The surest sign the GOP is throwing the election

The Republican Party is full of hardcore fundamentalists, most of whom would abolish alcohol today if they had the power to do so.

The standardbearer of these people's party is married to the woman who controls the third-largest Anheuser-Busch distributor in America (size information from Hensley & Company's website). Therefore, their choice boils down to either what they refer to as a "baby killer" or someone who got rich from the Demon Rum. Many of them will stay home; the rest will vote for whatever third party they think is religious enough for them.

I hope you're right.

The "base" of the GOOP were groups that were played against one another for many years. The primary campaign was a good example of the many wings that had splintered thanks to the greed, arrogance and stupidity of booosh, rove, delay and those who ran the party from 2001-2006. For many years, the national GOOP promised the fundies a ban on abortion and mandatory school prayer...and it wasn't delivered...the rapture...err rupture really opened after the Shaivo fiasco that scared the hell out of most the country and pissed off the fundies as booshie didn't do enough. Then there was the Harriet Meyers nomination...imagine having that empty hairnet on the court. :shiver:

There's the "fiscal conservative" wing...they ran for Thompson then Mitten...also the anti-immigrant wing that clung onto Hunter and Tancredo, the "law and odor Raygun Democrats" of Rudy and so on. Huggy Bear won by default as each of these groups and special interests couldn't generate enough momentum on their own and their candidates and causes...there were too many "5%" candidates that let Gramps slip through...and none are all too happy about that.

The bottom line is most GOOPers care only about one thing...power. They don't care how they get it and will do all they can to get it and keep it. Yep, Gramps is very flawed and I can't see him generating anywhere near the votes that boooshie boy did in '04...or getting over 45% of the vote. His support in the GOOP coven is very thin.

Many GOOPers know they're headed for a real ass kicking in November and want you to believe they're tanking the election...hoping to regroup for the future...but the rifts in this party are deep and getting deeper. If they lose big, watch the blame game and knives come out...then let's see whose left standing. Gramps is a band-aid...a last gasp as this party soon totally implodes.

The GOP throws elections for one reason: they know the national attention span is very short, and by pulling out of the limelight for a few years the electorate forgets what fuckheads they are.

Thrown Election 1: 1976. A logical party would have chosen someone besides the guy who pardoned Richard Nixon as their standardbearer. A party that wanted to lose on purpose would have left him in. The race: Jimmy Carter v. Gerald Ford.

Thrown Election 2: 1992. The best description of Richard Nixon is from "Good Morning Vietnam": Nixon left a trail of shit behind him that would fertilize the Sinai. Poppy Bush was worse. Of course, being from a family that made its fortune by funding dictators didn't help. People were starting to figure out just how corrupt GHWB really was, and what kind of crooks he had surrounded himself with. If George Bush would have started a second term, its end would have come as he was walked through the gate of the federal penitentiary in Florence, Colorado. Therefore...get him to lose and have him come up with some international incidents that would distract the new president from going after Bush until everyone had lost interest in him. The race: Bill Clinton v. George Bush.

Probable Thrown Election 3: 2008. The economy is in shambles, the country is mired in a war we started, the GOP can't close it down without hearing "Vietnam" over and over again...what to do? Easy solution: Pick someone who'd lose to Benito Mussolini.

Just curious your take on those...

IMHO, from being alive, politically active and voting during those elections you cite, the country had had enough of GOOP rule...just like they have and will with Democrats. For most of my life I've lived with "balanced" government...one party in control of the executive the other in charge of the legislative. Only from 2001-2007 did we have such a continuous one-party rule in this country...and a self destructive one. The greed got too easy and too good...the lies had to be embellished and the ideology made way for outright power. In a lesser degree the executive excesses of Nixon and then Raygun were more the cause of the GOOP losing than an election being "thrown"...kinda like a team saying we purposely lost a game just to avoid saying they were truly beaten.

The GOOP also is a party that speaks one way and acts another...similar to how the DLC operates. The "national party" operates like an oligarchy...highly patriarchal and built on "seniority"...you earn your spoils. That's how they ended up with a Ford...a good party hack that took orders and was a soft contrast to Nixon (how he was able to get through the confirmation process as VP...many knew he'd likely take over). Poppy Bush came up in a similar way...he played the game, played loyal foot soldier and when his time came, he had the party aparateus behind him. What cost him in '92 was his party's over-confidence...they felt there was no way Clinton or any Democrat would win. They didn't bank on his no new tax pledge and a shitty economy turning on him. In both cases (and let's throw Dole in there) the GOOP choose the party aparachnik...just like the old Soviet Union moved the next corpse/puppet up the ladder.

Bear with me on this: There are a lot of people who vote against their own self-interest.

Example: 1968. Everyone knew Nixon was a criminal, based on his term as VP, but he promised the thing Americans wanted most--a way out of Vietnam (although it took well into his second term to actualize it) so people voted for ol' Tricky Dick.

1984 wasn't so great either--we knew Reagan was worthless and dangerous by then, but "there you go again" ran Mondale off.

To throw something is to lose on purpose, and the Republicans did it in 1976 and in 1992. The Democrats have NEVER gone into an election specifically to lose. We don't have a need to--we're not into concentrated criminality the way they are.

and Cheney will move in and stay in. He has such a good deal with his deals through Khan, KBR, Hallibottomsup. He may want to be Lord of the Middle East and United States.

Lets face it, you don't have to be an old timer here to see that the Democrats have their own cabal of groups who get along only on a superficial level. 4-6 years ago everyone was screaming how the democratic party was falling apart at the seems, political fortunes turn and we would do well to remember that..

:shrug:

I think they want a Dem to come in and take all the blame for their mess, and I think they prefer Hillary. I listen to Limbaugh every now and then to hear what the other side is saying and he is so pro Hillary it is absurd. He keeps coming up with hopeful ways that she can still win the nomination, you can just tell he wants her in office. Of course he rose to 'stardom' based on his attacks of Bill throughout the 90's so maybe he just wants to keep his job.

Rush Limbaugh made so much money lambasting Bill Clinton, he was able to take on a hillbilly heroin addiction without seriously denting his bank balance.