What does it take for the GOP to reconsider their position?

[ray245]

Based on the early comments by some prominent Republican supporting commentators, they seems to think that there is a need for them to lean even further towards the political right to win the presidency.

With the popular vote indicating that Romney managed capture nearly half of the current voting population, the chances of Republicans moving back towards a more centrist policy should be quite narrow.

So what does it take for the GOP to consider their political stance and adopt a more center-right policy?

[CaptJodan]

Jesus' second coming and berating of the GOP?

Seriously, I think it would take a loss far greater than this. In 08, they were able to blame such a loss on the policies of Bush, more that he was the problem rather than their ideas and policies themselves. In 10, they got a huge boost and attribute that success to the fact that they went more to the right and got some Tea Party people in the House and Senate. They didn't lose the House in 2012 (not that they were in any threat of doing so) so they can point to that to say that the policies that they still fight for are valid, it's the candidate they ran that wasn't up to snuff. Romney WAS the moderate candidate of those in the GOP Primary. They will look at that, say "we tried moderate and look what happened" and will go the other way.

I think a major loss in the Presidency, as well as the House and Senate would be required in order to make them think twice, and that those losses would have to come with them running far right candidates, especially in the Presidency. I'm not even sure even that would be enough.

The other option is to simply wait till the demographics continue to shift further. As the old die off and the younger generation comes into power and as minorities start to outnumber whites, the right will have to move to the center, or be left behind.

[madd0ct0r]

meh. as the younger generation age and the minorities get richer they'll shift to the right too.

As long as Obama presides over a nice recovery it won't actually matter.

[ray245]

As long as Obama presides over a nice recovery it won't actually matter.

Isn't this unhealthy in the long run? US politics needs avoid a situation where people are voting for the Democrats because the Republican's policies will fuck the entire world upside down.

meh. as the younger generation age and the minorities get richer they'll shift to the right too.

The younger generation might share right-wing views regarding economic policies, but they are not sharing the views currently held by the the leading voice among Republican party and the Tea Party.

[Grumman]

As long as Obama presides over a nice recovery it won't actually matter.

Isn't this unhealthy in the long run? US politics needs avoid a situation where people are voting for the Democrats because the Republican's policies will fuck the entire world upside down.

It's already unhealthy. When Obama can directly attack our right under the Sixth Amendment to not be locked up forever without trial and all his voters can say is "Oh, I bet Romney would be worse", you've got a problem.

[Zaune]

It's already unhealthy. When Obama can directly attack our right under the Sixth Amendment to not be locked up forever without trial and all his voters can say is "Oh, I bet Romney would be worse", you've got a problem.

He's hardly the first President of either party to bend, waive or just flat-out ignore the letter of the Constitution in the name of what he believes to be the greater good.

[Eframepilot]

Actually I think they've given up on shifting further to the right, if only because there's no room left to move on that side.

Now they think it's all a matter of better marketing. Conservatism is perfect; they just need to find the right salesman! Who is apparently Rubio.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Actually I think they've given up on shifting further to the right, if only because there's no room left to move on that side.

Now they think it's all a matter of better marketing.
Conservatism is perfect; they just need to find the right salesman! Who is apparently Rubio.

This is true to a certain point... Sadly the Right can ALWAYS Go further to the right, there is always another level of crazy out there despite how scary that may seem. But you are correct about "Marketing"

The far right have been spoon fed the belief that their way is not just the Right Way, but the ONLY Way. Endless tax cuts, Gutting government services, slashing as much government regulation as possible, and of course the endless hammering of "Guns Gods and Gays!" is for them a belief and way of life that simply Has to work. The fact that these polices have never worked economically or socially does nothing to prove them wrong.. It only tells them that they have not worked because they didn't follow the polices ENOUGH

The economy crashed because they didn't cut taxes far enough, or because they didn't cut enough regulations...
Always and everywhere they are taught that their entire belief system is perfect and flawless. it is in a way very similar to the delusion most Christians have of their own belief system.

As others have said, the GOP, as it is now, will never change "on its own". It strikes me as utterly impossible for the current power base, and the current supporters to ever one day say "Ok.. maybe..just maybe we really ARE too conservative."
Because the thing to understand is that, like Religion, the GOP can never question itself... To question it's own beliefs, to even consider the idea that their "values" are not good and perfect, would lead to the destruction of the party. For the past 50years the GOP has been built upon an ever increasing poisonous and rabid environment, because, again like religion it is a movement that can only survive in a land of rampant indoctrination, brainwashing, and rejection of any and all facts or evidence that contradicts their beliefs.

To ask "What does it take for the GOP to reconsider their position?" is the same as asking. "What does it take for the Church to reconsider their Belief in God?"

[ryacko]

I wasn't aware that the GOP is one homogeneous political party with no dissenters from their own ranks.

[Knife]

Its a demographic shift, and when that shift gets to the point where the GOP can't win an election nationally, they will start to do something about it.

[Mr Bean]

I wasn't aware that the GOP is one homogeneous political party with no dissenters from their own ranks.

This is broadly correct given the GOP is made up of three groups, the Evangelicals, the Conservatives and the Libertarians. Each group has it's own sub groups the Evangelicals are split between the Faithful and the Re constructionists. The Conservatives between the Conservatives and the Neo-Conservatives and the Libertarians between the Social and the Economic Libertarians.

Problem is except for social Libertarians they will vote for a Romney over an Obama every single time. No matter how Mitt Romney their Mitt Romney is they will never support an Obama even if he is more conservative in some ways than their Mitt Romney is.

[Block]

I wasn't aware that the GOP is one homogeneous political party with no dissenters from their own ranks.

Really? Where have you been since 1996?

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

Jesus' second coming and berating of the GOP?

Seriously, I think it would take a loss far greater than this.

This. The GOP really didn't do that badly this election cycle. Yes, Obama won a decisive electoral victory over Mitt Romney. Then again, the vote margins were substantially smaller than they were in 2008, the hurricane obliterated any last-stretch traction the Romney campaign was developing, and Romney did this well in spite of running a Presidential campaign that insisted on hamstringing itself at every turn.

The Democrats slightly widened their majority in the Senate, but it's nowhere near strong enough to stop the GOP from shutting that whole thing down at their leisure. The Democrats slightly increased the size of their minority in the House, but not nearly enough to shut that asshole Boehner's pie-hole. The only thing that realistically holds Boehner back are the 2014 reelection campaigns of the members of his caucus.

On top of that, the GOP now holds 30 governor's mansions.

To this effect, the GOP can dictate what Obama hopes to accomplish in his second term. Which is why his goals are ... deficit reduction and immigration reform. Boehner has already stated that he views the 2012 election results as a mandate to not raise taxes on wealthier Americans (except under very special circumstances where 'entitlements' must be cut and the tax code must be "reformed" to "close loopholes.") So ... potential shit sandwich there for Obama. And, immigration reform of the sort many Hispanic voters are hoping for is probably a non-starter. While Hispanics are a rising force in the GOP, the GOP is still the party of old, terrified, white people.

So the GOP recipe for success is simple ... strike the right balance of making Obama eat shit sandwiches and not overdoing it to the point where they get their asses thrown out of the House in 2014. Make some small gesture toward immigration reform on one hand, while working on getting the core GOP economic and social message to Hispanic voters with the other; and then put some young, rising Hispanic GOP star like Marco Rubio, or a Republican viewed as in-tune with the ideal of an inclusive GOP like Jeb Bush at the top of the ticket in 2016.

None of that requires a serious retooling of the GOP's policies, beyond a slight softening of their stance on immigration (but not too soft, since they are still the party of old, terrified, white people . . . even though white voters will make up an even smaller slice of the voting pie than they did this year.) The only thing that will get them do any soul searching is, as you said, a thorough reaming in 2014, followed by an epic landslide loss in 2016.

[Zinegata]

So what does it take for the GOP to consider their political stance and adopt a more center-right policy?

Get a truly batshit insane candidate as their 2016 nominee, and watch as he / she is utterly crushed by something like a 70-30 margin in the election. Let's see them try to double down after that kind of fiasco.

Otherwise, the Republicans ARE overdue for yet another major party split. They haven't had one since Theodore Roosvelt.

[Sea Skimmer]

They'll have to loose control of the house before they change, and I don't think that going to happen until the demographics of the US shift considerably further to the old-minority axis, maybe by 2020. Until then they'll have enough power if only via obstructionism to feel content. Its also totally possible that the second term of Obama is going to go badly because of unending fiscal-economic problems that would almost surely see a republican return to the white house next time .

[Alferd Packer]

meh. as the younger generation age and the minorities get richer they'll shift to the right too.

That's actually a myth. Your political leanings are developed and set in your twenties and, for most people, do not change. Rather, what can happen is that your position relative to those around you shifts rightward, as the population on the whole becomes more liberal. Your individual positions, however, generally remain the same.

[Aaron MkII]

Huh, I didn't start becoming liberal until I got fried at 21, before I was pretty conservative for a Canadian. Pro Israel, anti gay, etc.

I wonder if the brain injury prompted a change or if I just realized i was a fucking asshole. But I've definitely become more liberal as I age, to the point where I might be left of the NDP now.

[Crossroads Inc.]

meh. as the younger generation age and the minorities get richer they'll shift to the right too.

That's actually a myth. Your political leanings are developed and set in your twenties and, for most people, do not change. Rather, what can happen is that your position relative to those around you shifts rightward, as the population on the whole becomes more liberal. Your individual positions, however, generally remain the same.

Exactly correct, the Myth of saying: "People are Liberal when they are young, then they grow conservative when they get old" is present because for the past 50 years that has been true, but only in terms of the older population and the baby boomers. Most of the current "Old" were peopel who grew up as conservative, went through the 60's and 70's and became activists, but then settled down and went back to being conservatives.

However the new "aging" population is by and large a group that comes from far more progressive households. They may identify as "conservative" but their beliefs are already radically different from those of just 20 years ago.

[madd0ct0r]

conceeded. Never thought of it that way.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Not to post so soon after my last... But I was reading a rather well done report about how "demographic shifts working against Republicans" and what needed to be doen to 'Reach Out' to minorities...

The comments in the report tell you everything you need to know about the mindset of the Far Right and just why their "Core Voters" have no interest in any form of reaching out:

CNN Exit polls showed the White vote split 59-39 for Romney, Hispanic 71-27 and Black 93-7 for Obama. If White voters voted for Republicans like Hispanics and Blacks vote for Democrats, Republicans would win easily. Similarly if Black and Hispanic voters, voted like the White vote for Republicans, Republicans would win easily as well. It would seem that the Minority voters, despite Obama's record, voted with a fellow minority. Democrats might have boxed themselves in regarding the ethnicity of their candidates, as they might lose many of these minority voters if they put a white candidate for President in 2016. You think minorities will pull for Biden as passionately as they did for Obama?

What this article boils down to in its most basic premise is that it accuses minorities, be it black, Hispanic, Asian or any other group you want to pigeon hole of being against balanced budgets, rule of law, freedom of religion and individual liberty...the top planks in the GOP platform.

Sorry, but that left-wing clap trap is insulting to all. Those planks are not white, they are not black Hispanic or Asian, they span all races. In order for this "changing demographic" to be even remotely probable, you must reject freedom itself.

I'm sick of the term "angry white men." As if white men shouldn't be angry. By and large, we're the ones getting up to work every day, supporting our families and through our tax dollars pay for this entitlement society.
If we need to support affirmative action, erase the border and propose amnesty just to attract "minority" voters then this country is already lost.
I'll go fishing. Find some other "angry" group to exploit

The comments say it all... Why should we need to change anything? Or stands and views are perfect! how could someone NOT Support our policy? Far better to just go after more White voters then pander to those silly minorities!

[Eframepilot]

Republicans might start reconsidering their position after President Hillary Clinton's reelection in 2020. But I doubt it.

[CaptJodan]

As I think was suggested earlier in the thread, one can't ignore the fact that the GOP doesn't operate in a vacuum. Regardless of their insane policies, if Obama can't turn the economy around in the next 4 years to a jobless rate that is more acceptable to Americans, the American people will likely ignore the social issues on the next major election in favor of "we just need something new, anything new". Hillary would have a good chance against anyone I see them putting up, but it would be a lot harder if there hasn't been a successful recovery.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

Republicans might start reconsidering their position after President Hillary Clinton's reelection in 2020. But I doubt it.

Would Hillary Clinton even be likely to run in 2016? I mean, by 2016, she's going to be 69-70 years old. I could've seen her running this year if Obama's first term had been a complete clusterfuck and he had no hope of winning the nomination ... but in four years a President-elect Clinton will as old as Ronald Reagan was when he first took office.

[Sea Skimmer]

I can't see Hillary running, being Secretary of State is an excellent way to mentally burn someone out of politics, even if she doesn't stick around for more then a few months of Obama's second term which has been indicated before.

[Eframepilot]

Would Hillary Clinton even be likely to run in 2016? I mean, by 2016, she's going to be 69-70 years old. I could've seen her running this year if Obama's first term had been a complete clusterfuck and he had no hope of winning the nomination ... but in four years a President-elect Clinton will as old as Ronald Reagan was when he first took office.

That just makes Reagan a precedent for her. Also women generally age more slowly than men.

But the main reason that I think she'll run is that she is already an overwhelming favorite for the nomination. In a new poll, she was favored by 58% of the Iowa caucus vote (yeah, I know, waaaay too early...). She's the most popular politician in America at the moment and she has ties to both Bill and Obama that both link her to the best parts of their presidencies (Clinton's prosperity, Obama's foreign policy) and insulate her from the worst (Bill's infidelity, Obama's weak economy). She can run as the one to continue the success of the Clinton and Obama administrations after the disastrous Bush interlude. And she has experience in the hardest fought primary campaign in recent history.

Besides, Biden wants to run and he's even older. Hillary's age isn't an obstacle. It's just whether or not she wants to go through the whole hellish process again. If I was grouping possible 2016 candidates into tiers, Hillary would be the sole zeroth tier possible candidate.