SF Chronicle: Can Republicans escape their extremists?

Can Republicans escape their extremists?
E.J. Dionne Jr.
Friday, July 31, 2009

Things are looking up for the Republicans, relatively speaking. President Obama's poll numbers have dipped, GOP recruitment for the 2010 elections is going better than expected, and the heath care battle has been rough on the Democrats.

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There's just one problem: The country still doesn't like Republicans.

A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll last week captured the public's mixed verdict. The headlines focused on growing doubts about Obama's health care plan and the drop in his approval rating, from 60 percent in February to 53 percent now.

But the same poll found that while Democrats as a party had a net positive rating of five points (42 percent positive to 37 percent negative), the GOP faced a 13-point deficit. Only 28 percent rated the Republicans positively; 41 percent rated them negatively.

Perhaps this has something to do with how few positive things Republicans have to say. As a result, the party is being defined by extremist voices who have faced little push-back from its leaders.

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Republican these days. And Dionne's right that the crazies have taken over the GOP.

They need to toss the Glenn Beck demographic overboard, and they can't now because it's too large a part of their Party, and get back to a Lincoln demographic, which is going to be a lot easier said than done given that the birthers and the tea baggers and the racists are running the show.

The crazier the remaining repubs get, the less likely moderate folks will join up with them.

Really their only hope is to get a few strong voices denouncing the crazy crap and at the same time putting forward some new ideas. But repubs only rehash the old stuff, even in the face of catastrophic failure of their own policies (like with the economic collapse).

of their faces, but the Republicans don't seem to be able to see them.

If the looked a bit harder, they might stand a chance at being part of some historic problem-solving.

As it stands now, though, I think they'll have to wander in the wilderness some time before returning to a viable party. They're behaving like brats and thieves and fools, and voters are increasingly treating them as such.

Which is ok by me!

Otherwise the majority gets split over 2 parties and the one that fewer people want, actually wins. Recall Ralph Nadar and Al Gore.

How can Republicans escape their extremists when the only Republicans left ARE the extremists?

Back in the days of Dubya, the Repubs just LOVED those crazies.

Now they're treating the poor nutballs like last year's discarded mistress.

tsk tsk....