Dick Polman: ...the GOP's slide into immoderation and irrelevance.

[babylonsister]

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20090503_The_American_Debate__This_party_s_over__Specter_s_departure_is_one_more_sign_of_the_GOP_s_slide_into_immoderation_and_irrelevance_.html

The American Debate: This party's over: Specter's departure is one more sign of the GOP's slide into immoderation and irrelevance.

By Dick Polman

Inquirer National Political Columnist


Once upon a time, long before the GOP plummeted to its current status as the Southern and Rural Older White Guy Party, it actually was home to a healthy subspecies known as the Republican moderate.

These moderates roamed the land, cutting deals with Democrats, winning statewide elections, and broadening the GOP's appeal. Pennsylvania alone was fertile turf for people like William Scranton, Richard Schweiker, John Heinz, Hugh Scott, and Arlen Specter. But now, of course, that era is over. Specter has quit the party one step ahead of his own extinction - yet another sign that the Republicans, in their self-defeating quest for ideological purity, have ceased to be a national party.

Naturally, the conservative true-believers are thrilled that Specter is gone ("good riddance"); they've somehow convinced themselves that the loss of yet another Republican Senate seat constitutes a great victory. It's delusional. The more the party shrinks, the happier they seem. I marvel at their ability to resolutely march through the smoking wreckage, all the while insisting that it smells like perfume.

snip//

Why were the young so decisive for the Democrats? Because they grew up during the incompetent tenure of George W. Bush; because they couldn't warm to a party that appears intolerant and exclusionary. The schism on gay marriage says it all. The young see the concept as no big deal; the party - hostage, more than ever, to its conservative base - equates it with the downfall of civilization. Unless the party modernizes on that issue, its long-term prospects are bleak - which is why John McCain's '08 campaign manager is now urging his party to endorse gay marriage.

To woo the young, the GOP could also use some new voices; a recent Pew poll even reports that 75 percent of Republicans have no idea who the leader of their party is. Lately, the two most prominent spokesmen have been Newt Gingrich and Dick Cheney, which should tell you plenty. Gingrich peaked in 1998, when he was compelled to quit as House speaker. And one can only imagine how young voters view Cheney. Not only does he epitomize the rot of the Bush era, he also looks like a haunted-house character in an old Charles Addams cartoon.

History does teach us that party fortunes fluctuate over time, so I assume the GOP will somehow find its way back. But for now, it reminds me of the college marching band that went astray during the climactic movie scene in Animal House; strutting blindly down a dead-end alley, the musicians ran into a brick wall, and even as they crumpled against one another, they kept on playing the same old music.

Specter found a way out of that alley. Who can blame him?

[Berry Cool]

1. The comments on this great column provide a window into what the Repugs think will save them.

First, they think hubris and hubris alone will take care of Obama. They have built him up in their minds to be such a blind egotist that he is sure to suffer his downfall all on his own, without them having to lift a finger.

Second, like Rushbo, some of them are hoping and praying Obama's remedies for the economy will fail...because they figure it means the people will turn away from him, and they will get yet another turn to screw things up even further with their same old tax-cutting solutions.

Third, others, like Cheney, are praying for another 9/11, because they figure if we get attacked again, the people will turn away from the Dems and trust only Republicans to save us.

Yep. That's the plan, folks: sit around and wait for the people to abandon the Dems and return to their Republican senses, either through a failed economy, another terrorist attack or, well, Obama just being such an arrogant ass that people can't stand him anymore.

There you have it, my friends: The Republican Platform.

They got nothing else.