The Bi-Polar Republican Party

When I exited the Republican Party roughly a decade ago, the majority of the party members still valued facts, rationality and the best interests of the country were the first priority. True, the Christian Right was creeping in but rational moderates held control and the what I now call Christianists were viewed as the crazy relative best kept out of sight. Much has changed and the power and insanity of the Christianists has soared while many moderates have fled and now see themselves as independents or in some cases Democrats. The GOP simply came to be to extreme and down right nasty and hate driven. There are still some sane people who have remained in the GOP and the Washington Post looks at the struggle for ultimate control between the two factions in the GOP and how it played out in Iowa. Here are some highlights:

Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum wound up in a virtual tie in the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday. And they did it from extremely different bases of support.

While Santorum relied on very conservative voters, born-again Christians, and social and moral conservatives, Romney relied on voters who were most concerned about the economy, who just want to beat President Obama, and those who don’t identify as born-agains. And the difference, in almost every case, was stark

The good news for Romney is that the kind of support Santorum demonstrated is much more valuable in Iowa than in other states, and it may not translate into New Hampshire and beyond. (Think Mike Huckabee.) If Romney can continue to score large victories among those who see the economy as the top issue and just want to beat Obama, that’s probably better for him than being the candidate for true-believer conservatives and anti-abortion activists.

[T]he battle lines are certainly drawn for a Romney-versus-Santorum faceoff, if indeed that’s what we’re headed for. And they are very clear lines.

Long term if the portions of the GOP supporting Romney lose out to the Christianist elements supporting Santorum and others of his ilk, I believe it will lead to the death of the GOP as a viable political party. The older Christianists - who hate everyone who isn't just like them - are dying off and the younger generations are increasingly hostile to the Christianist message, especially its incessant attacks of LGBT citizens. We may be about to watch the first phase of a slow suicide by the GOP.