Shameful, it really is...

And I think that it's just another sign the Republican Party has some major fissure issues to deal with, even if Romney does somehow oust Obama.

The Republican Party simply isn't as unified as it once was.

The Christian Right, the Libertarian Right, the Moderate Right, the Tea Party...

All factions, and they don't all see eye-to-eye, and that difference is showing up more and more.

Regardless of your own personal feelings towards it...for the most part, the Democratic Party doesn't have this sort of internal war between ideologically-opposed factions.

(I mean, the worst division the Democratic Party has is between Myself and The Stalin Supremacist.) ;)

Thoughts on this, and the future of the GOP as a party?

Will it trend the Christian-Right way, the Ron Paul Libertarian way, the Tea Party way...?

Geez, Eden, what the hell?

Look at a Ron Paul gathering, and the clear majority of people there are under 40. Go to any other Republican event, and the clear majority of people are over 40. The libertarians just have to wait a couple of decades and everyone else will die off - it's all a matter of time. How hard we fight for it will have some influence on when the tipping point is reached (not necessarily for the better), but I feel it is more or less inevitable.

All assuming they don't start sending us to the FEMA camps between now and then, of course.

I literally guessed exactly what you were going to say in this thread just by reading what could be seen of the title on the preview on the upper left. Time to get some more interesting and non-superficial material, pal.

The sad thing is, not only is this irrelevant, but you even misread the article. This rule change only applies to future conventions, NOT the present one (with Romney).

The day Obi reads something correctly is the day phrenology becomes popular again.

But anyway Ron Paul and his gang of gold hucksters are irrelevant. To take over the party you have to actually work at it. They wont.

@Tostoy - Some of us over 40 are also Ron Paul fans as far as the alternatives provided by the party so far. God knows I could never vote for Bachmann or Palin (to dangerously stupid on both counts), and Romney is wishy-washy. If only Huckabee had decided to join in this year's race...

Tolstoy is right. The libertarian-leaning wing, and to a lesser extent the Tea Party wing, is the future of the party if the party expects to survive. Large government and wars on drugs and terrorism are not popular with young people.

I've been around high schools recently as part of my job. The kids practically worship Ron Paul.

Granted, most can't vote, but in 2-4 years, look out GOP establishment

I wouldn't be upset if the party fractured into two or three factions except that it would give the democrats an advantage. But to have 3 main parties come out of it and return to a multi-party system would be great. Tea Party, Libertarian Party, and Conservative Party would be great as long as the Conservative Party didn't continue to be the Wishy-Washy Party it is right now.

The problem with so many parties,in the eyes of Republicans, would be that the Democrats would be much stronger because there would be no unified opposition to them. That doesn't mean that I support those radical conservatives, as it only helps Obama to see a fractured opposition.

You could also move to a country where the culture, media, economy and language are nearly identical, and where a somewhat sane multi-party system has existed for decades despite also being first-past-the-post. Corporate tax rates are both lower and more consistently enforced. Gun ownership is proportionally only half as high as the US, but so too is the gun crime rate. Freedom is generally seen as good, Christmas is not seen to be warred upon, and drugs are seen as bad but also not warred upon etc.

Blame Canada....

If I might ask a question from the other side of the Atlantic.

How do you guys see the growing Hispanic population affecting the results of future elections?

Hispanics will be switching to the Republican Party in large numbers at some point soon, mark my words. If the GOP doesn't facilitate that process by drumming out Arpaio-style crazy soon, Texas is going to be moving into swing state territory. And that, my friends, is the worst nightmare of every Republican strategist.

Yes I would assume, for example, that most would be very much on the pro-life side of the abortion debate.

I think they will switch to the GOP, but for different reasons. As more "American" generations of Hispanics are born and grow up in America, they will have no personal reason to support or vote for loose immigration policies. Also, Hispanics tend to be more religious than other demographics, so they will be reluctant to vote for a candidate who has liberal stances on social issues.

The GOP will stick to its guns on illegal immigration. Someone has to represent the silent majority that still thinks crossing international borders without permission is a serious crime.

Just because someone likes somebody at high school doesn't mean they will like that somebody once they get older. I don't see European parliaments swarming with Pirate parties.

@semck:

I read it; I know it applies to future conventions.

I also know that the RP supporters were moved by the GOP from the floor spots they were supposed to have to nosebleed seats, while The Territories--places that can't even vote--took their place on the floor.

In the rare instance I'll back a Ron Paulist Theory...

Do you honestly think they moved delegates from not only actual states but swing states at that (Nevada and others among them) for the Virgin Islands because they really felt it was more necessary to court the latter over the former?

It's another form of silencing the RP voters to give the illusion of unity and, while I don't like either faction, both should have their voices heard and not be treated so poorly.

Morally and Politically, in fact--after all, how smart a move IS IT to alienate parts of your own base in states you're going to have to capture to win the election, especially as RP already said last week he wasn't exactly high on Romney either, so if his base votes a different way and not for Romney in key states...

@Putin:

The day you're taken seriously again is the day Joseph Stalin rises to start the Zombie Soviet Union (actually, can that be the sequel to Abe Lincoln: Vampire Killer...JFK and Reagan IN--President Evil? Oh well, you're probably wedging that sickle even further up your ass as I type, so I'l quit wasting my time on the already wasted.)

@Gunfighter:

4 years ago, those same kids "worshipped" Barack Obama.

They're kids with short attention spans, and the most untrustworthy block of voters...

Just because RP is popular now doesn't mean he'll be popular with them in the future (especially as, well, with no malice intended, the man will likely be dead in the next 10-20 years, after all, and I'd argue this new Libertarian movement is tied in large part to his own personal charisma--I don't know what sort of charisma it is that people buy into, but I can't deny he has political charisma amongst plenty--so if Paul dies, might not the Libertarian movement die? And once this election is over...how many of these kids will be back in the RP camp, assuming he runs again--Constitutionalism sounds like a very nice idea, but I maintain that it's harder to support the more and more you learn about the nature of the socio-political world...those that do stay Paulites will likely be ardent, no doubt, but still, how many youngsters have stayed with Obama since the '08 days of "Yes We Can?")

That may be true, but your metaphor is rather bad since pirates are something little kids like, whereas we are talking about kids in high school, who actually have a political view and will likely stick with it unless there is something major to change it, IMO.

Don't discount the youthful Rand Paul in taking his father's, Ron Paul, place.

Gunfighter, in what way has the GOP establishment stuck to its guns on immigration so far? GWB compromised a ton, and so have a lot of GOP policymakers. I'm not saying that suddenly Republicans will abandon security altogether, but I think they have to and will tone down the border politics enough so that Hispanic communities in general are able to look past immigration to all the other issues where they do have convergent interests and beliefs.

@Draugnar:

True, but how often does the son measure up to the father, unfair though the comparison might be?

(Granted, Putin's still probably slobbering over Kim Jong-un the way he doted on his daddy, but still...)

jabber, you are seriously thinking about the brownwater criminals pirates? Pirates are a legitimate political movement with a programme. And high schoolers are the most volatile in any of their opinions, that's called growing up. Either your high school days are long over or you're fooling yourself. There's a reason why the most popular depiction of a Paulite is a 14 year old boy. His agenda is that more tempting when you don't have to handle the negatives of your "personal freedom"-

Draug, I hope you don't mean youthful as appealing to young voters, that's usually a very ridiculous rhetoric in regard to politicians who are around 40. For all practical purposes, pretty much everyone around 40 knows jack shit about first time voters and so they react to them in kind, they could as well be 80.

@ obiwan

Yeah, I know there are some caveats about going after young voters, especially with an aging figure like Ron Paul. That being said, the next generation is not socially conservative. The GOP has to cater to young voters who are smart enough to see that big government does not work and that social issues don't matter.

@ FS

Like I said, someone has to represent the pro-border enforcement people. I think that the GOP will do it. Bush had to compromise to keep his business buddies happy.

Obiwan, I'm sorry, but you said that THIS rules change was about silencing RP delegates at THIS convention who would not vote for Romney. That belies a misunderstanding of the fact that this convention was not affected.

As to seating changes -- stuff like this goes on at every political convention (or at least every one where there's been stiff dissent -- not something the Dems face this year, obviously, with an incumbent). I actually agree that it's stupid and unfortunate, but trying to read a lot into it is also stupid.

@uly - No, I meant as in will be around longer and has the charismatic appeal of his father. Nothing to do with young voters, although they do make up a large contingent of Paulies.

Yes, that is true.