GOP - Idealogical Purity Is A Sign Of Stagnation

[Median Democrat]

I know a lot of us on this board often tear each other apart with rather strange debates on who is a progressive, liberal or moderate. However, the fact that we do have these rather esoteric debates does have an upside: The Democratic Party is the party where its at with respect to ideas and debates over policy.

The fact of the matter is that over the past eight years, the country had continued its rightward shift to the point of where it had nowhere else to go. Tax cuts? Been there. Deregulation? Done that? More war? Why not.

As a result, the liberal to moderate end of the political spectrum was largely ignored. Obama's proposed tax cut, despite the cries of socialism from Republicans, is actually very modest compared to the top marginal tax rates that have been imposed during this century.

On the Republicans, you pretty much have uniformity in their talking point driven agenda with Limbaugh pretty much driving their hate filled, reactionary agenda. This is a bad thing for them, because they are still in a massive debate as to who is more conservative, thus they continue to abandon the middle to the Democrats.

The Republicans will not really be a credible source of ideas until you actually here some diversity in the ideas they endorse. The Democrats have the blue-dog Democrats, but the Republicans are all pretty much card carrying members of the ditto head caucas.

The Party of Limbaugh will still remain fomidable due to the support they receive from corporations. However, as a source of new ideas, their well is dry, and their recitation of RW soundbites are merely the dry heaves that follow an eight year binge of tax cuts and deregulation.

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. It is pretty funny watching their final gasps of life oozing out of them

The Titanic has sunk, but some of the stockholders back on land are insisting that it didn't sink, it's just the media trying to scare people, because by God the ship was unsinkable and that's what they're sticking with. And even if you take them to the site of the sinking, show them the hull, they'll insist "It'll pop back up - just have faith!"