Those poor, poor Republicans . . . . .

[MrFun]

and I don't feel for them.

What's your take on this?

[SlowwHand]

My take, without reading, is that I don't stuff myself inside a label. Some people insist on sticking themselves inside one little label or another though.

Without further adieu, read on.

[Apocalypse]

You know, maybe with a Dem congress there will finally be less spending and gridlock finally.

[Elok]

Democratic congress? Well, I guess anything's possible, but the party's going to have to become a lot more competent by November. Honestly, I'm not sure that even I couldn't play politics better than some of them, and I'm mildly autistic. Buncha fricking morons. The way things are, the people who profit most from the Bush admin's screwups will almost certainly be....moderate Republicans.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Here's the key data:

By 49 to 42 percent, Americans trust Democrats more than Republicans to do a better job of handling Iraq.

Democrats also hold a six-percentage-point advantage over the GOP (49 percent to 43 percent) as the party most trusted to handle the economy. Their lead swells to double digits on such as issues as immigration (12 points), prescription drug benefits for the elderly (28 points), health care (32 points) and dealing with corruption in Washington (25 points).

The Dems are romping all over the GOP, even on issues that are traditionally GOP strength -- and they're doing this without having any coherent set of alternative policies.

The problem is, because of this, the Dems have no incentive to develop alternative policies; they could actually win while not standing for anything -- which would be preferable to more of the GOP, but not by much.

[OzzyKP]

Originally posted by Apocalypse
You know, maybe with a Dem congress there will finally be less spending and gridlock finally.

I think we hit the ideal balance after '94 with a Democrat for President and a Republican Congress. Lacking any dramatic realignment in America's politics I think that's the ideal situation.

Its clear that giving either party control of both congress and the white house is like letting the fox into the hen house. They just can't be trusted with that responsibility.

[DaShi]

The problem is that if the Dems do propose anything big, the Repubs will be on them like a junkyard dog on an alley cat. And the Repubs have proven to be much more effective on the offense. Anything the Dems propose will distract from the Repubs problems and put the Dems on the defensive.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by DaShi
The problem is that if the Dems do propose anything big, the Repubs will be on them like a junkyard dog on an alley cat. And the Repubs have proven to be much more effective on the offense. Anything the Dems propose will distract from the Repubs problems and put the Dems on the defensive.

Yep, and they know it. Thus the cycle of American politics continues:

Elect the GOP, because they're organized and have clear ideas, while the the Dems are disorganized and clueless.
Discover that the GOP's ideas are actually really, really bad, but that their organization is very good at steamrolling all objections.
Throw the bums out and elect the Dems.
Discover that the Dems really are disorganized and have no ideas.
Throw the bums out and elect the GOP.
Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

I keep thinking of that Simspons episode in which something (Stampy the elephant?) runs through both a Democratic and a GOP and convention. The Democratic convention features a banner that reads "We Can't Govern." The GOP convention featuers a banner that reads "We're Just Plain Evil."

Truest Simpson moment, ever.

[MrFun]

bump

[Elok]

Oh, I don't deny that America's sympathies are predominantly with the Democrats. They have been for a while now, this is just a high point. But do remember that we're talking about the Democratic party here. These people have a remarkable aptitude for screwing up what should have been a sure thing. Gore couldn't beat Bush by a clear margin, so for their next attempt they nominated Kerry, who's just Diet Gore. Guh.

I acknowledge that, as far as principles go, the Democrats appear to be in the right. But principles aren't enough. We have a president who, in addition to showing the mentality of a hormonally imbalanced Teletubby, has launched a sham war; driven gas prices up; sent spending through the roof; either condoned or allowed torture, illegal incarcerations, and unwarranted spying; proposed extra funding for manned missions to space during the aforementioned sham war; waged said sham war with stunning incompetence; and tried to sit on the stem cell issue to make it go away. And that's just for starters.

However, this has been going on for over four years now. During those four years, the Democrats have done an impressive job of sustaining an uninterrupted squeal of outrage, but I can't be the only one who's noticed that nothing has happened but squealing. After a certain period of time, one stops being horrified by the Republicans for putting this monster into office and starts being ashamed of the Democrats for their persistent inability to dethrone the second coming of Caligula.

I have faith in the Democrats. They've failed before, and I'm sure they can fail again if they just try hard enough. I'm not sure how exactly; perhaps all their senatorial challengers will confess a liking for twelve-year-old boys' bottoms in interviews three days before the 2006 elections. I don't know.

Me, I'm starting to think I should be a moderate Republican just by default. All I know about McCain is that he doesn't like pork or torture and does not appear to be a complete moron, but that right there puts him well in the lead by my estimation.

[AnnC]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly
The Dems are romping all over the GOP, even on issues that are traditionally GOP strength -- and they're doing this without having any coherent set of alternative policies.

The problem is, because of this, the Dems have no incentive to develop alternative policies; they could actually win while not standing for anything . . .

Precisely. Republicans have forfeited the political center and for the last several years, they've actively driven moderates out of their party.

So as long as Democrats refrain from offending centrists, they'll do just fine (and they know this).

[Patroklos]

So as long as Democrats refrain from offending centrists, they'll do just fine

Enter Hillary....

The B-dog would be a good move, so obviously he is out.

[DanS]

I wouldn't be surprised or dismayed if the GOP loses the House in this cycle. It would encourage a lot of the GOP dead wood to retire. But the Dems aren't strong at all, so the GOP wouldn't be out of power in the House for long.

[Velociryx]

If the Dems could figure out what they stood for other than "we're not Republicans," and maybe get a LEADER tossed in the mix someplace (and someone with a smidgeon of charisma might be helpful too), they could demolish the poor GoP.

Sadly, this does not appear to be in the cards.

-=Vel=-

[Odin]

Originally posted by AnnC

So as long as Democrats refrain from offending centrists, they'll do just fine (and they know this).

I dare you to go to Democratic Underground and say that, they'll start calling you "DLC-nut" "Repuke-lite" and "neocon enabler." There isn't much love among the part failthful towards moderates, and I'm afraid it will loose them the election.