Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who was elected as the state’s chief executive as a Republican and then ran for the U.S. Senate as an independent, announced on Twitter on Friday night that he’s switching to the Democratic Party.
Crist sent out a Tweet that said, “Proud and honored to join the Democratic Party in the home of President (at)Barack Obama!”
The Tweet included a photo of a smiling Crist and an unidentified woman as he held up a Florida voter registration application. The Tampa Bay Times reports that Crist signed the papers changing his affiliation from independent to Democrat at a Christmas reception at The White House.
A message left for Crist wasn’t immediately returned Friday night.
Crist was elected Florida governor in 2006 while in the GOP. As he moved to run for the U.S. Senate in 2010, he faced a tough primary challenge from the right and bolted the GOP to run as an independent. He lost a three-way Senate contest in 2010 to Republican Marco Rubio.
Crist spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte that nominated President Barack Obama for a second term. Crist, 56, is also viewed as a potential Democratic challenger to Republican Gov. Rick Scott in 2014.
The GOP race to become a fringe party continues
Artie60438
Posts : 9728
Subject: Re: The Continued Fracturing of the GOP 12/10/2012, 7:52 pm
That isn’t meant as a rhetorical question. I’d genuinely like to know whether Republicans are grappling with it, and how. That’s because the GOP finds itself trapped in a contradiction that will require that question to be dealt with sooner or later.
Some of the party’s most sacred principles lead to positions that are deeply unpopular. At the same time, many individual GOP lawmakers have clear incentives to continue to hold those positions. They come from safe districts where majorities agree with them, and standing behind them earns praise from conservative interest groups and media. Yet those positions — and their underlying principles — are damaging the party as a whole. Regular association with them may be increasingly damaging the party’s “brand” — Republicans lost the election in part because they were seen as patrons of the wealthy — and they constrain the party from reaching the compromise with Dems the public overwhelmingly wants, hurting its overall image further still.
. . .
Yet individual GOP lawmakers continue to have strong incentives to stick with an increasingly unpopular overall posture: That we should sooner cut deeply into cherished government programs that benefit millions and millions of Americans in order to avoid raising tax rates on the top 2 percent. This predicament is one of the GOP’s own making. As Jonathan Chait puts it: “It was Republicans who elevated the unpopular cause of low income tax rates for the rich to a sacred principle, built an entire party theology around punishing even the slightest dissent from that principle, and then enacted the sacred agenda through a rickety budget mechanism that caused it all to expire after a decade.”
. . .
Yet next year, as now, the incentives for individual GOP lawmakers, particularly in the House, to stage that showdown will remain strong. It’s hard to see how it’s a good thing for the GOP if lawmakers remain comfortably isolated from broader opinion when the party plainly needs to evolve. A non-rhetorical question: Do Republicans view this as a problem?
Do they see it as a problem? I'm wondering if they don't, hoping that their voter suppression tactics are successful enough next time where it won't matter.
Artie60438
Posts : 9728
Subject: Re: The Continued Fracturing of the GOP 12/14/2012, 1:44 pm
Do they see it as a problem? I'm wondering if they don't, hoping that their voter suppression tactics are successful enough next time where it won't matter.[/quote] They have to be careful of alienating their crazy lunatic base or nutjobs like Grover Norquist and end up being primaried. In other words they're screwed! For the life of me I can't think of one poll where public opinion is on their side,can you?
edge540
Posts : 1165
Subject: Re: The Continued Fracturing of the GOP 1/2/2013, 1:48 pm
What a bunch of assholes.
Quote :
Backlash follows House delay on Sandy relief vote
A late-night decision from House Republicans to delay a vote to provide billions of dollars in relief to states hardest hit by superstorm Sandy has sparked a backlash among Democrats and some Northeast Republicans. If a vote isn't held Wednesday, the bill will have to be redrafted when a new Congress convenes, punting the weeks-old relief bill even further down the road.
Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, a Republican, blasted House Speaker John Boehner for not putting the bill up to a vote, and warned Boehner and the Republican majority that they would feel the wrath of outspoken New Jersey and New York politicians.
"Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo and I are not wallflowers. We are not shrinking violets," Christie said of he and the governor of New York. Christie called the delay in aid "callous" and an act of putting politics over what's best for the victims of a major storm trying to rebuild.
"All I can tell you is that this was the Speaker's decision. His alone," Christie said, adding that Boehner did not take several of his calls Tuesday night.
Other Northeastern politicians have also blasted their anger.
On the House floor, Rep. Peter King, a Republican from storm-ravaged Long Island, N.Y., blasted the delay as "indefensible" and said Congress had a "moral obligation" to hold the vote. On Wednesday, he urged New Yorkers to withhold all donations to Congressional Republicans in an appearance on Fox News, apparently so hopping mad about the delay that he doesn't mind turning on his own party.
"I’m saying right now, anyone from New York or New Jersey who contributes one penny to congressional Republicans is out of their minds," King said. He even hinted he might jump ship from the Republican party altogether if they didn't vote soon.
Democrats have been even harsher in their criticism. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York said in a press conference Wednesday that he was "infuriated" by a comment from Rep. Darrell Issa, a Republican from California, who said the bill didn't move in the House because it was filled with pork. Schumer said Issa should speak to one of the hundreds of thousands of homeowners who need help repairing their homes and will now face a delay in getting relief.
"Tell that homeowner to his face...that it's pork," Schumer said. He added that Issa would surely not want to face such a delay if an earthquake hit his home state: "I know he wouldn't say the same thing about California."
Artie60438
Posts : 9728
Subject: Re: The Continued Fracturing of the GOP 2/3/2013, 2:14 pm
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — The biggest donors in the Republican Party are financing a new group to recruit seasoned candidates and protect Senate incumbents from challenges by far-right conservatives and Tea Party enthusiasts who Republican leaders worry could complicate the party’s efforts to win control of the Senate. Enlarge This Image Luke Sharrett for The New York Times
The group, the Conservative Victory Project, is intended to counter other organizations that have helped defeat establishment Republican candidates over the last two election cycles. It is the most robust attempt yet by Republicans to impose a new sense of discipline on the party, particularly in primary races.
“There is a broad concern about having blown a significant number of races because the wrong candidates were selected,” said Steven J. Law, the president of American Crossroads, the “super PAC” creating the new project. “We don’t view ourselves as being in the incumbent protection business, but we want to pick the most conservative candidate who can win.”
The effort would put a new twist on the Republican-vs.-Republican warfare that has consumed the party’s primary races in recent years. In effect, the establishment is taking steps to fight back against Tea Party groups and other conservative organizations that have wielded significant influence in backing candidates who ultimately lost seats to Democrats in the general election.
Karl Rove is behind this and we all know how well his candidates did last November,don't we? 99% of his SuperPac money was spent on losing candidates. Looks like there may be more tantrums down the road like the one he had on Fox News on election night when the POTUS race was called for Obama
Artie60438
Posts : 9728
Subject: Re: The Continued Fracturing of the GOP 2/4/2013, 3:51 pm
Heretic
Posts : 3520
Subject: Re: The Continued Fracturing of the GOP 2/7/2013, 9:31 am
After watching Sharron Angle, Christine O’Donnell, Richard Mourdock and Todd Akin lose seats in the Senate for the Republicans by being batshit crazy, Karl Rove has formed a big money group to back establishment candidates and support them against the Tea Party types.
Quote :
The biggest donors in the Republican Party are financing a new group to recruit seasoned candidates and protect Senate incumbents from challenges by far-right conservatives and Tea Party enthusiasts who Republican leaders worry could complicate the party’s efforts to win control of the Senate.
The group, the Conservative Victory Project, is intended to counter other organizations that have helped defeat establishment Republican candidates over the last two election cycles. It is the most robust attempt yet by Republicans to impose a new sense of discipline on the party, particularly in primary races.
“There is a broad concern about having blown a significant number of races because the wrong candidates were selected,” said Steven J. Law, the president of American Crossroads, the “super PAC” creating the new project. “We don’t view ourselves as being in the incumbent protection business, but we want to pick the most conservative candidate who can win.”
The effort would put a new twist on the Republican-vs.-Republican warfare that has consumed the party’s primary races in recent years. In effect, the establishment is taking steps to fight back against Tea Party groups and other conservative organizations that have wielded significant influence in backing candidates who ultimately lost seats to Democrats in the general election.
Another GOP savior goes down the drain. The whole speech was a joke. All he talked about was all the government programs that helped him and his family while clamoring for smaller government. Oh,and the house in his so-called "working class neighborhood is on the market for 650K.
These winguts seem to get awfully thirsty when lying through their teeth. Anyone else remember Lyin Paul Ryan guzzling water all through the VP debate while Biden cleaned his clock?
Artie60438
Posts : 9728
Subject: Re: The Continued Fracturing of the GOP 2/20/2013, 9:50 pm
So this is how the GOP intends to rebrand itself? Ahh ha!
Palin will be joined by a strong line up of Republican stars and perhaps super stars in 2016. Just look at the list of GOP and Tea Party stalwarts. It’s a smorgasbord of red meat speakers:
Yeah,the usual cast of lunatics...
Quote :
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz
Heritage Foundation President-Elect Jim DeMint
ACU Board Member Carly Fiorina
former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich
NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre
Radio Host and Breitbart.tv Editor in Chief Larry O’Connor
U.S. Senator Rand Paul
former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum
former U.S. Representative Allen West
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.
Mittens Romney is also scheduled to speak. I wonder if he'll get booed off the stage?
Artie60438
Posts : 9728
Subject: Re: The Continued Fracturing of the GOP 2/26/2013, 6:58 pm
Last week, Pew delivered some pretty bad news to Republicans: Americans just aren't all that into them. And if Republicans wanted to turn things around, they had to do things like drop social issues, stop hating on science, and begin compromising a bit.
Today, Pew delivered even more bad news to the GOP:
Quote :
Sixty-two percent of adults say the GOP is out of touch with the American people, 56 percent say it’s not open to change and 52 percent say it’s too extreme, according to a Pew Research Center poll released Tuesday.
Forty-six percent of adults say the Democratic Party is out of touch with the American people, 38 percent of people say it’s not open to change and 39 percent say it’s too extreme.
That 39 percent fringe is alive and well, but it doesn't curry agreement from most Americans ("real" Americans, if you will).
That's not the only bad poll for our friends on the other side of the aisle:
Quote :
NBC-WSJ poll: By 48%-43%, Americans say Obama takes "unifying" rather than "partisan" approach. By 64%- 22%, they say GOP does the opposite — @JohnJHarwood via web
Those are brutal numbers, even if you account for the 22 percent of morons who think Republicans are in any way unifying. Hell, conservatives can't unify their own freakin' party, much less the rest of America.
Which leaves Republicans with their typical quandary—Americans don't like divisive leaders. Republicans are seen as divisive. But if elected Republicans take any steps to appear more conciliatory or open to bipartisanship, their rabid base will rebel and shred them from the Right.
In other words, what is popular with America is popular with the liberal base. What is popular with the conservative base is not popular with America. That ends up giving Democrats—so long as they follow public opinion—quite the electoral competitive edge. And nothing in the recent polling changes that assessment.
Rock meet Hard Place!
Artie60438
Posts : 9728
Subject: Re: The Continued Fracturing of the GOP 3/2/2013, 5:50 pm
This is their "next generation"? Marco Rubio:Forever to remembered as the guy who had to lunge for a bottle of water because lying dried out his throat. 'Lyin" Paul Ryan:Losing VP candidate who Joe Biden wiped the floor with in the VP debate Sarah Palin--Half term Governor and losing VP candidate that had to write notes on her hand because she couldn't even remember her talking points. Rand Paul: Right wing kook extraordinaire who's even nuttier than his father. Permanent Minority
Scorpion
Posts : 2141
Subject: Re: The Continued Fracturing of the GOP 3/2/2013, 10:04 pm
Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican, is furious that Sen. Marco Rubio is hitting up New Yorkers for campaign cash after voting against federal funds to rebuild the region after superstorm Sandy ravaged the area.
In fact, King urged New Yorkers not to give money to any of his fellow Republicans who voted against the Sandy aid.
"Nobody on Wall Street, nobody in the financial services, nobody anywhere in New York should give a nickel to these guys," he told ABC News.
The Republican Party is acting like a bunch of lemmings headed toward a cliff. If they can't find a way to become more moderate, they're on the way to political extinction. It may take a while, but if they don't start changing soon, it will happen.
Artie60438
Posts : 9728
Subject: Re: The Continued Fracturing of the GOP 3/3/2013, 8:48 am
Scorpion wrote:
The Republican Party is acting like a bunch of lemmings headed toward a cliff. If they can't find a way to become more moderate, they're on the way to political extinction. It may take a while, but if they don't start changing soon, it will happen.
Much like the "Moar Guns" talking point,the GOP's excuse every time they lose an election is "We weren't conservative enough". Christie is so popular right now,the GOP should be drinking his shower water. Instead,he doesn't even get invited because he committed the unpardonable sin of thanking Obama for his help in a time of desperate crisis in his state.
edge540
Posts : 1165
Subject: Re: The Continued Fracturing of the GOP 3/4/2013, 10:29 am
Artie60438 wrote:
Scorpion wrote:
The Republican Party is acting like a bunch of lemmings headed toward a cliff. If they can't find a way to become more moderate, they're on the way to political extinction. It may take a while, but if they don't start changing soon, it will happen.
Much like the "Moar Guns" talking point,the GOP's excuse every time they lose an election is "We weren't conservative enough". Christie is so popular right now,the GOP should be drinking his shower water. Instead,he doesn't even get invited because he committed the unpardonable sin of thanking Obama for his help in a time of desperate crisis in his state.
Proving further that conservatives are the most stupid and ignorant creatures on the planet.
Artie60438
Posts : 9728
Subject: Re: The Continued Fracturing of the GOP 3/4/2013, 11:29 am
edge540
Posts : 1165
Subject: Re: The Continued Fracturing of the GOP 4/3/2013, 9:41 am
Holy crap, it's the bloated drug addict vs Billo The Clown.
Quote :
Rush vs. O’Reilly: Conservative pundits feud over marriage equality
Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh went after Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly Wednesday for saying same-sex marriage opponents don’t have a “compelling” argument other than “thumping the Bible.”
MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell spoke about the tense relationship between the “king and queen” of Republican media on Wednesday’s Rewrite segment. Their hostility is so strong that they typically refuse to acknowledge one another on the air, O’Donnell said of the two conservative pundits. But Limbaugh couldn’t resist ripping O’Reilly over a biblical reference he made on his show while condemning the argument against gay marriage.
On Tuesday night, O’Reilly agreed with guest Megyn Kelly and said that the “compelling argument is on the side of homosexuals.” Limbaugh then accused O’Reilly of marginalizing his own viewers–opponents of gay marriage–by calling them “Bible thumpers.”
“So how many of you who watch Fox are Bible thumpers?” Limbaugh asked after playing a clip of O’Reilly’s comments on the subject. “Do you think there are any Bible thumpers, quote, unquote, that watch Fox? Because last night you were sort of marginalized on The Factor as not having a compelling argument and just being a bunch of Bible thumpers.”
O’Donnell noted that O’Reilly has shifted on the issue, citing remarks he made in the past on the issue: “You can marry 18 people, you can marry a duck…You’ll be able to marry a goat–you mark my words!” Yet the conservative host slammed Bill Clinton and Barack Obama for their evolutions on marriage equality within the very same segment where he announced his own shift.
“You’re phony, Bill Clinton. You’re a phony. It is the same exact issue, same thing, all right? You signed it because you thought it was going to be popular. Now that it is not so popular, you’re against it. This is what sleazy politicians do,” O’Reilly said. “It is political and it is just awful.”
“It is just awful when people change their minds,” O’Donnell said. “Except of course when Bill O`Reilly does it.”
Subject: Re: The Continued Fracturing of the GOP 4/16/2013, 2:22 pm
The "rebranding" is going so well,isn't it? Q: Do you think the Republican Party is in touch with the concerns of most people in the United States today, or is it out of touch?
Subject: Re: The Continued Fracturing of the GOP 4/16/2013, 2:34 pm
Artie60438 wrote:
The "rebranding" is going so well,isn't it? Q: Do you think the Republican Party is in touch with the concerns of most people in the United States today, or is it out of touch?
At a talk to college students, Republican pollster Frank Luntz would only chastise Rush Limbaugh and right-wing radio off the record.
—By David Corn Thu Apr. 25, 2013 3:00 AM PDT
Frank Luntz, the media-friendly Republican consultant and word wiz, told a group of college students this week that Rush Limbaugh and right-wing talk radio are "problematic" for the GOP and partly responsible for the stark polarization within the nation's political discourse. He only dared to speak so candidly about Limbaugh and other conservative hosts off the record. A secretly recorded video, though, captured Luntz's remark.
On April 22, Luntz was holding a talk at his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, and providing his essential take on political communication: "It's not what you say that matters. It's what people hear." At this event sponsored by College Republicans, Luntz (class of '84) cracked a joke about Nancy Pelosi and face-lifts and acknowledged his party needs to interact more effectively with a wider swath of Americans: "We can't talk to 51 percent of America. It just doesn't work." And, he emphasized, words matter. (In 2009, Luntz urged GOPers to decry President Barack Obama's health care reform proposal as a "government takeover" in order to defeat it.) Voters, Luntz told the students, respond more positively when a politician refers to "hardworking taxpayers" than to "the middle class." He warned that if his party did not resolve its internal divides, it could lose the House of Representatives next year.
At one point, Luntz was asked about political polarization. He replied that he had something important to say on this matter but was apprehensive about speaking openly; doing so, he explained, could land him in trouble. Members of the audience groaned; some called out for Luntz to continue off the record. Luntz asked if anyone was recording the event, and Eric Kaplan, a reporter from the college paper, the Daily Pennsylvanian, indicated that he was. Luntz requested that he turn off his recording device. Kaplan did so and agreed that this part of Luntz's talk would remain off the record. But one of the students present, Aakash Abbi, a junior majoring in philosophy, politics, and economics, started to record Luntz on his iPhone (without letting Luntz know), and Abbi has provided that recording to Mother Jones.
Believing he was speaking privately to the dozens of students present, Luntz proceeded to gripe about conservative talk radio and its impact on political polarization:
And they get great ratings, and they drive the message, and it's really problematic. And this is not on the Democratic side. It's only on the Republican side…[inaudible]. [Democrats have] got every other source of news on their side. And so that is a lot of what's driving it. If you take—Marco Rubio's getting his ass kicked. Who's my Rubio fan here? We talked about it. He's getting destroyed! By Mark Levin, by Rush Limbaugh, and a few others. He's trying to find a legitimate, long-term effective solution to immigration that isn't the traditional Republican approach, and talk radio is killing him. That's what's causing this thing underneath. And too many politicians in Washington are playing coy.
Here's the video:
As he continued, Luntz, according to Abbi and two other attendees (who wish to remain anonymous), asserted that it had been irresponsible (and bad for the GOP) for right-wing talkers to pontificate about women's bodies and birth control—an obvious reference to Limbaugh's attacks last year on Sandra Fluke, a law student invited to testify before Congress on health insurance coverage of contraception. (Abbi didn't catch this part of Luntz's reply on his recording.)
Luntz was blaming polarization and the GOP's problems partly on conservative media, but he didn't want his criticism of Limbaugh, Levin, and the others to reach beyond this classroom. He was clear on this basic point: Right-wing media is not serving the national debate and not helping the GOP widen the party's appeal beyond its declining base. (Luntz declined to comment on his remarks at the event.)
Luntz hasn't been shy about pointing out the Republican Party's problems. In January, he wrote a Washington Post op-ed contending that Republicans have dug themselves deep into an image hole. ("Just saying 'no' to the president has its limits.") Regarding immigration, he observed, "Hispanic voters don't think Republicans like, welcome or respect them. So how can they vote Republican? Immigration reform that brings people out of the shadows is the last, best opportunity for the party to reset its broken relationship with Hispanics."
Luntz did not include Limbaugh and right-wing media in this op-ed critique. And in years past, Luntz has showed respect—even deference—toward Limbaugh. In 2004, he appeared on Fox News and acknowledged that he had conducted a poll pitting John Kerry against Hillary Clinton because Limbaugh had suggested he do so: "In fact, he had talked to me about it a couple times on the air, and I wasn't paying attention. And he even suggested that if I didn't do the poll that there might be consequences…Nobody wants to have to respond to 20 million people that they're listening to on the air." That certainly didn't prevent Limbaugh from fiercely attacking Luntz two years ago after the consultant, speaking at a meeting of the Republican Governors Association, said he was "frightened to death" of the the Occupy Wall Street movement and advised GOPers that they should not talk about "capitalism" but "economic freedom." On the radio, Limbaugh assailed Luntz for trying to "dumb down" the conservative message.
Abbi, the student who recorded Luntz, says he switched on his iPhone video recorder because he was surprised that Luntz asked to go off the record: "His request rang with a sense of disingenuity." Abbi, who says he came to the lecture because he had previously been impressed by Luntz, explains:
This question came up after almost 40 minutes of Luntz's inane and obviously pandering presentation. He had already offended multiple audience members with his cavalier flippancy. At one point, he cut off a student who was saying that his family is one of immigrants and loudly asked, "From Chechnya?" Raucous laughter followed from the College Republicans in attendance, but uneasy looks were exchanged by most others. To me, a man whose career is built on being viewed as the "Master of Words" should be willing to always stand by what he says. If he can say it to a hundred-plus Penn students, the rest of America deserves to hear it.
At Penn, Luntz was egged on to disclose his view that Limbaugh and conservative talk radio are harming the GOP's prospects and the national interest. Yet these are probably the sort of words he would counsel his Republican allies and clients not to use.
Nice to see that these wingnuts still have not grasped the concept that lots of people now carry devices that are capable of recording. Next up for Luntz? A public apology to the drug addict gasbag.
Heretic
Posts : 3520
Subject: Re: The Continued Fracturing of the GOP 4/25/2013, 10:49 am
They're really fucked. Conservative radio has gone too far right to reach mainstream voters, but yet it serves as the moral compass for the party. They're never going to be able to win them over and get the majority vote.
Which is absolutely fine with me. They desperately need to purge themselves of these losers and embrace 20th century science and economics. To not do so is honestly un-American. How else can you describe it? Bad policy based on bad ideas... No amount of wishing on the Bible or prayers to Chuck Norris will make those ideas work and benefit the country. It's akin to merely praying over a child dying of cancer rather than taking him to a doctor, but at least we throw those assholes in jail.
Artie60438
Posts : 9728
Subject: Re: The Continued Fracturing of the GOP 4/25/2013, 12:04 pm
Heretic wrote:
They're really fucked. Conservative radio has gone too far right to reach mainstream voters, but yet it serves as the moral compass for the party. They're never going to be able to win them over and get the majority vote.
Yep,and in the end it's pure greed that's killing them. The hate radio crowd appeals to a relatively small amount of suckers,somewhere around 20% give or take I figure. They are the ones that buy their delusional books and keep feeding the cash cow. As long as the suckers keep giving them their money they're going to keep it going,each time saying even more incendiary over the top things. I like to think of them as the professional wrestlers of politics.
Meanwhile their crazy rhetoric gets reported while mainstream & swing voters run away as fast as they can.
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