| Here's something the financially and morally bankrupt West Virginia Republicans should focus their attention on. The nationally party is headed towards the same minority status as the state GOP.
The issues and demographics that are killing them are the very issues the rightwingers in the state (Abernathy, Sprouse, the usual junior high clique) trumpet most
From The Wall Street Journal:
WASHINGTON -- For Republicans hoping the 2008 campaign will bring a fresh start after the troubled tenure of President Bush, there are sobering signs: Evidence indicates that the party's problems with the American electorate are much bigger than the president and won't go away when he leaves office.
Recent voter surveys, including private polling done by a leading Republican strategist, suggest a broader erosion of Republicans' appeal. In particular, three groups crucial to Mr. Bush's goal of a "permanent Republican majority" are drifting away: younger voters, Hispanics and independents.
The reasons include the Iraq war, conservatives' emphasis on social issues such as gay marriage, abortion and stem-cell research, and a party-led backlash against illegal immigrants that has left many Hispanic and Asian-American citizens feeling unwelcome. The upshot is that Republicans face structural problems that stem from generational, demographic and societal changes and aren't easily overcome without changing fundamental party positions.
Longtime Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio this year conducted an exhaustive survey of his party's voters to update one he did in 1997. He found that the party is significantly older and more conservative than it was a decade ago. That, he says, suggests a Republican Party increasingly at risk of being seen "as very old-fashioned, very old and not in touch with the realities of today's society.
Hat tip to kos.
The funny thing is how the state's most famous Republicans like GOP "strategist" Gary Abernathy and former Senate Minority Leader Vic Sprouse advise their fellow Republicans to cling to the "very old-fashioned, very old and not in touch wih the realities" approach on the Iraq war and equality for gays. I only hope vulnerable Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito follows their advice. With their "strategery,"as Mr. Bush would say, my work will be a lot easier.
However, the GOP's problems also should be seen as a warning to West Virginia's socially conservative Democrats. (You all know who you are.) Do you want to tread the same path to political extinction as the Republican dinosaurs or do you want to move into the future? The choice is yours. |
