Thursday, July 23, 2009

Big talk from little men

When I imagine the typical Republican voter based on what I've read, I picture a white person on the north end of middle age with a moderate income, who loves guns and that old-time religion, but isn't too crazy about homosexuals and Mexicans who speak only Spanish. I'm not saying all Republican voters fit that profile, but if you took those who do out of the picture, the ones left would be a tiny minority.

To be a Republican in 21st century America is to be radically conservative and reactionary. Being old, a lot of Republicans look back fondly on the good old days. I know they do since I'm old myself.


It's not exactly a news bulletin that Republicans are having difficulty coping with that witch doctor in the White House, and being generally insignificant in terms of political influence. The Blue Dog Democrats are getting the publicity that Repubs think should be theirs. So I'm not surprised to see all these GOP Senators reading from the same script this week. Living in the past as they do, they're thinking back to the Clinton years, 1992-1993, and the failure of Bill and Hillary's health care plan, followed by the contract on America and the Newt Gingrich revolution in 1994. Okay, maybe things have changed a little in sixteen years. Don't tell that to a waste of oxygen like Oklahoma's James Inhofe. He's the latest one out there predicting the end of Obama if health care reform fails. Hell, it worked once. Why not again ?

I'll make a prediction of my own. Let's assume health care reform goes in the tank, but the Democrats hold the majority in the House and Senate after the 2010 mid-term election and Obama wins again in 2012. If things shake out that way, I believe the Republican Party will be finished in its present form, and will be forced to ditch the Limbaugh / Palin / Joe the Plumber image if it wants to be a player again.

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