Things are headed the opposite direction for the GOP. They are increasingly becoming a regional Southern party, and even down there resurgent Democrats are threatening big Senate and House gains. Even in Idaho, the third most Republican state in the country, Democrats are threatening to pick up one of the state's two congressional seats. We have the governorship in Wyoming while threatening to take the state's sole House seat, and hold one congressional seat in Blood Red Utah. We are competing everywhere. They aren't.
What's more, with the Bush/Paulson bailout of Wall Street, conservative ideology has failed, and done so miserably. The GOP's experiment in nation building is still a mess (in two countries). Its elected officials are retiring at huge rates -- a trend that will likely accelerate as Republicans fall deeper into the minority and prospects for a quick comeback fade. Depending on the results of this election, their party will have suffered anywhere from a painful drubbing to utter and unambiguous repudiation.
So then what? Without a president to control the RNC, Republicans will be forced to decide among themselves who will run their party. The establishment will put up their safe, comfortable picks like Alec Poitevint, Chuck Yob, Katon Dawson, Jim Greer, Chip Saltsman, and Saul Anuzis. Who? Exactly.
. . . Conservatives laughed when Dean took the DNC's helm and look how that turned out. But our differences with the DLC types was a matter of degree and strategy -- a little more populist, a lot more aggressive. The fundamentals that united us as a party were not ideologically mutually exclusive.
Republicans have a tougher task ahead of them. Generally speaking, the theocons are socially conservative and fiscally progressive (as in, they believe in using government to improve people's lives). The corporate cons are generally fiscally libertarian and couldn't give two craps about gays or abortion or the rest of the conservative Christian social agenda. While there is obviously a great deal of overlap, the distinct camps exist, and resolving those disagreements on fundamental philosophical issues will require a great deal of work. In Kansas, many of the corporate cons became conservative Democrats and left the asylum to the theocon crazies. We'll see how things shape up at the national level.
As Markos says, it will be interesting to watch.
By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only
