Talkin Politics Without the Snark or Name Calling

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com


Without putting in my specific political beliefs, here's what I think is wrong with the Republican Party: They haven't yet grasped that the country is moving to the left.

Not left in the sense that we have a democrat in office, or a president who opposes war, and seems to favor gay-rights and bigger government, but left in global terms.

Ask anyone European what they think of American politics and what they'll tell you is that on the global stage, the US is the Mississippi of modern world. As liberal as Fox News may want you to believe the country now is, we are still the Mississippi of the G8.

With that being said, the Republicans have been trying to prevent this shift by trying to nail down their base at its most conservative extreme to prevent losing them. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened- they lost all of the "swing vote" centrists who could go either way and the supporters they were left with are somewhere between hardened believers in Christianity, and hardened disbelievers in evolution- hardly an accurate representation of our country. It's just difficult to have your party's intelligence taken seriously when 3 of 10 of the debaters at a Presidential Campaign Debate raised their hands when asked "Which of you do not believe in evolution?". Sen. Sam Brownback, Gov. Mike Huckabee, and Rep. Tom Tancredo, I'm looking in your direction.

For the RNC to think they need to trot out fundamentalists (what are those "fundamentals" anyway?) to try to salvage their base is awful strategy. What they should say is, "If you don't believe in evolution, 1) you are helplessly moronic, and, 2) you're gonna vote republican no matter what anyway, so don't expect any of us to propose legislature where we lie to our kids about evolution." If you don't believe in evolution, you will never vote deomocrat, so why cater to them?

George Clooney could go out with any fat chick in America, and everyone knows that- so why would he go on Oprah and pander to them?

While I agree with the frustration of the Republican party that they recent setbacks aren't the result of an inherently flawed party, but rather a current vacum of energizing leaders. But they can't keep trying new pundits out on weekly basis and hoping the public likes them. It reminds me of a Carrot Top routine- he stands up there, reaches into a huge chest, pulls something out, says some stuff, no one is amused then he says, "No? Ok, well about this thing right here...?" then the audience reacts apathetically to that as well. Between Sarah Palin, Joe the Plumber, Megan McCain, Glenn Beck, that chick on the view who is the non-ugly one, enough already guys. I get you don't have anyone that's hot at the moment, but you don't have keep trying new people out and hoping for the best.

You're right, as a party, to realize that Rush Limbaugh's vitriol has grown rude, petty, and tiresome and that Fox News' infotainment doesn't "reach across the aisle" in the living rooms of America, but don't keep trying out new insta-leaders on the fly like you have been, because it makes you look desperate. Just hang back against the ropes, take a few body blows for a few months while you formulate a game plan then come out swinging. If you keep parading around uneducated opponents of the separation of church and state like they're an elephant at an Indian wedding, people will never take you seriously when you actually DO have a plan and a galvanizing leader.

The country is moving to the left and your people that are farthest to the right are getting left behind. They better catch up, or they'll be left for good because this boat is too big to turn around and save them. Cut your losses and move forward before it's too late and you're joing your friends in the water, watching this ship sail away from you and out of sight forever.