The Looming GOP Civil War -- Whether Romney Wins or Not

I have repeatedly argued that in my view - especially as a former GOP activist and City Committee member - that the Republican Party is committing a slow form of political suicide.  I continue to believe that my prediction will prove accurate.  My only disappointment is that the suicide isn't happening more quickly because I truly view today's GOP as a form of toxic cancer on the nation.  It is a political party that panders to the worse bigots, racists and extremists who in order to enhance their own power and/or financial well being.  Getting back to my premise that the GOP is committing a form of suicide, a piece in Politico looks at the civil war that is fast approaching in the GOP regardless whether or not Romney/Ryan win tomorrow.  Even the Palmetto Queen, Senator Lindsey Graham seems to share my analysis.  Here are some excerpts:

The scene in this Cincinnati suburb also set the stage for the party’s coming inner struggle to define itself no matter this cycle’s outcome.  A cadre of young and diverse Republican officials took the stage to speak before Romney. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte each made the case for their nominee and offered a reminder of the strength of the GOP’s bench.  But they did so before a crowd that was nearly all-white and their appearances were sandwiched in between slashing speeches from a familiar roster of older white males . . .

Regardless of whether Romney wins or loses, Republicans must move to confront its demographic crisis. The GOP coalition is undergirded by a shrinking population of older white conservative men from the countryside, while the Democrats rely on an ascendant bloc of minorities, moderate women and culturally tolerant young voters in cities and suburbs. This is why, in every election, since 1992, Democrats have either won the White House or fallen a single state short of the presidency.

“If we lose this election there is only one explanation — demographics,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).  , , , But Republicans are divided on the way forward. Its base is growing more conservative, nominating and at times electing purists while the country is becoming more center than center-right.

This split will loom over the GOP for the next few years whether Romney is in the White House or on the beaches of La Jolla. If he becomes the 45th president in January, Romney will have to tread carefully as he grapples with a conservative-dominated Republican House, a Senate GOP increasingly divided between old bulls and younger true believers and thousands of party activists who opposed him in two presidential primaries.   .  .  .  .  A Romney loss would mean the same internal issues would come to the fore more quickly and explosively but with no clear leader at the top of the party.

“If I hear anybody say it was because Romney wasn’t conservative enough I’m going to go nuts,” said Graham. “We’re not losing 95 percent of African-Americans and two-thirds of Hispanics and voters under 30 because we’re not being hard-ass enough.”  Of the party’s reliance on a shrinking pool of white men, one former top George W. Bush official said: “We’re in a demographic boa constrictor and it gets tighter every single election.”

There is much more to the piece, but you get the drift.  At some point the GOP needs to jettison the Christofascists and the Tea Party extremists or else the party will cease to exist as a national party.  And, if that happens, it will have been all self-inflicted.