And that, I think, has been the core of the problem – a naïve refusal by many in politics and the media to focus on the serious agenda underlying all that ridiculous right-wing rhetoric.
Here's the problem: the agenda is quite clear. Unfortunately, far too many liberal pundits and partisans, in concert with the media, have decided to label the conservative opposition as racist, as sexist, as unrepresentative and behind the times, which allows them to ignore how mainstream and reasonable the points of view often are. It then gets to the point where opposition to Barack Obama is not based in policy from previously-disengaged voters angry about a health care bill and a stimulus package, but simply from racism - the always-easy go-to for decades. If Hillary Clinton had won, the "Republican War on Women" would have merely been shifted to 2009 as opposed to 2012 with the same results - why bother engaging in discussion about "the serious agenda" when we know our go-to constituencies will lap up ignorant claims of racism like a pig at the trough?
How much further can the GOP go to the right without openly declaring themselves the party of racism and religious dominionism and embracing violence as a tactic?
There's a ways left to go in order to move rightward. The NSA issues of the summer have awoken the libertarian streak that the Tea Party movement stirred up. But, of course, libertarianism is just about getting rich white males in power, right? I'm sure that messaging will continue to work, allowing those opposed to ignore "the serious agenda" once more.
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Here's the problem: the agenda is quite clear. Unfortunately, far too many liberal pundits and partisans, in concert with the media, have decided to label the conservative opposition as racist, as sexist, as unrepresentative and behind the times, which allows them to ignore how mainstream and reasonable the points of view often are. It then gets to the point where opposition to Barack Obama is not based in policy from previously-disengaged voters angry about a health care bill and a stimulus package, but simply from racism - the always-easy go-to for decades. If Hillary Clinton had won, the "Republican War on Women" would have merely been shifted to 2009 as opposed to 2012 with the same results - why bother engaging in discussion about "the serious agenda" when we know our go-to constituencies will lap up ignorant claims of racism like a pig at the trough?
How much further can the GOP go to the right without openly declaring themselves the party of racism and religious dominionism and embracing violence as a tactic?
There's a ways left to go in order to move rightward. The NSA issues of the summer have awoken the libertarian streak that the Tea Party movement stirred up. But, of course, libertarianism is just about getting rich white males in power, right? I'm sure that messaging will continue to work, allowing those opposed to ignore "the serious agenda" once more.