Inspire Political Discourse

The Changing Face of the G.O.P. as Infighting Rules - Part I

It's now verging on two weeks since we elected Barack Obama as our 44th president in an historic election.

The daily back and forth, engendered by the unique aspects of this particular election, is no more. And all of the excitement is gone with it.

But wait, the "eat each other" attitude of the GOP as they rehash their losses and lay the blame hither and yon, is quite entertaining, and worthy of a few good posts, at the least.

The infighting amongst members of the G.O.P. is not solely because they lost this election after eight long years of bad behavior, but rather, it is about an essential split in the Republican party, characterized by conservatives, genuine conservatives in the manner of Christopher T. Buckley and Christopher Hitchens, going blue, en masse, because of some very fundamental differences that were irresolvable.

Since then we have learned much about the changes occurring in the G.O.P., including the following:

>>Many of the wealthiest members of the G.O.P., a group that has always been solidly Republican, went blue in 2008, in a huge swing of 34%.

>>A large number of the most notable Republicans, or the Republican elite, publicly endorsed Barack Obama. Many others in this same group, kept silent, but did not endorse John McCain, while many others still, publicly criticized McCain, but did not publicly endorse Obama. One of these, former Michigan governor, William Milliken, has since publicly acknowledged that he voted for Barack Obama. Milliken had previously endorsed Senator McCain during the primaries.

>>The G.O.P lost to the Democrats in every region of the country by double digits except the South, where they won by less than double digits (9 pts). | Source

Part Two to follow in the next week or so.

RELATED - RECENT POST

>Solidarity With Prop 8 Protesters
>Obama Offers Clinton Cabinet Position as Secretary of State
>It's Been Confirmed That Hillary Clinton Met With Obama Yesterday - Will She be the New Secretary of State?
>Sarah Palin in Desperate Need of an English Class.....or Three
>Palin Still Matters
>Palin and Rachel Maddow on Bloggers in Pajamas
>Op-Ed: Prop 8 Unconstitutional

On Sarah Palin - Intolerance is Not a Quality to be Admired in Anyone, Much Less in a Public Servant

64% of Republicans would like to see Palin run for president in 2012. WHY??

Look, let's face it. Sarah Palin is many things, but intelligent, dedicated to the people she serves, fiscally conservative, ethical, competent, tolerant and truthful she is not.

Yet more from NEWSWEEK, via the Huffington Post. A minor thing, perhaps, but the intolerance revealed by her behavior would be frightening if she were governing more than a state with a small population. From the NEWSWEEK issue dated November 17:

The day of the third debate, Palin refused to go onstage with New Hampshire GOP Sen. John Sununu and Jeb Bradley, a New Hampshire congressman running for the Senate, because they were pro-choice and because Bradley opposed drilling in Alaska. The McCain campaign ordered her onstage at the next campaign stop, but she refused to acknowledge the two Republican candidates standing behind her.

And a bit of humor re Palin, from Gail Collins at the NYT:

The Republicans are being way more nasty to Sarah Palin than the Democrats are to Lieberman. They’ve been portraying her as both a shopaholic and a woman who walks around in nothing but a bath towel, a hillbilly who’s also a prima donna. The leakathon climaxed this week when Fox News’s Carl Cameron announced that Palin did not know that Africa was a continent.

RELATED POSTS

>More on the Sarah Palin Wardrobe Flap
>A Picture of the Real Sarah Palin Emerges and Yes, She is As Bad As We Thought She Was
>Newsweek Outs Sarah Palin Regarding Her Shopping Spree
>Senator Palin???