It
could be called the fall and rise of the Republican party. After the
2008 election, at a time when the economy was tanking and calamity
seemed virtually inevitable, not only was the stock market collapsing
but so was the stock of the Republican brand.
In January of 2009,
Nate Silver wrote "the Republicans, arguably, are in something of a death spiral.
The
more conservative, partisan, and strident their message becomes, the
more they alienate non-base Republicans. But the more they alienate
non-base Republicans, the fewer of them are left to worry about
appeasing. Thus, their message becomes continually more appealing to
the base — but more conservative, partisan, and strident to the rest of
us."
Mr.Silver, and like minded people, were wrong. The
Republican tactics did not become a self perpetuating purveyor of doom
for the party, but rather a rallying cry. The Tea party arrived, filled
with passion, venom and little if any factual underpinning. The
Republican leadership became emboldened and rather than disavow their
errant ways, they doubled down. Opposition for opposition's sake became
the guiding principle.
And thus, whether it be climate change, inflation spirals, or
any other issue which should involve analysis and reason, stridency and
repeated emphatic denial of the facts on the ground instead became the
only focus.
Given the perspective of time, we now see the perverted
wisdom, politically speaking, of this practice. The Democrats seem
without answer or response. It is they who seem more in the death
spiral, as the real possibility looms of both Houses being under
Republican control as of this November.
Thus, unless and until circumstances dictate another course of
action, the probability of the Republican party reversing its trend and
embracing something other than a radically incoherent and factually
depleted platform is about as likely to occur as the ice sheet's sudden
resurrection.
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