Bottom line is we have a bunch of sore losers who are fine when their faction wins. The rest of us are supposed to just fall into line, and we have. But when they lose, it is all the drama, "this is not my republican party", blah blah blah. Yeah, well too bad.
In fact, they do have a point. Historically the republican party, the party of Lincoln after all, was a regional party that was progressive on social issues and corporatist on economic ones. It had its base in the northeast, new england and mid west. This was the party of the Rockefellers, the Lodges, the Prescott Bushes, patrician country clubbers who appealed to those who didn't like the blue collar, southern-focused democrats. They were a minority party, and only won the presidency in odd circumstances, like when they ran war hero Ike.
The ascendancy of Goldwater, Nixon and Reagan, all loathed by the party establishment and media, changed all that in a big way. Suddenly the republicans were a majority party that attracted working class whites in huge numbers, and the democrats leftward lurch only strengthened that trend. It took a descendant of the country clubbers, George Bush, to pretty much destroy that coalition and tarnish the party's brand.
We are at an inflection point. The Trump voters are up for grabs. They could vote for a Jim Webb democrat or for a Trump republican. Maybe it destroys the republican party, maybe the democrats become more centrist and go back to their own roots as the party of the working class and not a coalition of radical activist groups.
In fact, they do have a point. Historically the republican party, the party of Lincoln after all, was a regional party that was progressive on social issues and corporatist on economic ones. It had its base in the northeast, new england and mid west. This was the party of the Rockefellers, the Lodges, the Prescott Bushes, patrician country clubbers who appealed to those who didn't like the blue collar, southern-focused democrats. They were a minority party, and only won the presidency in odd circumstances, like when they ran war hero Ike.
The ascendancy of Goldwater, Nixon and Reagan, all loathed by the party establishment and media, changed all that in a big way. Suddenly the republicans were a majority party that attracted working class whites in huge numbers, and the democrats leftward lurch only strengthened that trend. It took a descendant of the country clubbers, George Bush, to pretty much destroy that coalition and tarnish the party's brand.
We are at an inflection point. The Trump voters are up for grabs. They could vote for a Jim Webb democrat or for a Trump republican. Maybe it destroys the republican party, maybe the democrats become more centrist and go back to their own roots as the party of the working class and not a coalition of radical activist groups.