…Then The Party Came To A Crashing Halt

Let me state the obvious in terms that Republicans can relate to. The GOP is losing market share and they have a bad brand. With a large field of Republican wannabe Presidents all trying to claim the mantle of Reagan, yet Pat Buchanan is on television saying that Republicans in DC are driving Reagan Republicans “straight back to the Democratic Party,” I’d say the GOP is in trouble. Couldn’t happen to a nicer group of folks.

I’ve always given credit to the Bush administration for being politically astute, but as is usually the case, any credit extended to this incompetent group may turn out to be too much. Bush is left with an approval rating consisting solely of his base, yet he has decided to take on immigration reform in such a way as to increase the number of immigrant workers coming into the country at a time when jobs are becoming more and more scarce. The question that immediately comes to mind is why?

As far as I can tell, the main objective of this administration has been to increase profits of the biggest corporations and the wealth of the richest Americans. Apparently, creating a permanent under underclass that will provide a continuous stream of low-wage workers for industry that has come to rely on it to maximize their profits is worth pissing off the last 28% of Americans still propping up the Bush Presidency.

George W. Bush has used fear mongering as a preferred method of gaining support for what would otherwise be unpopular policies, and it has a been pretty successful tactic thus far. I find it amusing that he is now caught off guard by the venom with which his most gullible victims are reacting to his, in their mind, completely incomprehensible stance on immigration. These people are amongst the last Americans still supporting the continued occupation of Iraq because they have been tricked into believing that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11, and they have bought into the threats that “if we leave Iraq now, they will follow us home.” Now that Bush has stirred up their fears that “the others” are coming to blow up our cities, it’s kind of difficult to get them to swallow the idea that letting in more “others” from across the border is a good idea. Oops.

In a related story, The RNC has fired all of their telephone fundraisers and closed its phone center. The RNC says it’s because of outdated equipment, but the fired workers tell a different story, they say that fundraising has dropped off significantly and the Party faithful are in full revolt over the immigration bill and are refusing to give money. Again, couldn’t happen to a nicer group of folks, not the fundraisers in the call center but rather the fear-mongering, self interested and greedy Republicans that have shaped policy for their own political and financial gain, the good of the country be damned.

Republican voters are disillusioned and unhappy with the slate of candidates they currently have to choose from. Fred Thompson is hoping to slide into the race and inspire the base in a way the current field has been unable to do. He’s an actor, so he may be able to schmooze his way into the nomination of his Party, but in the end, Republican voters will be as disappointed with him as they have been with the rest. It’s only a matter of time before the vast majority of voters who have ever leaned Republican will realize that the candidates aren’t the problem. The GOP and what it stands for has simply become outdated. What this country needs most right now is optimism, hope, innovation and real ideas to get us moving in the right direction so we can rejoin, and hopefully lead, the world again and that sure as hell isn’t going to come from the status quo Party lead by a bunch of old white guys with 20th century mindsets.

The Republican Party is all smoke and mirrors. Mitt Romney cooked the books in Massachusetts in order to make it look as if he turned a deficit into a surplus, but that can appear to happen when you overestimate the deficit, shift money from one place to another, don’t contribute to the “rainy day fund” (as mandated by Massachusetts law) and defer payments until after you leave office. Rudy Giuliani made a strategic blunder by placing the emergency command center in the one place in NYC that was most likely to be attacked (and did), yet somehow managed to make his walking through the rubble of his city to get there, appear brave rather than stupid. John McCain, a man who not long ago reportedly considered switching Parties, has positioned himself as the most radical neo-con of them all. Fred Thompson is being billed as the Bible belt’s golden boy, but what kind of paragon of Christian morality marries a woman young enough to be his grandchild?

The American people are tired of smoke and mirrors, fantastical thinking and policies based on wishful thinking. We’re looking for representation, not a false prophet. We’ve been saddled with one of those for the last six and a half years. No more throwbacks, we’re moving on.