The Republican Party of 2012 is a shell of its old self, and has allowed itself to move out of the mainstream of American politics based on the extremism of religious zealots, greedy capitalists, and neoconservatives who believe American power must be waged everywhere no matter what the cost to the American economy.
The problem for the GOP is that the nation has changed so much from what it was, and the younger generation is alienated from these trends.
The younger generation is alienated from organized traditional religion that subjugates women.
The younger generation is alienated by the abuses of the wealthy, and are concerned what their future is in an economy that has decimated the middle class, and caused the loss of hope in the “American dream”.
The younger generation is alienated from the war machine mentality of neoconservatives and the Pentagon, which thinks that military force all over the globe is the only answer to world problems, and they want America focusing on its internal problems, rather than being a crusader all over the world, as they see American power as “imperialistic”.
The GOP is losing women, African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos, college graduates, those under 35, the struggling middle class, most major metropolitan areas, and the coastlines with large electoral vote states.
All they can attract in majority numbers are Christian and other religious fundamentalists, blue collar whites who have not attended college, the wealthy top two percent of the population, and the military oriented hawkish foreign policy advocates.
The Republican Party is losing the future in a nation more socially moderate, believing in economic opportunity, and wishing for more direct democracy by the masses, instead of all power in the hands of a powerful wealthy elite.
In other words, the nation is more progressive than conservatives and Republicans want to believe!
The Republicans have devolved into such issue necrophiliacs lately. They lost big on the living, breathing issues of the day, including massive unemployment, knowing that their trickledown policies have failed horribly, so they try to distract us by making love to the corpses of long dead issues: abortion, contraception and … get this … pornography, of all things! That last one is wannabe Ayatollah Rick Santorum’s latest love.
Republicans are doing well with the Upper middle class. In fact most blue collar people don’t vote. In Texas and even in Democratic Ca Republicans won better among upper middle c;lass like those out of Dallas and Houston and in Orange and San Diego where whites are more upper middle class. The left has brought the lie of the Right. Most tea party folks are upper middle class best business people not blue collar whites from poor areas of West Virginia.
I think there is a large segment of the population that you are not accounting for. Even though you mention the religious zealots in your piece, I think the Christian extremist element needs a closer look in relation to your argument. If I was more accomplished at typing on an iPhone, I would launch into a full dissertation outlining all the different groups that could theoretically band together, but I’ll just say from the “Jesus camp” crowd to the Michigan (and other) armed militias, to the southern baptists, Westboro types and the New Apostolic Reformation, I am of the mind that an organized “threat” if you will, is much more real to an open, free and secular America than many would want to believe.
Thanks for your time and interesting thoughts!
Regards, Paul