Saturday, May 21, 2011

Is the GOP Trying to Rein In the Frankenstein Monster it Created?

Sometimes looking only at short term gain and expediency sets the stage for disaster in the longer view. A case in point? The Republican Party which first sold its soul to the Christofascists of the religious right - turning the GOP into a quasi-sectarian party in the longer run - and then, not have learned from its prior round of putting short term gain ahead of the party's long term future, brokered a deal with the Tea Party which now has shown itself to be an uncontrollable Frankenstein monster. One would thing that anyone with a shred of intelligence would have realized that embracing ignorance and a element of society absolutely untethered from reality might not be such a great idea. But not so with the GOP which now faced with the problem of finding a 2012 presidential nominee who might have a real chance at victory. The problem is that the party base has become so extreme that anyone with a chance of winning in the general election is unlikely to get the support of the Kool-Aid drinkers of the Christian Taliban and the Tea Party (the two are often much the same in terms of their insanity and religious extremism). Huffington Post has a piece that looks at the GOP's self created problem. Here are highlights:
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DES MOINES, Iowa — Some leading Republicans are trying to entice a more established candidate to jump into the presidential race, a courtship that's aggravating tensions between tea partyers and the GOP's traditional business wing, a deep-pocketed source of financial support in the campaign.
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The behind-the-scenes efforts have been taken as a snub by some tea party organizers who favor the anti-establishment messages of Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, businessman Herman Cain and Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who are in the race or are considering it. New contenders could undermine their chances for donors and for success.
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"It's extremely upsetting to hear that the establishment is courting their own candidate when Michele Bachmann, the gold standard, has been in the fight, bucking the establishment that got us in this mess," said Katrina Pierson, a Dallas tea party leader and emerging national figure for the movement.
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The 2012 Republican field is wide open. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is considered the closest to a front-runner, but his support for his state's health care plan has alienated some conservatives. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is not widely known.
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Bachmann has generated enthusiastic responses from tea party activists in Iowa, where the GOP nominating caucuses are set to begin the 2012 run to the nomination. She said the search for a more traditional candidate could turn off some newly engaged conservative voters, whom the GOP needs to defeat Obama.
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A group of Iowa Republican donors plans to meet with Christie in New Jersey later in May to try to persuade him to enter the race. The first-term governor, who has attracted national attention as an aggressive budget-cutter, has ruled out running. Daniels, formerly a former business executive and White House budget director, plans to announce his plans in the next few weeks. [Jeb] Bush has said he isn't considering a campaign.

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