This is certainly the saddest article I've read today: Republican insiders plot post-election party overhaul By David M. Drucker, Washington Examiner A choice quote: .... one consensus concern was the damage they believe conservative advocacy organizations and influential conservative media personalities have inflicted on the Republican Party ... "It's time for the conservative commentariat industry to be more responsible and focus on winning elections," said GOP strategist Brad Todd, who advises House and Senate candidates. Recognizing the tough spot Republicans are in, in this regard, Todd added: "Nobody can make them do it. They have to decide that enacting their principles is more important than complaining about them. This isn't a thing that can be accomplished by fiat. It has to be willful." Think about that. There's an entire GOP-media industry, and it's extremely powerful in shaping the party's politics. Thing is, that industry's interests might actually be (and likely are) at odds with the party's goals of winning elections and -- you know -- governing. But there's nothing that the party or the party's political professionals can do to change or reform the GOP-media industry. They can only scold that industry and hope it changes by its own willful choice. Which won't happen, because there's zero incentive for the GOP-media industry to change. They're very successful doing what they're doing. And if doing what they're doing brought us Trump, even better, because he's great for that industry. And Trump knows this. Hence the TrumpTV/Trump-GOP-media rumors. At some point the GOP became less a political party, and more of a media machine. I don't see how you change that. Now the party is paying the price, and they're basically powerless to help themselves.
Not going to be easy to change course for them. It's like a semi truck rolling downhill without breaks. It's hard to imagine how the sheer momentum of their hatred of liberals can be stopped. That party has crossed into a parallel universe of neo anarchism. It's a party that has embraced the unapologetic hatred of government ... This is the party that stuck its collective head in the sand after Sandy Hook. One of the last parties on the planet to be so openly hostile to the scientific consensus regarding climate change. The party that has forced the Supreme Court to operate below full strength for over 6 months now. This is the party that is trying every trick in the book to decrease the numbers of people that can vote. It's hard to imagine how consumed they are by hatred of liberals to act in that way. Personally I think it's going to get worse for them before it gets better. They have at least a few more cycles of dysfunction left. Sure they may lose this presidential election, but just look at the senate/house race polls. They have more than enough foothold to be an intrenched and inflexible as they've ever been. In fact if anything them being faced by 4 years of Hillary will exacerbate the problem. 2018 will not be kind to Democrats. The GOP has gone so far off the deep end that it would take at least one or two decades for a new generation of candidates to replace the ones they have now. For that to happen there needs to be a complete collapse of the current culture to create a vacuum. I don't see Trump causing such a collapse because they have too many excuses lined up already. Trump isn't a real conservative anyways. Democrats win because they brainwash stupid minorities who don't know what's good for them. The lame stream media. Uppity women. And when all other excuses fail ... God is on our side. You can't trump faith with reason.
This quote you chose perfectly incapsulates everything that went wrong in their 2012 post mortem. It's not the core of the party that's the problem, but the tone. As long as they stay committed to that thinking they have no choice but to keep owning the horribleness of their policies.
Interesting retort to the article I linked above: The Great Blame Game Begins By Erick Erickson, The Resurgent
In late 2008, they said they needed to stop kowtowing to talk radio and the right wing media. In 2013, they said they really needed to stop kowtowing to talk radio and the right wing media. And now in 2016 they are saying they really, really need to stop kowtowing to talk radio and the right wing media. And in 2020, they'll say they really, really, really need to stop kowtowing to talk radio and the right wing media. I'm sure then they'll do it.
Do you think the Democrats are at all influenced by liberal media? Or does the liberal media KowTow to the Democratic party? In reality, both situations are pathetic. If the media actually did it's job, we wouldn't have to worry about things like this. Both parties would be equally wary of the media, because both sides would be in the crosshairs. But this ain't that kind of movie, bruv. We have Hillary Clinton demanding the media "fact check" Donald Trump -- as if they bother to "fact check" her. Especially with the debates -- it's not the moderator's job to fact check the candidates. They're supposed to fact check each other -- that's the whole point of the debate.
That. As any 2-year old will demonstrate, it's much easier to tear down than to build up. The GOP has become addicted to standing on the sidelines and sneering. I mean, I understand -- it sure is more fun to spend 25 years mocking attempts to reform the health-care system, than it is to create a good plan. But ultimately, that negativity becomes a disease. When Republican candidates -- and it's not just Trump -- urge their supporters to hate reporters, who benefits? How does that make America great (again)?