Are They That Bad?

That was the question I asked my boy as we watched the Cubs batter the Diamondbacks on Tuesday, 11 to three. They really are, he said. And that was the thought that occurred to me as I took in Wednesday's politics. Republican Arlen Specter's decision to become a Democrat now makes the Democratic Congress veto proof. It's a nice present for Obama's on his 100 day victory lap.

While I'm ideologically tilted to the Democratic Party, I don't see one party rule as good this nation removing as it does the accountability a vibrant minority party should provide. However, the Republican Party has by its own choice ceased to become relevant. They are a midway sideshow, a mildly crazed Greek chorus of hooters and naysayers, a walking abortion of talking heads and flat taxers, an ever narrowing slice of humanity. It's great fun to watch, but it isn't good for our country.






Here is a gentle suggestion-- not a bum steer-- to Republicans from someone who used to be a Reagan Republican but who is now a Democrat.

Build trust.

The kind of rhetoric you see in that video and on right wing cable doesn't develop credability.

Americans, as a people, are fair minded and practical, and it's a mistake-- a politically losing proposition-- to assume that they are simple minded and ideological. Americans can hold strong pro-life opinions, for example, but they will vote for a pro-life candidate if they think that the candidate will represent them reasonably. The Republican brand has tarnished not because the brand was bad but because the people who represented that brand were stupid or evil. The messenger is the message, and the Republican party needs better messengers. If they don't find better messengers, the elephant party will become the dinosaur party.