As Republicans ponder 2012 defeat, party’s philosophy hangs in the balance

From the Washington Post:

Not quite six weeks after Republicans lost a presidential contest that many of them thought was in the bag, the shock has begun to wear off. The recriminations, on the other hand, are likely to go on for quite some time.

And the tough work — figuring out what needs fixing — has only just begun.

Some Republicans still argue that nothing is fundamentally wrong with the party. Or nothing that a better get-out-the-vote operation, a field of more appealing candidates, and more outreach to Hispanics and women wouldn’t repair.

But others are coming to the conclusion that the problem goes deeper than that, to the party’s philosophy and policies, which are getting further out of step with the nation.

“Republicans have lost a majority of the popular vote in five out of the last six elections,” GOP pollster Whit Ayres said. “There’s a message there. The Republicans need a new business model, and a new product for the new century. It’s not just a problem of one candidate or one campaign.”

That gloomy assessment is shared even by some of the GOP’s most ardent ideological warriors.

More here.

So obviously, it's the GOP message, the core of their beliefs, that's the problem.  Xenophobia, racism, castigation of the poor, hollowing out the middle class in order to enrich the already rich, all that stuff's been played out.  The demographics are against them over the long term, and I think the most hardcore of the Conservative Movement understand this deep down, which is probably why their conscious reaction is to become more strident in their psychosis.  But, in the end, they'll lose on that which is most important to them.

That's why the GOP establishment is becoming braver, as the above linked article explains, in their admonishment of the Tea Party influence.  What the Republican elite may not understand, however, is just how strong the monster they created has become.  How on earth will they convince these people, who have intertwined these losing propositions with their very identities, to back down?  To do so, for them, is psychic death.

That is, the crazy Republican rank-and-file activist base will literally have to change who they are in order for the party to moderate itself.  Is that even possible?  Pass the popcorn; this is going to become very interesting.

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