Republican pollster Whit Ayres has described the GOP as having “just entered the wilderness,” according to Politico.
“We’re going to wander around there for a little while before coming back stronger than ever,” Ayres continues.
For my part, I’m not so sure about that “stronger than ever” bit. Apparently, neither is anyone else. A reader poll attached to the article concludes that 55% believe the Republicans will lose more Senate seats in the 2010 election, with 38% believing they will gain seats and 7% predicting no change.
In the wake of a damning failure on the part of the new RNC Chairman Michael Steele to apply the party’s principles to “urban-suburban hip-hop settings” with an “off the hook” public relations campaign, several have moved to become the face of the Republican party. Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal’s response to President Obama’s joint address to Congress was widely panned as reminiscent of 30 Rock’s Kenneth the Page, and despite their best efforts John Boehner and Eric Cantor have not succeeded in positioning themselves as anything besides obstructionists in the public eye.
Filling the abysmal leadership void, radio host Rush Limbaugh has been elevated by many on both the right and the left as the de facto head of the conservative movement, if not the Republican party. Michael Steele is just the latest in a string of Republican party members who have rapidly issued public apologies and retractions after make statements critical of Limbaugh. Democratic strategists have seized the opportunity to call out Mr. Limbaugh publicly, drawing public attention to repeated statements that he hopes President Obama will fail and painting Rush as the party’s intellectual leader.
Cue Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House who was removed from power 15 years ago in the wake of a widely unpopular attempt to remove President Clinton from office. Not having served in public office for over a decade hasn’t stopped Gingrich from trying to position himself as the intellectual head of the party, and speculating about a run for the presidency in 2012. Gingrich’s Republican Revolution and Contract with America are seen by some as the framework on which to build an opposition to Obama. It remains to be seen if the same ideas and strategies used by the face of the Republican opposition in the 1990’s will gain any traction in 2010 or 2012, but early indicators are not good.
While both parties in Congress have seen substantial improvements in their approval numbers since late February, the Republicans in the House and Senate find themselves opposing a president whose numbers continue to rise. Newsweek’s latest poll shows Obama’s approval rating at 72%, while 58% of all respondents say they do not have the “impression that Republicans who have opposed Barack Obama’s economic proposals have a plan of their own for turning the economy around”, with even 42% of the Republican respondents saying the opposition has no plan of its own.
As the GOP fights to regain intellectual legitimacy and groom a strong 2012 contender, Sarah Palin is rearing her head and coming into the air space over the lower 48, attracting what remains of the GOP’s base.
I hope these guys brought knapsacks, because it looks like they’re going to be wandering the wilderness for a long, long time to come.
4 Responses
[...] a political party nominates a election loser, they spend a little time reflecting. When a political party nominates an election winner who turns out to be an epic failure, they [...]
Posted on March 13th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
If the wilderness is repeating the same failed tactics, ideologies and Dem bashing…then yeah, they’re there! The poll’s numbers are so high, that it can not possibly be an all democratic opinion. Some Republicans must be worried at how religiously extreme their party has become. There are a lot of rich Atheists, Jews, Hindis, etc. that are in the Republican party. When Christian rhetoric amongst the lack of actual political change becomes the only thing going for the Republican party, not only will they lose new voters, but even a good chunk of Republicans as well.
I personally would have to raise an eyebrow to a “new” Republican party, unless they change dramatically(not likely) or do a coup and militarily take over America(more likely, but still very much not likely). That being said if they did come out with something new and make me go hmm, I’d give them a golf clap! LOL! But when Rush Limbaugh is your “leader”…get the Vicodin Republicans, you’re going to need it!!!
Posted on March 14th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Rush Limbaugh is to the far-right what Charles Coughlin was in the 1930s…
There was an unsuccessful plot for a military coup against FDR
http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/Coup.htm
Cheney has people still in the government, sympathetic to his twisted policies.
http://www.minnpost.com/ericblackblog/2009/04/01/7800/seymour_hersh_cheney_left_allies_behind_in_national_security_posts_and_may_still_influence_events
History repeats itself…
Posted on April 6th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
[...] themselves bereft of any new ideas or politically-savvy leadership, the conservative movement is now attempting to undermine President Obama’s post-partisan [...]
Posted on April 12th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
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