Jon Huntsman: Republican party is "Devoid of a soul."

[TaraJo]

[Minimalist]

[Mister Agenda]

He's right, the Republicans will eventually find their feet again and the Democrats will become complacent. Unfortunately, the latter will probably come before the former, and thus, delay it.

[Ryantology]

That would require the Republicans, as a whole, to alienate vast swathes of their base. They'll never be nationally-relevant again as long as the evangelical wing steers the bird, and the window of opportunity they have selling fear of minorities to white voters is sliding inexorably shut.

The only way to avert the marginalization of the GOP is for some tremendous disaster to happen while Democrats are in control. But, even that may not be enough in ten years.

[TaraJo]

He's right, the Republicans will eventually find their feet again and the Democrats will become complacent. Unfortunately, the latter will probably come before the former, and thus, delay it.

You're probably right, but there's really some amount of uncertainty. I've watched political parties have terrible election cycles before, but they've always managed to bounce back. The problem is, to bounce back, they had to listen to their critics, compromise and change. The thing about the current GOP is that, as Huntsman said in the article, the current incarnation of the Republican party equates compromise with cowardice. They dismiss their opposition as traitors and the adamantly refuse to change.

And if you look at American history, you'll see several political parties have come and gone. I mean, nobody is voting for the Whigs or the Federalists, are they? I don't think we'll slip into all the way into a one party system, but we have had long periods where only one party had sigificant power. For example, Dems were in charge of the majority of the government from the 30's until the 90's. It's also possible the Republicans will disappear, only to be replaced with something else (hopefully, something more reasonable).

[Minimalist]

I found Huntsman to be the least objectionable candidate in the early republican field which would have been the kiss of death for him among the angry, old, stupid, white, male, idiots who form the "base" of the GOP.

The problem any republican faces, no matter how much he understands the need to appeal to a general electorate which comprises groups other than their base is that in order to get the nomination you have to get past the lunatic fringe which votes in the primaries.

This puts them in the position of having to move so far to the right that they are crippled in the general election. The problem with republicunts is that the more you tell them that they are becoming a minority party the more they shriek that "liberals" are out to get them and destroy their vision of a 1950's white America where Leave It To Beaver reigns supreme. I agree the republicunts can change....but how can they do it without voters?

[A Theist]

I found Huntsman to be the least objectionable candidate in the early republican field which would have been the kiss of death for him among the angry, old, stupid, white, male, idiots who form the "base" of the GOP.

The problem any republican faces, no matter how much he understands the need to appeal to a general electorate which comprises groups other than their base is that in order to get the nomination you have to get past the lunatic fringe which votes in the primaries.

This puts them in the position of having to move so far to the right that they are crippled in the general election. The problem with republicunts is that the more you tell them that they are becoming a minority party the more they shriek that "liberals" are out to get them and destroy their vision of a 1950's white America where Leave It To Beaver reigns supreme. I agree the republicunts can change....but how can they do it without voters?

angry, old, stupid, white, male, idiots who form the "base" of the GOP.

...then you should be a perfect fit, angry old dude.