Pizza Republicano

At least Snowe seems to get it, and to some degree Jeb Bush. But the protesters and Ms. Santelli still don't seem to get what's happening to the Republicans, or why. It's kind of sad really.

"Move too much to the center and you lose the base."
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Yeah? To whom? If the anti-rational crowd just decides not to show up we'd all be that much better off. The GOP 's best hope for resurgence lies in seeking the votes of the non-Base and, in the process, replacing the multitude of party demagogues who know only Base-centered campaign and message tactics.

Something to notice here JNS. When Republican standard bearers lose their luster the GOP base savages them even if they had previously been ardent supporters. Nobody thought that John McCain was a Democrat-lite until he got his ass handed to him last year. The GOP base adored George Bush until his stumbles appeared to help Democrats take control of Congress in 2006. And thats why while their base is shrinking, its also getting louder because it is now basically just the fringe left. Thats how you get someone saying that you learn more from Rush Limbaugh than going to college and everyone applauds. Thats how you get someone on a teabagging party video talk about burning books to almost a standing ovation.
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Besides that the four men in that organization aren't moderate on just about any issue. They are all pro life which is fine but not moderate. They are all basically neocons when it comes to foreign policy. They have all embraced the Socialism cannard. Jeb Bush might have done more to hurt the party than any other Republican in recent history with his handling of the Terry Schiavo situation down here in Florida. None of them promote the possibility of gay marriage. And the base even hates Mitt Romney. So exactly how can three wingnuts attract moderates to their party?

It's pretty ironic the degree to which I find center-uber-alles commentators like David Broder and Joe Klein offensive insofar they don't seem to have any actual positions except, "if everybody hates it, it must be good" yet I see the emergence of a center right political organization as a good thing.
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I'll have to think about why these two apparently conflicting views coexist and get back to you.

Despite recent rumblings I don't see that the GOP still cares to really acknowledge any of it's mistakes or has any interest in trying to expand it's appeal as a party. Because that of course would mean unbending enough to loosen up on some of their social beliefs that have become so near and dear to them. In other words unless the Democrats stumble the GOP is still going to be out in the proverbial wilderness with its ever shrinking list of supporters. And just waiting around for your opposition to fail is no way to carve out a lasting agenda.

I don't get why they talk about expanding the party and being more welcoming to all, but as others have noted they are utterly unwilling to change any of their positions that have made moderates drop out.
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We welcome you to come join us and we'll say we are a big tent party, but completely disregard your views. Fool me once...

"Quite honestly, people learn more from listening to Rush Limbaugh's show than in high school or college," Stephen Santelli, 28, told the crowd to applause in asking a question about education standards.

When people say something like that, the question should be, "Where did you go to school?"

Note to wingnuts: Do not email Glenzilla with factually challenged propagandist bullsh*t or he will kick your ass six ways from Sunday.
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http://firedoglake.com/2009/05/04/mr-greenwald-gets-a-letterand-writes-one/

30 Journals to cover about a 70 person event. Interesting.

Thanks, JNS!
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I noted that Snowe made this comment:
"Ideological purity is not the ticket back to the promised land of governing majorities."
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And I think, in reality, Snowe and the rest of them didn't really get it all. While she realizes a narrowing of ideology is going to reduce their chances, she doesn't seem to realize the other idea implicit in her statement.
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I wanted to wait until you blogged before commenting on it.
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The problem is this:
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If the aim is to be simply the "governing majority", isn't that tacitly just power for power's sake? It seems to me that they really havn't learned since the GOP was talking up becoming the "traditional party of government" shortly after 2004.
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I also realize that Dems, to a lesser degree* are no better, but I think that the Obama Administration is more interested in doing what's right for the country rather than actively looking at how to pad their chances for re-election.
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*Reagan and Gingrich, as well as others, actively espoused propagandizing the American people, which, to this day, I still think is about as Un-American as you can get. It has been entirely overlooked, though, in the desperate search for "image".

JNS -- How can you, with any shred of honesty, call the National Council for a New America "center-leaning" when it is nothing more than a front organization for the Republican National Committee, which has been taken over by the wacko right-wing rump remainder of the Republican Party?
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I mean, look at who they tout as their "National Panel of Experts:"
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Governor Haley Barbour (corrupt former RNC chair)
Governor Jeb Bush (Bush -- need I say more?)
Governor Bobby Jindal (famous exorcist)
Senator John McCain (famous loser)
Governor Mitt Romney (famous vulture capitalist)
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As the Germans say, "Selber Scheiß, andere Ärsche."

Except in this case, it's even "Selbere Ärsche."

Loved Glenns reply!
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BTW, I wonder where I'd be today if I had Prof. Limbaugh for my 'Modeling the Environment' class some years ago.
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Unemployed, perhaps?

I honestly don't think the GOP can last.
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It's like the Seattle Supersonics. Limbaugh's already bought the team and he has the name. Unlike Bennett, he won't deal that back to whoever supplants the party in the right-of-center vacuum* that now exists.
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Not with the brand recognition that "GOP" has right now.
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*These are those independents. I think that right now, they are gravitating toward Obama for lack of any other reasonable choice.

53_3 - True, expanding ideology for the sake of power is terrible. I hadn't considered her statement like that. However, expanding their views rather than the current contraction of ideology will help them remain a viable party. And as much as I loathe to admit it, we do need a viable second party to challenge views and keep things in check.
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Oh and Prof. Limbaugh? What does he teach - Blowhard 101?

I've started to think of the Blue Dog Democrats as the new opposition party.

JNS - Yeah but leaving out Steele isn't saying much, he's just basically a puppet for these guys. A puppet that occasionally spouts off a few odd statements that the puppet masters want to soon forget.

So defining them as center-leaning is sort of like defining Lindsey Graham as a moderate?
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This may not be a center right country but is certainly is a center right media.

There are two differing meanings of the word 'moderate' and much confusion between the two. Everyone has two different properties: A What they beleive and B: How strenously they dislike people who don't share that beleif. We tend to talk past each other when we fail to differentiate between these two.

JNS
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Is implying that there should be a constitutional amendment against gay marriage "avoiding hot button issues?"
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http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2009/05/04/am.intv.cantor.cnn
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Starts at about 2:47

PNNTO- there is academic research to suggest otherwise (on your media comment)
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JNS makes a good point when she cautions against declaring a political party dead. I'm sure some people said this about the Democrats after 1984 (1/50 states). How did they come back into viability? Moving more towards the center with Bill Clinton's 3rd way politics. Of course he also got elected due to Bush Sr.'s mistakes and Ross Perot, but I'm reminded of the quote: "Luck is when preparation meets opportunity". I'm seeing a big lesson for the Republican party here.

I call them center-leaning, not because that's what they are ideologically, but because they are pragmatic enough to be trying to appeal to the center by leaving off hot button social issues, striking a moderate (for them) tone and stating outright that they want to appeal to independent voters.
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JNS, this is what irritates me so much. As I noted above, trying to appeal to the center and striking a moderate tone, but they don't really mean it. Jeb Bush doesn't think HE did anything wrong with the Terry Shiavo case does he? Cantor is certainly right down the line with the current Repub policies. However, this group is being reported and hyped as a big deal.

JNS:
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Very true. I can't really dispute this, but I was around when the Dems were on their heels in the '80s.
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I think the dynamics are different here. Rush Limbaugh has already staked a claim to the GOP crown, and there are a ton of the old guard from that period of time (the '80s) that have rallied around him. Micheal Steele is being stripped of financial responsibilities (or, at least, they're trying to), and the GOP has skewed so far right that they are not only completely abandoning the center, leaving an enormous vacuum, but are actively rejecting it.
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The Dems in the '80s didn't do this. They pretty much were directionless, and maybe more than a little flexible in the backbone dept, but overall, they didn't purge themselves like the GOP is now.
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Someone is going to keep the brand name, and it's clear that moderates don't have the power to take it from Rush.
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That's basically the reason for the claim I made.
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If the moderates took it to the RNC right now, they'd lose, and I think that the only options available are these:
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Become a Dem
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Become an Independent
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Form a new party to take advantage of the poltical vacuum right of center.
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I think the last is the most viable choice.

Jay what is your definition of a centrist?