November 20, 2013

Whatever happened to the "Republicans are committing suicide" meme?

It was all the rage back in September.

There was also "The death of the Republican Party."

82 comments:

Oso Negro said...

It all depends on who is writing the news, doesn't it?

CatherineM said...

If I had a nickel for everytime the GOP has been declared dead...

chickelit said...

Althouse: you left out "putting down the elephant. This time for good."

It was less of a suicide and more of an assassination fantasy.

It was more of a death wish than a death watch.

The Dems really can't live with Republicans; Republicans are the party of compromise.

n.n said...

It would appear that the poachers were caught in a trap of their own construction.

traditionalguy said...

Tea Party was a name that referred to Protestants of the Death Panels sneaking in under Obama and both of the parties in Congress to replace full coverages for the Baby Boomers.

Now at last people see what the Tea Party got mad about...lies, lies, lies, and more lies.

So the GOP with Tea Party Protestants on board is looking pretty good.

Jim said...

The ACA brought them back to life. Maybe you really CAN keep your Doctor.

Jim said...

The ACA brought them back to life. Maybe you really CAN keep your Doctor.

Michael The Magnificent said...

Oh, that's easy.

The lefties were too busy drinking their Kool-aid, demonizing anyone who stood in the way of their Obamacare program, and so convinced of their intellectual superiority to even consider that maybe, just maybe we extremely extreme extremist terrorist, anarchist, racist, knuckle dragging, extra chromosomed, low sloping foreheaded, heartless, rednecked, mass-murdering haters were right about Obamacare all along.

They're only quite now because they're busy figuring out how they can blame this all on Chimpy-McHitler-Bush.

Writ Small said...

Obamacare being a disaster does not retroactively make prior Republican strategy smart.

Bob R said...

I believe the Republicans were up against Wile E. Coyote, Super Genius. A horrible fate.

Drago said...

Writ Small: "Obamacare being a disaster does not retroactively make prior Republican strategy smart."

When the major purpose of the shutdown was the delay/repeal of obamacare disaster and that disaster then unfolded and continues to unfold before our eyes and pocketbooks it clearly mitigates what you might call less than fantastic political strategy and messaging.

How do we know that?

The dems numbers are cratering and they are scurrying about looking for an obamacare exit.

And this is before the truly massive disruption obamacare causes next year.

YoungHegelian said...

And if the 2014/2016 elections turn out to be disasters for the Democrats, the right-o-sphere will start to write the Democrats' obituary, too.

Both parties have large, die-hard constituencies, ideologically & financially entrenched for one party or the other. Neither party is going under in our lifetimes.

The Democrats' musings after 2008, 2012, & the shutdown were wishful thinking masquerading as political analysis. Pundits all too often forget: lot of trees = forest.

Bob R said...

@Writ Small - Extremism in opposition to Obamacare may be considered a vice, but not as much of one as it was a month ago.

The Godfather said...

Good shooting. Don't get cocky, kid.

Unknown said...

Those articles are always a combination of concern trolling and wishful thinking.

Lord knows everyone habitually advice from people who hate us and everything we stand for. Democrats are always looking to Republican writers to find out where their party is going wrong and what to do about it, aren't they?

MadisonMan said...

The Democratic Party came to their rescue, as always.

RecChief said...

what is interesting to me is the drumbeat of "sex crimes in teh military" it seems to have gotten louder and more consistent recently. I have no idea why. Could it be that since more civilians are being kind, some even deferential, to the military, the Democrats are worried about a Heinlein scenario?

Drago said...

MadisonMan said..."The Democratic Party came to their rescue, as always."

Yep.

This is likely to be one of the greatest political blunders of all time for it exposed the true intentions of the dems.

We know that it is a blunder of extreme magnitude since the latest journolist talking point is for "republicans to help pass some "fixes" on the margins to help make obamacare work better!!"

Once the smoke clears from all this in 2014/15/16 then the repubs will simply fumble the ball back to the dems.

I don't know how yet.

But they will.

Until then however, we will watch the growing pain as the people in this republic "get it good and hard" from the administration they voted into power, twice.

campy said...

I still believe they're dead, at the US senate and president levels at least.

Beorn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Beorn said...

We are experiencing the death spasm of either Liberalism/Progressivism, or the United States.

Liberalism/Progressivism and prosperity cannot coexist.

Richard Dolan said...

That was so last month. The new meme, equally silly, is that lefty liberalism is dead. Our political journalists seem intent on nominating one of the two parties to be today's Whigs, depending on who's up and who's down on any given day. But the Whigs failed because, when crises came, they stood for nothing, and so satisfied no one. Today's parties will last (both of them) because they have sorted themselves out. Despite all the positioning and focus-group-speak and "incorrect promises," the two parties still represent (imperfectly, to be sure) the two main currents in the American political tradition.

Anonymous said...

Aren't we on to Obama's kind of like JFK, let's revisit the assassination?

Or is it anything but what a mess O-care is?

Just spin the social justice/women's rights/multicultural wheel and there's always something new to talk about.

Mark said...

Wasn't there a Governor election in Virginia?

I know, it's inconvenient for the stupid meme.

Kirby Olson said...

Republicans are the party of realism. The Democrats want to kill realism.

tim in vermont said...

"I still believe they're dead, at the US senate and president levels at least."

OK...

Wince said...

Wouldn't it be interesting if the Republicans indeed cleaved into two parties -- the two major parties -- and the Democrats imploded into a fringe party, the MSNBC of political parties.

Drago said...

Mark: "I know, it's inconvenient for the stupid meme."

On the contrary. the story around the last 2 weeks of that election (as well as the relative strengths/weaknesses and total $$ spend of the candidates) is perfect for this topic.

Were you purposefully being dense, or does it just come naturally to you?

Drago said...

Kirby: "The Democrats want to kill realism."

Actually they are still trying to create the "new Soviet man".

It's been quite a long project.

Wince said...

Rather than a doomsday scenario, that cleave yet conquer outcome might be an attractive strategy for all right-of-center Republicans.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

The Democrat/liberal long game is so fraught with unintended consequences that it is certain that things won't turn out the way they hope. That doesn't mean it will turn out the way anyone else hopes either. In fact, I'm pretty sure we're screwed.

Mark said...

Drago, I am just pointing out that the idiotic stances on social issues will continue to drag the Republicans down.

The Democrats might be joining them in unpopularity, but the Virginia race was all about how people voted for a distasteful candidate because the other distasteful candidate's views on social issues.

Just because the democrats are also moving to the cellar doesn't mean the other side is climbing out of there.

George M. Spencer said...

Rand Paul.

I don't watch TV. I just saw him for the first on a video Drudge linked to.

He uses words like "consign" and "legerdemain." He speaks at length about Milan Kundera and James Otis. He wears a grey suit

Immediately following him — an ad for an internet service provider featuring that Wahlberg movie actor. He's dressed like a blue collar Irish guy from Southie. He sez things like, "Here in New Englun we tell it straight."

Rand Paul doesn't have a clue.

Chef Mojo said...

@Mark:

Yes. There was an election for governor in Virginia. The Democrat won. But a plurality voted against him. And this was after he was predicted to beat the Republican by at least 10 points.

Democrat analysts in Virginia are actually a bit disturbed by the narrow margin of victory, and how quickly Cuccinelli closed the gap once they threw on the switch for Obamacare.

Yes. It was a win for the Dems, but they should have taken it walking away on top of scandal ridden Republican administration. Instead, they were left gasping with a win of less than 2 points. This is nothing short of amazing with the voting power of Northern Virginia piled up against the Republican, given his totally SoCon rep.

Think an election in Texas where Wendy Davis loses by less than two points. Comes this close to bumping off a Republican candidate who's outspent her at least 15-1, while she's running firmly on a pro-choice platform in the middle of Jesus Country. Get the idea?

Watch Mark Warner shift way to the right in the next year. Time for him throw Obama under his own damn bus.

YoungHegelian said...

@mark,

The Democrats might be joining them in unpopularity, but the Virginia race was all about how people voted for a distasteful candidate because the other distasteful candidate's views on social issues.

Not true. Cuccinelli lost because he lost the Northern Virginia/DC suburbs & the Norfolk area who were both livid at the Republicans for the shutdown. Most folks don't realize that while the government employees have their lost wages made good, all the contractors, who outnumber GIS employees about 5 to 1 had to take it in their pocket books.

Cuccinelli also ran a lack luster campaign, was outspent about 4 to 1, and couldn't make the well-deserved "sleazeball" label stick on the Dems because he had a money scandal of his own.

Matter of fact, with all of his disadvantages, that Cuccinelli came as close as he did at the end was nothing short of an electoral miracle.

Michael K said...

"Drago, I am just pointing out that the idiotic stances on social issues will continue to drag the Republicans down.

The Democrats might be joining them in unpopularity, but the Virginia race was all about how people voted for a distasteful candidate because the other distasteful candidate's views on social issues."

In a way you are correct. The left is obsessed with social issues as the economy goes down the drain. If a candidate has enough money, as McAuliffe did, you can drown out any common sense. It helped that the GOP Beltway crowd stiffed Cucinelli. He was the first state AG to file suit against Ocare

My own daughter, who is a lefty, was worried a couple of weeks ago because some school district in Texas or someplace was teaching creationism. This was a huge issue to her.

Fortunately, unlike many on the left she retains logic and common sense. I asked her which was more important; creationism or the ability to read and do math? She agreed that reading was far more important.

I wouldn't write a recommendation to medical school for a 20 year old who didn't believe in evolution. A sixth grader ? Not so important.

Shouting Thomas said...

Drago, I am just pointing out that the idiotic stances on social issues will continue to drag the Republicans down.

I was in Poland shortly after the Soviets were expelled.

The Catholic Church is the only only institution that effectively and steadfastly fought to end the rein of the commies. On moral grounds.

I'll leave it at that. The issues referred to are not "social issues" at all. They are "moral issues."

Sam L. said...

Obamacare Cured the Repub droop!

Gahrie said...

"Drago, I am just pointing out that the idiotic stances on social issues will continue to drag the Republicans down.

I happen to believe that one day, the American people are going to wake up, take a look around them and say...What the fuck have we done?

I will simply point out that today's America bears a striking resemblance to the America of the end of the 1920's.

Fun days if you're a flapper...but bad days are on the way.

pm317 said...

"The death of the OBamacare"

chickelit said...

Mark wrote: Drago, I am just pointing out that the idiotic stances on social issues will continue to drag the Republicans down.

Republicans tend towards fiscal and social conservatism. Democrats tend towards liberal social and economic policy.

"Social" issues handily dominated the last election because the alleged economic recovery from the Bush years was already in place -- remember? This time around, Obamacrats will have less wriggle room on the economy. In other words, when the entire economy except for Washington DC is still in the toilet, will Americans still care so much whether transexuals get their day in court?

Paul said...

Repblicans dead? Whishfull thinking among the Democrats.

But once all the policy cancellations come in, some Democrats will be looking for a new job in Nov. 2014.

And I bet the Senate flips Republican and the House says Republican.

Only question is, will there be enough Senate Republicans to override a filibuster or VETO.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

EPR,
A significant number don't give a shit one or another so long as they're still receiving their share of free stuff

chickelit said...

@Broomhandle: Is that what Hillary is going to run on? Promises to continue "free stuff" Or Christie?

Marty Keller said...

Glad to see Obama and the Democrats finally broke that fever, only funny how it wasn't that tea party one they were aiming at.

Anonymous said...

POTUS Obama will rise again. He cannot be beted by GOP who will over reach.

In 2016, POTUS Hillary! will continue.

GOP is a party that is no more.

wildswan said...

Mark wrote: Drago, I am just pointing out that the idiotic stances on social issues will continue to drag the Republicans down.

Mark, As I always say, you should look at the demographics. In this generation women who had two or fewer children are 75% of all women. Today's voters. But a majority of the next generation is coming from the women who had three or more children. Tomorrow's voters. Some are almost eighteen. So to capture the younger generation, support the values voters. Will it pay off? The Republicans all voted against Obamacare, had a hard time for three years till the law kicked in, now they are collecting. The same will happen with the values voters, the way I see it. That generation is almost here.

Kelly said...

I think it is more of a psych out. I believe Karl Rove said the same about liberals at some point during the Bush administration.

I'm Full of Soup said...

We can't let the Repubs in the Imperial City off the hook.

MadisonMan said...

Drago has it right.

Watching the Democrats and Republicans is like watching a football game between hand-less teams using a greased-up ball.

RecChief said...

They don't call them the stupid party for nothing. there is still time.

rcommal said...

Currently, the spotlight (as well it should be) for all to see is an abomination of an implementation of an enterprise-wide project.

There's not a single day that's going by that I don't recall what I learned, what I know, by virtue of working on enterprise-wide implementations of the likes of SAP, JDEdwards and (tangentially) Oracle, way back in the day, a period stretching from something like 1994 to something like 2001-2002.

And that's just me, and my knowledge, direct experience and wisdom.

Then there's my husband's, of all those things and way, way more. A whole 'nother level.

rcommal said...

And HIS continues to this very day.

Lauderdale Vet said...

EDH said - Wouldn't it be interesting if the Republicans indeed cleaved into two parties -- the two major parties -- and the Democrats imploded into a fringe party, the MSNBC of political parties.

Tease.

Paul said...

"POTUS Obama will rise again. He cannot be beted by GOP who will over reach.

In 2016, POTUS Hillary! will continue.

GOP is a party that is no more."

Hey America's Politico,

Bet you said the same thing about Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale.

And Obama ain't even a Jimmy Carter.

rcommal said...

Behind every shitty implementation is a wholesale series of wishful-thinking, undisciplined, self-serving, butt-protecting, fact-deprived, reality-freed group of folks who, while in control on account of having the power to be, don't actually know much--not in terms of general knowledge, not in terms of project-management knowledge, not in terms of technical knowledge, not in terms of jack-shit. Etc. Etc. Etc.

Worst of all, people like that don't have the self-knowledge enough to know, and to acknowledge, that they don't know what they don't know. And if upper-level sorts, doing all the directing and managing and all that jazz, don't have that, then what else can be expected from any implementation dribbled out? Especially from low-skill folks, way down the scale, preferred by dumb-asses way up, in power.

It's an infection

rcommal said...

Infectious things tend to spread, on account of their being infectious.

Mark my words.

Anonymous said...

Some of my favorite lines:

"The initial response to yesterday's opening of the state and federal exchanges that are providing affordable insurance plans to Americans who previously could not obtain coverage has Obamacare proponents dancing."

“I don’t mind the Republicans committing political suicide, but they’re dragging the country and the economy down with them,” Israel told The Hill. “I think we have a path to win 17 seats in November of 2014. I’m just worried about what kind of damage Republicans are going to inflict on the economy between now and then.”

I wonder how those 17 seats are looking now?

"Republicans who want to fight smarter are called squishes; Republicans who wish to fight less are called RINOs—and both have been hunted pretty near to extinction. Instead of effective opposition, we see those doomed spasms. And out of these spasms, Obamacare looks sturdier than ever—and any hope of negotiating to fix its worst elements seemingly further out of reach than ever."

Oh David Frum! You're so silly.

"In fact, by linking Obamacare to funding the government, Republicans may have inadvertently raised public awareness of the law and boosted traffic on the new insurance marketplaces. Now they are pointing out glitches due in part to high volume – undercutting their customary insistence that Americans don't want the law. "We shouldn't be advertising the fact that the website was oversubscribed. That's not exactly a strong talking point for our side," John Feehery, a former House GOP leadership aide, says with a wry laugh."

Oh those aides!

Thanks Althouse for the linkage. Gave me a good chuckle.

David said...

The Obama Comeback is just over the horizon. You can count on it.

You can also count on the fact that the Obamacare mess is likely to get better in the short to medium term. Then the air starts to go out of the Republican position.

The real Obamacare disaster is longer term. Nobody talks about that because it's too hard to think more than a few months ahead.

At least this has been my position for a while.

But today's news, that the administration (and specifically the President) had a very specific warning and critique from no less than McKinsey, leads me to wonder whether this line of fuckups has any end.

The President said "he was told" that the McKinsey concerns were being addressed. By whom? In what format? Did he ask any questions? Does the guy have a pulse? Is he willing to dig into anything enough to understand it?

(People who even skim my comments probably know of my general contempt for "experts." That is because most are not really expert at anything. Much of the time, people from McKinsey are an exception to that rule. Yes, I know, Chelsea Clinton worked there. She's not an expert at anything. But that's why McKinsey keeps a good supply of leashes in the storeroom.)

rcommal said...

Well, having moved to a new state, I chose to register as unaffiliated, and in so choosing, I am explicitly acknowledging that I will sit at the sidelines. Whatever choices end up being on offer by the two major parties, I will choose 1) one of them or 2) neither.

No doubt that makes me both a squish and...whatever else. Who cares? I put in my time. Already. Whatever.

I say: Screw you. Who cares what political folks say I should I do?

I don't. Done with it.

rcommal said...

And if I choose to just sit at home? God knows I have--at last--earned that.

Unlike so many others, who pulled that crap in each of the last two national elections, most specifically the 2012 one.

Pull your own damn weight, I say, in future. Also: pfuie.

The Crack Emcee said...

They came to their senses:

"[Paul] Ryan said that he does not believe there will be any brinkmanship over the debt ceiling in February,...He said Republicans now understand that a shutdown won’t stop ObamaCare because it is a mandatory program, not a discretionary agency budget line item."

Not dead, but pretty powerless now,...

rcommal said...

By reflex, no doubt I will stay informed (given a life-time habit), no matter how [or how much] I wish that reflex no longer existed.

By choice, however, I plan to tend my own garden[s].

Much the best thing, do well I implement that.

Joe said...

There is no advantage the GOP can have that they won't figure out how to fuck up. Spectacularly.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

The Democrats don't have to run on a platform of free stuff. It is understood by the mooching classes that the Donks are the providers of largesse paid for with the producing classes money. If and when that money dries up, that's when the 'Crats splinter and the Republicans suddenly seem remarkably lively.

Anonymous said...

Troll: "Get with the program! The shutdown in an attempt to stop Obamacare destroyed the Republican Party! Can't you read the news? What's wrong with you bloggers? Cruz and the Tea Party are finished! Finished I tell you!"
Nurse: "Orderly! I need your help so I can medicate this patient!"

Carl Pham said...

Last I heard, it was going out for drinks with "energy too cheap to meter" and "peak oil." They asked "demographics is destiny" to come along as designated driver, but it refused to be seen in their company.

Derve Swanson said...

Rcommal
Most likely, you will vote the way your husband does. You mentioned your decade in the workplace, but then said he is stlll there working in reality, you said, on a whole different level above you.

You will trust him on your vote.
Studies show married stay at home wives vote as so their husbands. Nttawwt.

Derve Swanson said...

Ps. Your writing often resembles yoda, pontificating at that...
Nttawwt.

Achilles said...

The problem is the only people who want to get rid of Obamacare are the... People. Only a few wacko birds in the crazy wing of the republicans agree with them.

The rest of our political class will "fix" Obamacare and Hillary is going to run on single payer. All of our elected officials will try to fix this government created problem with a government centered solution. Anyone who disagrees will be told to F off and shut up. If you thought the establishment was hard on Newt, just wait to see what they do to Cruz and Paul.

Ken W. Good said...

I don't know which has been worse; the reporting that the R were committing suicide, or the shock and almost tears about what is currently happening to the Ds. It would be sad and pathetic if it was not also funny and redeeming (on the second part).

Unknown said...

"Mark said...

Drago, I am just pointing out that the idiotic stances on social issues will continue to drag the Republicans down.

The Democrats might be joining them in unpopularity, but the Virginia race was all about how people voted for a distasteful candidate because the other distasteful candidate's views on social issues."


True but not in the way you think.

The election in Virginia demonstrated to conservative and social issue voters that party loyalty is a one way street.

For years (decades) they loyally voted for economic issue Republicans and squishy moderates. The fact that the national GOP organizations starved the Cuccinelli campaign of money demonstrated that economic issue Republicans are willing to lose an election as important as a governor's race because that is how much they hate social issue Republicans.

Your message is being received. For me, anyway, in the future I will vote based on ideological purity rather than party loyalty. When you and your fellow ideologues want to win elections again, we can talk about how party loyalty works both ways.

Haiku Guy said...

I was at the September 10th Tea Party Exempt America Rally.

Now, there are those who say we accomplished nothing, because America was not expempted, and Obamacare proceeded apace. But what we did was ensure that Our Betters In Washington would be locked into their disasterous implementation schedule, because we were out there on the lawn of the Capitol demanding, at minimum, a one-year delay.

Once the Terrorists and Hostage Takers of the Tea Party demand something, that thing becomes the definition of evil. There is no way this Administration was going to give us anything that even smelled like a concession. So, when the end of September rolled around, and the implementation train-wreck was looming, there was no way they could hold off implementation for even a month or two, because that is what the Tea Party wanted.

So, did we accomplish nothing? Or did we bring this Adminstration to their knees?

The Obamacare Train Wreck: I Built That!

Chris of Rights said...

I wrote this in 2010, and it's still true.

Liberal Media: Predicting the Death of the GOP Since 1972

Matt Sablan said...

The reports of its death were greatly exaggerated.

... Did someone use this joke already?

Matt Sablan said...

"Wasn't there a Governor election in Virginia?"

-- Yeah. And Republicans held the legislature, and might regain some ground in the senate. It was a split victory in VA.

damikesc said...

The fact that the national GOP organizations starved the Cuccinelli campaign of money demonstrated that economic issue Republicans are willing to lose an election as important as a governor's race because that is how much they hate social issue Republicans.

In the party's defense, the race looked over for a long time until the late comeback.

I do like that the Dems usual trademark of how the Republicans bought the election are silent when their rich guy outspends his opponent by several magnitudes.

It'd be foolish to spend money on a race that looked fairly uncompetitive.

Bruce Hayden said...

I find it quite humorous that so many were calling the Republicans suicidal to shut down the government over ObamaCare. As the shock of that shutdown lessens over time though, what a lot are going to remember is that the Republicans were willing to shut the government down in order to save the country from ObamaCare, and that they were right to have done so. When anyone brings up the shutdown now, as something to attack them with, the natural, and justified response is: Weren't they right? Wasn't it a disaster? Millions (and probably many tens of millions in the future) losing their insurance coverage through the rules that the Obama Administration wrote to define Grandfathering, and the biggest IT failure in memory, with half a billion dollars squandered, much to a prime contractor who seemingly got the contract through political connections - crony capitalism written large.

Combine this with the rampant corruption that we have seen with Obama and the Dems. Fast and Furious. Benghazi. IRS, NSA. 1 of 5 federal payments being fraudulent. ObamaCare funding numerous Dem affiliated groups. And now, that the 9/13 unemployment figures were fudged right before the election.

Obama, Pelosi, and Reid are overseeing the destruction of the progressive narrative and philosophy - that there are many things that the government can do better than the private sector, and should do, for a just society. What is just with giving insurance coverage to the takers, and taking it away from the makers? But more importantly, that what we have now is a highly politicized, and highly inefficient government workforce, that can do little well, and much it does, it does poorly.

Maybe the best and the brightest could do better, but the government has never had the best and brightest working for it, but rather, the laziest and most mediocre working directly for it. And, leeching off it are the most corrupt. Why work for a living, if you can bribe people, and get much richer?

What are the dems going to do to win the American people over to their ideals and philosophy? Sure, legalize 20-30 million currently illegal immigrants from demographics highly likely to vote for them. But beyond that? Who is going to believe that they could manage anything effectively? Few who follow what is going on.

rcommal said...

Husband's an engineer and a technology architect, so, yeah, he's at a whole other--and, yes, higher--level in that arena. I have no problem acknowledging that. Why would I? It'd be dumb and pointless not to. I have my own areas of expertise.

As for the comment on my voting patterns, LOL. I was making up my own mind about for whom to vote a solid decade and a half before I got married, and nothing's changed on that front since. As if.

ken in tx said...

The stupid party survives only because of the mistakes of the crazy/evil party.

3john2 said...

The Democrats aren't concerned about future administrations. Once they get all their judges pushed through in the next few years the laws will all be made and passed in the courtroom anyway, and any conservative that gets elected will be declared "unconstitional".

test said...

Husbands and wives voting similarly doesn't mean one follows the other. It's far more likely to mean either (1) marriages are more likely to occur among similar worldviews, or (2) the political issues in question effect married couples in similar ways and this drives their votes.