incidents wherein the foot dragging and/or outright interference by the Republicans in Congress is sabotaging efforts by the Democrats to improve the lot of the 99%.
Slightly off topic here is a link to a video containing interviews with Romney supporters at an Ohio rally, obviously prior to the election, which just may shed some light on the great conservative liberal divide.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2012/11/sigh_what_can_you_say.php
Karl Rove has some splainin to do with his billionaire friends. Hey, what happened to my investment? I thought you said money would win the race for us.
I have a question.
In what ways should President Obama work with the GOP? (Not just the other way around).
Boehner just gave a speech on Capitol Hill regarding tax reform and dealing with entitlements to help with revenue.
I’ve heard much about the need for Congress to work with the president. I’m curious in what ways the president should listen to his Congress.
Two Cents asks “ps – are there ANY good pictures of Ayn Rand?”
That depends on whether you are asking about the attractiveness of the sitter or the photo. Relatively speaking this one http://www.nndb.com/people/097/000030007/ is better than most in reference to the photo. She wasn’t exactly a stunner as a sitter.
RE: Who will be to blame if we’re still struggling after 4 more years? It’s hard to say. It might be Obama but that assumes that he gets at least a reasonable amount of collegial cooperation from congress. That would be the patriotic thing to do. You know, the ‘put the good of the country’ ahead of partisan bickering thing. It also assumes that the rest of the world can be kept from blowing up, economically in the case of Europe and China, politically in the case of the Middle East. Should either of those things happen, all bets are off no matter who is president. So far (IMO) Obama has shown pretty adept at crisis management but as my grandfather used to say “There are some things you can’t pile up”. The recovery is getting stronger but it is sufficiently tenuous that such outside influences could very well derail it in spite of our best efforts.
“I’ve heard much about the need for Congress to work with the president. I’m curious in what ways the president should listen to his Congress.”
Some people seem to forget this… but when it comes to this debt crisis, the President offered significant cuts to “entitlement” programs in exchange for revenue increases on the extremely rich. His Party was very upset with him about this. House Democrats, Pelosi, et al., threatened to abandon him over those cuts.
It was all for nothing because the Republicans refused to move even an inch – due to their Grover tax pledge and their stated mission to roadblock the President and make him a one termer (how’d that work out!?) – but the point here is that the President actually has been listening to and compromising with Congress. He just needs to do more of the same and hope they come around this term. If everyone is really serious about finding middle ground this time, I think they will.
Who are we why are we here?
Kathy, Had you listened to his speech you’d have heard his talk about working with congress on tax reform, immigration, cutting the deficit and balancing the budget. He tried to get the Republicans to work with him on the ACA, incorporating many of the ideas they had earlier advanced and even hosting a televised roundtable in which they completely refused to participate by demanding that he “throw it out and start over”.
Kathy – Washington – meaning the pres, the congress and the senate – have some important stuff to get done in the very near future. Congress is controlled by the Republicans – minority party that represents a minority of Americans – and the republicans in congress are controlled by a group that is a majority of republicans, but an even smaller minority of Americans (representing maybe 20 % of Americans?). The president needs to listen to them and their ideas, but also the other 80%.
Kathy: “I’m curious in what ways the president should listen to his Congress.”
I know what you’re saying, but unfortunately for us, Boehner has no backbone.
Boehner can be counted on to give in before negotiations even begin. In fact, it sounded like he just said, “we are willing to raise taxes” before Obama said anything.
In some ways though even for a conservative this is good. We can really find out if some of these ideas really do work or not. Particularly health care reform, which will really kick in over the next couple of years. The other thing we can find out is what happens to Afghanistan when we leave. I think many said that Iraq would be just burning in the midst of a civil war if we left with the whole region in turmoil.
From that perspective even though I did not vote for the President, I am looking forward to see how these things turn out, we really don’t know and we would have never found out with Romney.
Also everything is reversible, I totally reject this idea that if Obamacare really is a disaster we can never get rid of it.
Ive been out all day and you guys have been at it tooth and nail…gotta catch up!
Larry, What Obama failures? The only failure I’ve seen was the year or so when he tried to work with the Republicans. He’s since had a list of accomplishments as long as my arm, and if Boehner doesn’t drive us off the cliff, Obama will have another one soon. I wonder how many Republicans have shifted into high gear already…hoping for the fiscal failure.
I am so happy to hear from Democrats what the Republican party should do. I guess a 2% mandate qualifies them as experts.
Mervel…”everything is reversible”, Hmmmm, that what I call schizophrenic government. We move to the left for a while, then we move to the right for a while, then we move left and them Romney threatens to move back in time. Meanwhile the rest of us, the regular working stiffs out here in the real world wonder if we’re ever going to move forward.
I like to ponder about how many wind-farms we could have built with the money wasted in Iraq. How many solar panels and super efficient cars could we have made with the money spent on tomahawk missiles and drone aircraft. Sometimes I even wonder how many luxury relaxation spas we could have built on the frickin’ moon if we hadn’t spent the entire wealth of two nations fighting (or not fighting) the cold war.
Let’s work on something real for a change. Let’s plant some trees in Canton, build some sidewalks in Potsdam, and a by-pass in Governeur. Let’s install solar collectors on every school building in New York State, and tear out the old dams on the Grasse River and go salmon fishing. No matter where you live, no matter which region or state, there are projects and dreams, and real needs that could move forward………or we could argue about abortion and illegal immigrants.
Two percent of the VOTERS sure, but nobody liked that rich twit. not even you.
Kathy, you ask “In what ways should President Obama work with the GOP? (Not just the other way around).” In many ways, he has already come at least half way towards the GOP on some big issues. For example: health care reform. Do you remember? Obama didn’t write the bill – the AHCA was developed by a bipartisan group in the Senate and was based on Republican ideas, from a think tank and from a Republican governor, for using primarily a market approach based on private insurance. When the Senate group did not include a public option, which Obama argued should be part of the plan, he signed the bill as it was offered to him.
Kathy, in what ways should Congress work with our President? Compromise needs to have both parties willing to give at least a little, it does not mean one party adopting the policies of the other with no give back.
Brian, I really enjoyed reading this post, which emphatically is NOT a Democrat telling the Republican party how it needs to change. You may be accused of being a liberal, but I’m a lifelong liberal Democrat married to a Democrat who is an elected official, so I know that you are politically independent. However you decide to redo The In Box, I have read your posts with relish this election season. Thanks for listening carefully when I have occasionally taken you to task. Thanks for thinking deeply about the issues of how we govern ourselves, and how we work together to solve problems that we cannot address on an individual level.
you really leave no doubt as to who you voted for. I don’t know if such editorializing is appropriate for an NPR journalist writing on an NPR-affiliated website.
Brian’s reporting is professional and objective. A blog is different, part opinion and part analysis, and he should be able to share his views just as much as the rest of us in this particular venue.
PNElba to Kathy:
“The tell-tale signs of socialism are obvious.”
Please, be a little more specific about these tell-tale signs of socialism. I just don’t see them. Are you talking
about Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid? Or is it that gift to the insurance industry, ObamaCare. I really do
want to learn.
Kathy:
PNElba, I don’t have the energy. Please research socialism and compare it with our president’s policies.
Seems like Kathy has a lot of gall to ask other people to answer her questions. But the In Box crowd is an accommodating lot, as a whole.
What is really telling about Kathy’s comment is the apparent unwillingness to seek out ideas or information on a topic. Is this a metaphor for type of dialog and spirit of compromise we see in Washington?
Here is a 2016 ticket:
Marco Rubio and Condy Rice. That just about covers it!
Sadly we have a midterm election in 24 months. I assume that starts tomorrow. Yuuch!!!
I wish the president all the best! Now the election is over it is time to fall in line. Let’s get some things done.
Peter Hahn has some of the best comments on this blog.
“Also, when people want something bad enough when it’s contrary to God’s guidance, he will give them what they want.”
Perhaps that explains so much of the Old Testament.
Oh Paul. Not Condi Rice! That woman served under Bush as his officially sanctioned liar. You didn’t even have to know the details beforehand to know she was lying. It showed in her voice and demeanor…she was asked to lie, she was never comfortable with it, and unlike many in her business, she could never exactly hide it. She’s the kind of person that dogs bite.
Go back and listen to her statements during the Bush years
Yeah, Condi is pure evil unlike Hillary who would never, ever stretch the truth. Take Benghazi for instance. Boy howdy, she came clean on that one! Laid out the whole illegal arms deal and the decision to leave Americans to die rather than risk exposing the administrations complicity.
Yeah, Condi is evil. Hey! You’re now officially a racist Mike.
Well we have the exact same situation politically as the last four years, the world has not ended and yes things could have been better, but its not some sort of unmitigated disaster. But we really need to have some time to see if the agenda and plan of the Democrats works or not, this will be a true test. Even though obamacare was passed we don’t really know what the impact will be with Obamacare right now, but we will know in four years.
But yeah part of logical decision making and good politics is reversing course if you make major mistakes that is why we have a Democracy and not a totalitarian system. If this health care reform fails we can start over and fix it, if it works great! If unemployment is still in the 8-10% range in four years we can pretty well say that the democratic plan put forward this election failed. You couldn’t really say that in full last time around, unemployment was going down for the past 3 years, we were recovering from a very large recession, so the case was successfully made to continue the course.
But just as a conservative I don’t see this election as all bad, I am hopeful.
What is really telling about Kathy’s comment is the apparent unwillingness to seek out ideas or information on a topic.
Really?
It is my unwillingness to hash and re-hash what has already been discussed on this forum. And if I began to reiterate those tell-tale signs of socialism, I would get nailed since many liberals refuse to see it.
Honestly, Boehner is a tool.
james bullard: thanks for the other photo, no, liz taylor she’s not…..
The FOX news echo chamber says Obama’s policies are socialist. No one really cares about the details or the evidence or the facts. The definition of socialism was posted above a day or so ago. You may not like Obama’s policies, but they are not socialism. I don’t refuse to see these tell-tale signs of socialism, I just don’t see any policy that jives with the definition of socialism.
I’ve answered my own question re: working with the president.
1) Half the country have core convictions and beliefs that are as earnest as the other half who just won the next 4 years.
If Romney won, the Obama supporters would be expected to work with him. At what expense? Will they compromise their core convictions? Would they get on board with the Keystone Pipeline when they believe it is a detriment to pursuing renewable energy in the name of halting global warming? Would they get on board with repealing Obamacare in the name of halting the federal government’s involvement in our private lives? Both camps refer to the Constitution for reference. Both interpret the Constitution differently.
The next 4 years will be more of the same unless we start over. I think we do this by facing ourselves and honestly answering those questions about ourselves in order to work together.
2) James Madison said this: “I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.”
I think the best use of power is to keep oneself in check through continually keeping others in focus, otherwise pride will prevent listening and working together. Positions of power can create living in a bubble of sorts – far removed from the people you serve. A person in power must always keep the attitude of serving – thus creating humility – necessary for using the power wisely.
The bottom line is love of country and its people come first; not love of power. And before anyone would claim they don’t love power – or that Obama doesn’t love power – take heed. It’s that very mindset that has you already in its grip.
It doesn’t matter what the policies are and how well they are implemented. If humility and bearing another’s burdens through listening and caring what they think are not front and center, what you’re building is on shaky ground.
Edit:
Would they get on board with repealing Obamacare in the name of halting provision for everyone to have health care?
FOX news? I hear that Carl Rove still hasn’t conceded Ohio!
The closest thing to any kind of Socialist move would be the government buying a stake in US auto companies. It did save some jobs. But as an investment we are going to lose our shirts so it does maybe fit the definition of ownership without much chance for profit.
The bank bailouts don’t fit the bill. We made too much money as taxpayers investing in those firms.
I agree with Mervel. This is a very good opportunity for the democrats to have a shot at making something work. At the end for 8 years they will own the results. If they are good then we may have a new liberal ascendancy that could last for decades or longer.
There may be a good chance that we will end up with a republican back in the White house in 2016 if Cuomo throws his hat in.
PNElba:
I said tell-tale signs.
tell-tale: A tell-tale is a reference indicator or a sign that clearly signals that something else is true or is about to happen.
“… Obama is not a dictionary-definition socialist, because he has not called for the national government to nationalize the means of production.” Mark Hendrickson
Read further:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhendrickson/2012/07/26/president-obamas-marxist-leninist-economics-fact-and-fiction/2/
I would rather see Obamacare removed because it is approved based on it being a tax, not that it’s good or effective, or anything about it’s mechanics. Or because it’s “his”
It’s approved because it is viewed as a tax by the Supreme Court, (so move along citizen, nothing to be seen here…)
Its fair to tax the citizens, and apparently its just as fair to build an ineffective and lumbering system.
The Robes said so.
And God gave us a North Star (which science tells us moves around over time) not a compass. A compass is a work of man; a work of science. God gave you eyes to perceive his real revelation, the Universe, and he gave you a brain to conceive of the workings of his creation. Don’t close your eyes.
“Science investigates religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge which is power religion gives man wisdom which is control.”
“The means by which we live have outdistanced the ends for which we live. Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men. ”
Martin Luther King Jr.
“Power always thinks… that it is doing God’s service when it is violating all his laws.”
John Adams
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Republicans, who claim to be in favor of freedom, need to stop trying to take away personal freedoms such as who you marry and reproductive rights.
I would be totally against forcing anyone to marry someone of the same sex or getting an abortion because freedom works both ways.
I view the hard core Christian right in the same way I view the Taliban. The Republican need to get rid of the Tea Party, the Christian right and stop genuflecting before clowns such as Trump, Norquist and Limbaugh.
The more Spanish speaking people, the better. They are hard working and have some great looking women.
“… Obama is not a dictionary-definition socialist, because he has not called for the national government to nationalize the means of production.” Mark Hendrickson
Or re-stated in more “common sense” terms: Obama is not a socialist (except by our definition of the word).
They are hard working and have some great looking women.
They are also Christian and pretty conservative. A perfect group for the GOP to co-opt.
Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.
– Albert Einstein
PNE,
I think that the Republicans could get much more of the Hispanic vote but they are going to have to totally drop the harsh language about immigration and not just the language but the actual policy stands.
I mean I think Bush got close to 45% in 2000? Perry even with his general lameness, stood up against the foolishness and supported things like the Dream act and got punished for it in the primaries. So it certainly possible. But also Hispanics are very diverse so you are going to have a hard time with a one size fits all approach.
Kathy,
I believe that Christians/conservatives have hitched their wagon to a party that tells you what you want to hear to get themselves elected. I do not believe that Jesus would ever hitch his wagon to likes of Karl Rove or take money from the Koch brothers. We all compromise everyday. Maybe we should just be thankful that we live in a Country where we have a right to speak our mind, publicly critique our elected officials and vote our conscience. Countries where those in power do not have to listen to their citizens, are not held accountable for their actions or compromise have names like communism and autocracy.
It’s not very likely Jesus would have aligned himself with George Soros, David Axlerod or Bain Capital executive Jonathan Lavine. Yes, the same Bain Capital that is supposed to be sooooo evil. Funny the way he was one of Obamas bigger contributors and we heard nothing about that. I’m pretty sure that atheists/liberals have hitched their wagon to a party that tells you what you want to hear to get themselves elected.
Calling Obama, or other liberals, “socialists” because they support increasing the role of government in the economy is as ridiculous as calling conservatives “fascists” because they support tougher law enforcement or the Patriot Act. Progressive taxation and the idea that the government should play a significant role in directing and propping up the economy has been part of American politics since the 1930s. Obama’s approach might be wrong (I tend to favor a smaller government role in the economy than I think he does), but it’s not out of the mainstream and it has nothing in common with an economy where the government owns the means of production.
I read that Forbes article, it’s stupid. Saying that cap and trade is the same thing as “controlling where people live,” or that the estate tax is the same as “abolishing inheritance,” or that promoting green energy is “state control of means of transportation,” is silly. The government owns the roads already!!!! OMG, it’s creeping socialism!!!!!
Marlo, go do some research on where FDRs “brain trust” got their ideas then tell me it’s not Marxist.