Quote:
Originally Posted by 9876543210
scoundrel,
I realize it must sound preposterous to even think about the demise of the Republicans but, from watching their actions prior to and since the election, I'm beginning to think they may not be able to recover.
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It is not preposterous. The Republicans were originally created out of a massive schism in the former American Whig party over slavery. Slavery is a defunct issue today, but tension between conflicting regional interests is alive and well. The religious right are strongest in the South and South-West states, excluding California. But in places like Ohio, California, key swing states, the totemic God-botherer positions on abortion, contraception, treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, the classic banners of mean-spirited social repression, play badly, as Todd Akin discovered. Away from Florida and the heartland of anti-Castro expatriates, the US blockade of Cuba doesn't impress the voters. Anti-immigration stances are a very double edged sword, even in bedrock Republican voter groups and they don't help candidates tryingto appeal to the centre ground. What happened in the 1850s could happen again; a schism based on regional interests. At the moment, I don't see what the touchstone issue might be which would create the fracture.