Why isn't the GOP message sticking ?

Discussion in 'Political Opinions & Beliefs' started by Channe, Aug 8, 2013.

  1. Channe

    Channe Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I find them lacking the ability to persuade their side as much. I will never agree with most things the GOP believes in, but they seem to be losing the ability to even sway the independents these days. Branding problem, image problem, message problem, body odor problem - What has happened ?
     
  2. iJoeTime

    iJoeTime Banned

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    Its probably a lot of different things.. but what stands out is that most middle of the roaders can't associate with the far rights extreme personal hatred of Obama.
     
  3. Channe

    Channe Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    to pander to the fringe is so illogical - the vast, vast, majority of conservatives are like John McCain - not Eric Cantor or Paul Ryan.

    to be in power you have to keep the majority, not fight for the guy who thinks Obama is a Muslim /Communist.
     
  4. TristanPEJ

    TristanPEJ New Member

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    However, that was their strategy from 2008-2012. Now after they lost another election they have to do some soul searching. Unfortunately now there's a large tea party faction of their party they have to contend with.
     
  5. JoeSixpack

    JoeSixpack New Member

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    You can't have extremist points of view taking root in a national economic crisis.

    One side is offering hope and change, even though they are completely against it, and the other side is hoping 1/2 the population would just die so things will change.

    So the sheeple kind of tend to lean towards the promises rather than the death wish.
     
  6. Liberalis

    Liberalis Well-Known Member

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    What message?

    That's why.
     
  7. Bain

    Bain New Member

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    What is the message that is not sticking?
     
  8. Flintc

    Flintc New Member

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    Today, it's hard to say. McConnell boiled it down to its essence from 2008-2012: the Republican message was to get that N..,uh, whatever, out of the White House. Whatever it took. And they decided that voting unanimously against everything, even things they themselves proposed and supported, was the way to do it. It failed.

    Today, near as I can tell, the goal has shifted to doing everything possible to undercut, sabotage, stonewall, and otherwise discredit this presidency no matter what. Can Obamacare be improved? Sheesh, nearly ANY change would be an improvement. So what changes are the Republicans proposing? You know, something that would improve the program, or help the people, or clear up the confusion? Anything?

    I think this is the perception pretty much across the board. The Republicans stand for sheer vitriolic personal hatred. Fellow haters love it, most people are uncomfortable with it, but either way it's not a political vision or platform. So their focus now is to get control of the Senate so they can roll back and eliminate all that's been done that they couldn't block.

    In 2008, I favored Obama over Hillary because I felt Hillary might be a bit too rigid and inflexible. And maybe she would have been, but maybe Republicans would have tried to compromise, the visceral hatred wouldn't have slammed their minds into reverse. A two-party system is qualitatively different from a one-party one anti-party system.
     
  9. akphidelt2007

    akphidelt2007 New Member Past Donor

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    It definitely evolved quickly. During Bush's first 7 years the GOP was pretty quiet and business as usual. Then once the economy collapsed, people got all irritated and started blaming the government. And since this happened under a Repub president they then tried to quickly distance themselves with the emergence of the Tea Party. The economic collapse created a lot of fear, and when people fear something they start to get extreme. Then it spiraled out of control and now they have no way to turn back. They have to split up the party. Even Ronald Reagan would be a socialist under the current GOP.

    It's just amazing how quick it turned, but I guess losing $20 trillion wealth over a span of a year can do that to a country. Left the door wide open for the anti-government whack jobs. Now the government is at a standstill, the economy is at a standstill, and slowly but surely the normal GOPers are starting to actually confront their crazy base and the people that are injecting all this fear in to them. Like the Rand Paul's. Even Chris Christie came out and said this new thinking is dangerous! We'll see how it goes... but if the people on this forum continue to have a voice, the GOP is gonna be in a lot of trouble for a while!
     
  10. DonGlock26

    DonGlock26 New Member Past Donor

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    We don't like the POS in the White House, so being just a little less poopy isn't going well for the Rinos.

    Try selling "Less Poopy" than Obama to a non-koolaid drinker and watch the reaction.
     
  11. Colonel K

    Colonel K Well-Known Member

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    True "independents" are no more than ten per cent. Many who identify as such do so in front of friends neighbours or bosses, but vote the same way every election. The Republicans problem is that the Democrats take the vast majority of the minority vote and greater part the female vote too. The size of the minority grows 2% every presidential election. The Republicans take 60% of the older white vote, but that's shrinking. Romney polled the same numbers among whites as Reagan and the elder Bush. They won landslides, he lost. The demographics have changed. Repubs can still do well at the mid-terms because their mainly retired vote turns out, while the younger (and largely Democrat) vote is at work, or has other things to do.
     
  12. Flintc

    Flintc New Member

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    And there we have it. The party stands for visceral personal hatred. Not a particularly visionary platform.
     
  13. malignant

    malignant New Member

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    I especially like the "while the younger (and largely Democrat) vote is at work, or has other things to do" reason. They have enough time to vote every 4 years, but every 2 years is too burdening due to their work schedule? Please
     
  14. Brtblutwo

    Brtblutwo New Member

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    The Republican message has been out there for many years, and did stick.

    But the American people are sick of getting stuck. The average Americans have seen their incomes and lifestyles decay living the under the agenda of the "Republican message", and this has been going on since Reagan first screwed over 90% of the 99%.

    The old white men who vote only for Republicans spent decades voting against their own best interests, and the best interests of America as a whole. If the natural dying off of these old white men is all it takes to bring back the American Dream, let nature take its course.

    The nation and the world will be a better place.
     
  15. Johnny-C

    Johnny-C Well-Known Member

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    The problem with the GOP, is that they have (above all others) become corrupted by MONEY. They are serving their own interests (money/power) rather than the American people.

    Not to say that the Democrats are perfect (they aren't), but they are not exactly like (corrupt in the same ways or to the same degree) the Republicans.
     
  16. Alaska Slim

    Alaska Slim Active Member

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    They were breaking mostly for Romney last election, so I don't get your meaning.

    Also: list of famous Conservatives who were all once liberals.

    ... and I recently found out about this guy. Perhaps the longest round-trip to conservatism I have ever heard.
     
  17. Alaska Slim

    Alaska Slim Active Member

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    You can't change what is fundamentally flawed. The problem from the start has been a lack of Consumer discernment of their medical dollars, but not only does the ACA fail to address this, it seeks to prop the game up and keep it going.

    It favors a narrow range of plans over others, it ties the hands of innovators who were finally giving us an alternative from the 50 year-old fee-for-service model that's responsible for so much waste, and it guts the part of Medicare tht was savings costs, to replace it with one that will hurt the poor. It gives into the Government Rationalization, that the problem didn't lie in the 3 out of 4 medical dollars they already influenced, but dollar #4 that they did not.

    But really, if we get to brass tacks, lay all the cards down, and really soul search for the answer, how do you fix the ACA?... Turn it into HSAs. That was the right answer all along, and it was rejected because it was a Republican suggesting it who got commercials of himself throwing grannies off cliffs for his trouble.

    It didn't matter that his plan included a phase-out period for current Seniors, it didn't matter that a voucher system is essentially the same as what we have with Food stamps. It simply didn't align with Democrat motives, which saw average Joe as too stupid to make his own medical choices, so it had to be destroyed.
     
  18. Johnny-C

    Johnny-C Well-Known Member

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    The 'problem' is that we've allowed corporations to bias/game the economic system (and business)... making it virtually legal to RIP PEOPLE OFF.

    That is the problem (overall).
     
  19. johnmayo

    johnmayo New Member Past Donor

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    Obama cleaned house among the non working on government hand outs.
     
  20. Colonel K

    Colonel K Well-Known Member

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    It's only the retired white guys that are keeping the country going! [sarcasm off]
     
  21. Colonel K

    Colonel K Well-Known Member

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    It's well established that older voters are more likely to turn out.whatever the vote. The perception that their vote might influence change is more of a factor with younger voters, so yes, they'll turn out for a presidential election, but mid-terms....? Meh!
    The major problem a candidate of either party in the US faces is winning the primary. The House seats in particular are so gerrymandered as to virtually guarantee the win to the incumbent party.
     
  22. Alaska Slim

    Alaska Slim Active Member

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    And the ACA won't change that, it only allows the incumbent providers to continue to game the system for their own advantage, over their competitors.

    If we want the companies to stop inconsistently charging an arm and leg for procedures that aren't worth that, then price competition needs to be embraced. We need open pricing, perhaps the one good thing I can say the Administration (outside the ACA) at least tried at. But what we also need, is a consumer incentive to take advantage of lower prices where available. That's not going to happen in a system where people are chased away from high-deductible plans, and have whatever plans they do buy subsidized. Consumers need to feel as if, if not in fact, that they're spending their own money. Once that happens, more judicious medical spending habits will emerge, hospitals will compete, and prices will fall.
     
  23. TristanPEJ

    TristanPEJ New Member

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    If the GOP just reached out to the Hispanic community which is fairly conservative, would they really risk all of the bigots switching to the Democrats? The GOP could stand to anger its radical constituents because they no longer have to compete with southern democrats for the racist vote anymore. Or do they?
     
  24. Talon

    Talon Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    And why is there no coherent message?

    Identity crisis.
     
  25. Pred

    Pred Well-Known Member

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    Exactly, sort of like how Obama was all AGAINST gay marriage in 08, but turned it around later on, snicker....how convenient=) Everyone just changes their mind about something like that(yeah right) as soon as it proves to be politically beneficial, but Liberals don't care when its their side.

    The MSM has done an excellent job of vilifying Republicans and burring anything negative about Obama. Then when the main source of news for teens and college kids, Comedy Central, do everything in their power make anyone on the right seem evil, it is what it is. Liberals will get exactly what they've wanted, but they're going to HATE it once they really get it, because not all of them will be living behind big walls separating themselves from the masses.
     

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