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Has the GOP become the party of Southern White Evangelicals?

monsoon

By monsoon
in The Coffee House

Has the GOP become the party of Southern White Evangelicals?  

24 members have voted

  1. 1. Has the GOP become the party of Southern White Evangelicals?

    • No
      2
    • Yes
      22

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monsoon Gigalopolis

monsoon

Posted
Posted

Now that the 2006 mid-term elections are over, it has become apparent the GOP is in trouble given their complete gutting in the election. There was one exception to this. The GOP "firewall" to maintain control of the senate held in the state of Tennessee where they played up racial stereotypes, beat up on Gays, and ran the traditional platform defined by the likes of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell.

So the question is has the GOP, due to the politics put forth by Karl Rove, become a party that only appeals to White Southern Evangelicals?

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peaceloveunderstanding Town

peaceloveunderstanding

Posted
Posted

Yes. And most everyone who lost was a moderate, the party is even more concentrated than it was.

It was difficult for a capitalist, small government secularist like myself to choose this election. I left most of the races blank and voted for the very local races that I knew about. The Republican party has certainly left its roots for the wingnuts.

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kayman Town

kayman

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Posted
Yes. And most everyone who lost was a moderate, the party is even more concentrated than it was.

It was difficult for a capitalist, small government secularist like myself to choose this election. I left most of the races blank and voted for the very local races that I knew about. The Republican party has certainly left its roots for the wingnuts.

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nowensone Burg

nowensone

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Posted
Two things the GOP faces now: 1-how to relate again to middle America who sided with the Republicans in 2004 but couldn't vote them out fast enough this election. 2-how to somehow do #1 without losing the conservative base. I don't think they'll have any kind of answer by 2008.
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Charlotteman Burg

Charlotteman

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Posted

This current incarnation of mixing white religious fanatics with ultra capitalists is indeed an odd marriage for the GOP.

The fundamentalists vote for the Reps "because they are against abortion" and "because they are against the gays" even thought the Reps can't do a damn thing about abortion. And the tide of equality for gay Americans is so far outside of any political control, that it is almost laughable to vote for someone because they are "against the gays".

So the fundies vote for the Reps and get absolutely nothing in return, besides occassional lip service.

But the ultra capitalists get a lot out of the marriage. Tax cuts every time they turn around, new perks for businesses, etc....all while the little guy (including the fundies) get the shaft, and a lowered standard of living.

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Charlotte_native City

Charlotte_native

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Posted

I saw Borat this weekend. I loved the movie but that is beside the point. One scene in this movie takes place at a Pentacostal revival. A congressman and a state supreme court justice (I think he was the chief justice) for whatever state they were in spoke at the lecturn. The justice screams about how this is a "Christian nation" and "always will be". That is REALLY scary. Talk about activist judges. This ISN'T a Christian nation and no judge should be clouding their interpretations of law based on their personal religious faith. This is what is disenchanting everyone else other that religious radicals...

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Pillsbury Burg

Pillsbury

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Posted

I think the Republican Party had become the party of white evangelicals. I'm not sure what put white evangelicals in the grip of that party, but I guess the Lewinksy affair and the Democratic corruption that led the 94' takeover by the Republicans had a lot to do with it.

However you look at it, the Republicans were geniuses with it. They used emotional issues to separate the country. What before had been simply differences over health care, spending, social programs, et al., suddenly turned into a wave of emotionally charged issues that left people exhausted. Gay marriage and stem cell research became hot-botton issues, separating the bumpkins from the intellectuals and the virtuous from the damned. And in this last election, the Republicans banked on America being heavily comprised of Iraq-supporting conservative homophobes---they misjudged, at least in relation to the Iraq-supporting conservatives (except Arizona apparently).

Either way, the Christian right's domination of the Republican Party is over. I think that the Christian right has taken the Republicans as far as they can go and I do believe the next election will bring more Republican moderates out of hiding. As far as the Christian right-wingers, well, I see the Republican Party putting on a collective smile, and saying, "Well, where else are you people going to go? The Democrats??!!!! :rofl: "

I wanted add also that there is marked difference between a WASP and an evangelical Christian. I sometimes attend an Episcopal parish, which, along with the Presbyterians and Congregationalists, are considered the personification of WASP culture by many people, and these people would rise up with daggers if I called them evangelicals. By that same token, non-denominational Christians and Southern Baptists are evangelicals--the majority cannot be classified as WASPS.

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tamias6 Town

tamias6

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Posted

All I have to say about this that the GOP is out of touch with mainstream America and this election proved it as the voters turned against the GOP. But the Dems are really no better because the GOP was able to take over in '94 for much of the same reasons that they where voted out for. Now if the Dems do not live up to there promises made during this election, then who do the American People turn to? The Republicans again? To be honest, I think both parties suck and no longer represent the will of the people. In fact they never have. Almost all of the politicians in power come from a rich few with silver spoons in their mouths. They don't know what its like swallow one's pride and be a yes man a mean boss in order to keep his job. They don't know what its like to live from pay check to pay check. They have no idea of the stress one has to go through to keep the household budget in balance when both spouces have to work multiple jobs just to scrape up enough money to feed the kids, buy them school clothes, and pay the bills. Most of the politicians have absolutely no clue of what its like to be a normal John Doe. Quite frankly they don't care.

Politicians never have cared about the common people nore they ever will as the only thing on their minds is attaining as much power and clout as they can get there lustful hands on. If they have to say what the American People want to hear just to get elected even though nine chances out of ten they will never carry though with said promises, then that is what they will do. To them the common people are nothing more than pawns, door matts, and stepping stones on the path to everlasting power and glory.

That's why I personally have absolutely no faith in any politician. They are not going to make things better for the common people. We mean nothing to them. Therefore the only ones that will fix this country and get things right again is the common people with or without the help of the politicians in D.C., state capitals, and city halls.

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Captain Worley Burg

Captain Worley

Posted
Posted

I've taken to voting for the guy who isn't the incumbent.

I think if we could remove any reference to party affiliation from the ads and voting booths, we'd have better political debate. I'm tired of "Democrats will tax you to death," and "Republicans will sell out to the big corporations." Honestly. Let's have some real debates, not sound bites.

I'd also like to see the straight party choice go away. It would force people to at least put SOME thought into their choices, even if it was to look for the R or D.

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Charlotteman Burg

Charlotteman

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I would love to see a new political party---an evangelical party to the right of Genghis the Khan.

Then the Reps could finally move on and become a normal political party the way it was pre-1980. Lots of disenchanted secular Reps could come back to the party they supported for so long, before it was highjacked by Jerry Falwell, Pat Roberston and Pat Buchanan.

Unfortunately there is a thought that's been going around for quite some time (since at least 1976) that when a Rep runs as a moderate, he/she loses. Classic example is Ford vs. Carter. Ford was the last secular Rep we had as president. He ran a centrist campaign, was for the ERA, for abotion rights. (Of course he also pardened Nixon.) He lost in 1976.

Another good example from several years back was Terry Sanford (D) vs. James Broyhill for US Senator from N.C. Both candidates agreed in advance to run a "gentleman's campaign" and there was no mud slinging, no racial stuff......Broyhill ran as a moderate; so did Sanford. Sanford (D) won.

Many many seats lost by the Reps last week were lost by candidates running from the center.

Does it mean the Reps will have to get nasty and extremist again, to recapture power?

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voyager12 Town

voyager12

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Posted

If the lesson Republicans take from their loss is that they have to move even further right, then they will lose again in 08. Not that this liberal activist will be upset by that :lol: However, I am pragmatic and enough of a realist to recognize that the Democrats can't move as far to the left as I would like. The Democrats need to stake out a moderate and sensible centrist positions that appeal to the broad concerns of the American public : economic, healthcare, and educational issues and national security. Let the Republicans focus on stopping abortion and gay bashing. And then watch them lose The White House in two years and be left with nothing at all :thumbsup:

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snoogit Town

snoogit

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Posted

History tells us:

The Christian right will probably go into hiding for a while, and slowly creep back up into the spotlight. Its last big peak was the 1950s, and before that the late 1910s, and early 20s. As of right now there aren't enough Clarence Darrows to ward off the many William Jennings Bryans of this world, but the Fundamentalist right is once again crashing under its own ineptitude. (Like Bryan failing to defending himself bringing the end of the first wave of fundamentalism, so too will this latest movement fall under the ineptitude of its many Ted Haggards).

This wave has been going on longer then some previous waves (it could realistically be traced back to the mid 80s), which means it might take an even harder thump, and thus a longer lasting one.

The GOP will wither and fade away into a long term 2nd place. Oh a few victories here and there, but it wont be a 1994 again for sometime. While I hate to sound overly optimistic I have a feeling this will be the beginning of a new 40-60 year control of the House by the Democrats for sure, and a good portion of those 60 years with Senate majority.

While the Dems are down, they tend to stay down for a little bit, but when they've had power time shows they tend to hold onto it for as long as they can. (While the GOP has historically squandered their power quickly with frivolous trials, and general hypocracy.)

I have a feeling we wont see a true GOP majority again for at least another generation or more. With the younger voters getting increasingly involved in politics, causing the electorate to become increasingly more progressive, the tables are right for a progressive majority for decades.

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Snowguy716 Burg

Snowguy716

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Posted

The upcoming generation is more politically engaged, more progressive, and simply larger than Gen. X. In 2004, there were a record number of 18-24 year olds that voted.

You have to keep in mind that from the late 1970s through the mid 1990s, the youngest voting bloc was declining as a portion of the population. Since, it has been growing, and thus its influence has grown.

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