A sort of follow-up to the question for conservatives...I think I've asked this one before, but not for a while. Do you hope for the GOP to become crazier, so that Democrats have a better chance of winning elections -- or less crazy, so that when Republicans win they'll govern better?
Less crazy. They'll never be so crazy that they don't hold some level of power somewhere. It's great that they keep losing the White House, and are in the minority in the Senate, but they still have the House, a majority on the Supreme Court, and lots of states (including my own).
ReplyDeleteLess crazy. The crazy GOP may lose more elections, but they also hinder the Democrats from governing more effectively. Also, if they were more responsible, they would be useful in taking the Obama administration to task for things unpopular with liberals, like drone strikes or Libya.
ReplyDeletethey would be useful in taking the Obama administration to task for things unpopular with liberals, like drone strikes or Libya.
DeleteI doubt it. Less crazy =/= more liberal. The GOP will rarely if ever attack the Dems from the left.
I kind of like this state of the GOP having a sort of "cold Civil War" amongst themselves.
ReplyDeleteWhichever way they choose to go in the short term, it is difficult to see a great future for my kids (in their young twenties) if we Democrats and disorganized progressives/radicals/disillusioned ones don't get off our couches and do our jobs better: organizing ourselves to put serious pressure on our "leaders" to get off the fossil fuel economy in the shortest possible amount of time.
The crop failures are coming. The death of the oceans is well on its way. We have so much work to do, the GOP cannot ever be allowed to have national power again, whatever its profile, whatever the circumstances.
Even if they suddenly realize that shutting down 98% of the military and civilian drone industries, legalizing/taxing marijuana and getting manufacturing jobs back from China are vote winners -- and things that I would normally support a great deal -- if they're still supporting the fossil fuel based economy, we are at great risk of ruining both this great nation and all the real and alleged progress of Western civilization. IMHO, of course.
I basically agree. If you care about the future of this planet, you want everyone to be less crazy.
DeleteLess crazy, even though that might make my professional existence (as a Dem staffer) more challenging. Democrats would win fewer elections, perhaps, but would be better able to govern when we do win.
ReplyDeleteLess crazy, *except* in states/districts where crazy Republicans couldn't conceivably win. And I would be very cautious about assuming that a state/district was in that category.
ReplyDeleteReason informs me that a principled Republican party serves as a valuable counterweight to liberalism, and helps keep our thinking sharp and grounded in reality...So I want to say "less crazy," but I have to 'fess up to secretly revelling in the crazy Republicans' self-destructive antics.
ReplyDeleteLess crazy.
ReplyDeleteLess crazy. Presumably moving the whole party to the less crazy side would move their members in red states less crazy too. Speaking as a Dem in a red state, it'd be nice if they were a lot less crazy here.
ReplyDeleteLess crazy.
ReplyDeleteLess crazy, if only because "crazy" GOP state legislators are more likely to buy into truly destructive redistricting and EV distribution proposals.
ReplyDeleteLess crazy. Eventually they'll luck their way back into power even if they don't change or actually get crazier. Better that they have changed before then so they don't try to actually implement crazy stuff.
ReplyDeleteLess crazy. Heck they've pushed anyone even right of center out of power in my home state. It's like 45-50% crazy, 20% moderate, and 30% Democrat. At this point, its like they're having a contest to see who can wreck what's left of the school system while babbling on about whatever the talking point of the week is.
ReplyDeleteEven if I get the chance to move back to the states, I'm not sure if I want to move back there.
Less crazy.
ReplyDeleteFor both practical and strategic reasons.
The practical is obvious (it's in the question). The strategic part is that extremists pull the Overton Window their way.
They might be ridiculous, but they are forcing liberals to take up more defensive and centrist positions. Republican insanity has acted as cover for deficit hawks.
Who wins an election is mostly dumb luck
ReplyDeleteThis really isn't true. How a war goes and whether the U.S. will enter a war is an area in which the governing has a high degree of autonomy.
Even the economy, though nowhere near as much as wars is impacted by public policy. Proper fiscal and monetary policy can help smooth out the business cycle to make it less likely that a recession will occur which will doom the incumbent party. Public policy has a larger degree of impact on the long-term growth rate.
People on this board care FAR TOO much about politics if the governing party has almost no control over how the economy performs and how a war turns out.