I invite krellin and anyone else to pose their arguments for a Republican successor

Probably Republican. Obama may have actually moved the US a few inches to the left by the end of his 2nd term which will give its majority right leaning population a reason to vote Republican again. Also the chances are that the black vote will shrink again without a black candidate to vote for (unless the dems and reps have a secret stash of them somewhere they're keeping well hidden). And the longer a party remains in power, the more people they upset, and the more voters they lose.

As an outsider... if the Republicans can find a candidate of the middle class, (s)he will win. If it is a candidate from and for the rich, (s)he will loose.

@Octavious, if the Republicans take the attitude as you, it is a certain loss. Such as an easy thinking.

If you read Redstate.com, apparently the problem is that the message isn't pure enough.(and I recommend it. Nothing like real time comedy).

But the current iteration of religious nuts, libertarians, gun nuts, gaycists, racists, and anti-immigration blowhards is only united right now in that they hate Obama.

Example: Any libertarian that is actually worth the title would oppose much of the religious rights agenda (using the powers of the government to enforce a mythical Christian imprint on the US).

And they project that Texas is going to go blue in the next 2-3 presidential elections, based on returns from last time and projected growth. There is no electoral college math that results in a GOP win without Texas. So they have to adapt, or die.

They'll probably adapt, and hopefully we'll get a less insane right wing party in this country.

If it's Hillary running for the Democrats, she'll win. If not, it's open for the Republicans.

What will be the Republican's platform to run on?

I wouldn't be surprised if a Republican won, given that Obama is a two term President. However, given the current climate and division within the GOP, another Democrat wouldn't surprise me, although I don't think it would be Hillary. Andrew Cuomo, maybe.

I have recently turned 18 (very angry, missed the chance to vote for president by 1 month) and it has always confused me: I know rightists are conservatives and leftists are the opposite, but which party is which? What party is barack obama a part of?

...............Obama is a Democrat

"Leftists" are also known as the Democratic Party, which is a party comprised of dirty socialists, moochers, lazy bums, the unemployed, Latinos, African-Americans, sodomites, the poor, and other undesirables who hate freedom, love spending money, watch soccer, live in Brooklyn or Portland, and have the audacity to help the unfortunate. "Rightists" are the Republicans, who are given the nickname due to the fact they are always right about everything. The Republican Party is made up of real, hard working, red-blooded Americans who love football, killing things, red meat, freedom, big breasts, and make up 99% of all real God-fearing Americans.

Somehow, even though less than 1% of Americans are Democrat, they somehow rigged the last two elections by giving hundreds of millions of illegal immigrants drivers licenses to win the Presidency, caused the recession as well as the Great Depression, which never really ended, are responsible for requiring that all Americans become gay, pay 100% in taxes, and give immigrants and the poor free healthcare, Yankees tickets, and vacation homes in the Hamptons.

The Democrats will be hard-pressed to find a candidate with the charisma and star power of Obama, and it will cost them the next election.

To capitalize on the Democrats' lack of a "savior" candidate (like Obama), the Republicans need to double down on some issues and abandon others (particularly social issues). They need to double down on immigration, spending, gun rights, and possibly abortion. They need to abandon all other issues under the guise of shifting away from the authoritarian side and more to the libertarian side. If the Republicans and libertarians can unite under a common candidate/platform (personally, I am *very* excited about Rand Paul), the Democrats are screwed.

2ndWhite- While I may not necessarily agree with your comment, that was hilarious to read :) hahaha

@2nd - Whoa, whoa, whoa. I have a problem with your statement above. You said that

The Republican Party is made up of real, hard working, red-blooded Americans who love football, killing things, red meat, freedom, big breasts, and make up 99% of all real God-fearing Americans.

I am not a Republican, and yet I love big breasts. Explain.

It depends more on what 2015 looks like than anything we know now. Events will decide.

GF I think your words are mostly sound. I would disagree that doubling down on abortion and immigration is wise for republicans. IMO those should be their #1 drops. They took a huge hit with women voters and hispanics last cycle because of those issues and it will only be worse if they continue to press them. They need to make up their deficit in minorities and women to be a real contender.

I'm also rather skeptical that Republicans are yet on course to fix their internal struggles. They still seem to be in self-destruct mode. I absolutely believe that this will lead to them rediscovering themselves, but I'm not sure that it will happen by 2016. It's possible, and if they do then they have a strong chance to win

With white set to become a "minority" in and of themselves...and with Republicans being mostly WORMs (White Old Rural Men)...I see no way they could win the next few presidential elections (divisions aside). You get morons spouting off about "wetbacks" and talk of "self deportation"...the minorities will likely stay away from Republicans for a good long while. There is a new class of Republicans per se that when it comes to power in 20 years might be able to peel this vote away but for now...they are a lost cause at the national level.

The Democrats do not need star power. They just need a person who can show the people they have the interests of the people in heart (and hopefully back it up...and please goddess not Hilary). The Republicans will keep shooting themselves in the foot (47% video anyone?) pretty much handing the Presidency to the Dems.

BTW...Jack_Klein has it spot on!

I would argue that the Republicans need 'star power' more than anything, given the existing divisions within the party. Even Rand Paul wouldn't be able to unite the GOP as it currently stands. The GOP needs to appeal to minorities and women as well as becoming more technologically savvy. The Obama campaign was miles ahead of Romney's campaign as far as using technology to connect with voters. And 'doubling down' on abortion and immigration does nothing to address the GOP's basic shortcoming; in so many words, they need more voters, not fewer but more fervent voters. Inclusion is the key, not exclusion.

Don't underestimate the GOP, Bengal. A tiny shift toward center on social issues and they will be hugely relevant again. They will absolutely do it. The only question is when.

But realize this: forcing the republicans to center-shift is a victory for the left, even if the republicans win and it's a loss for democrats. If you redefine the 50-yard-line enough times, real change happens.

the republicans will win. that is an official blankflag prediction. they want the parties to change every once in a while because that way they can get all their items passed every decade with the illusion of choice. although obama and bush had almost the exact same policies so maybe its not as important to elect a republican, since the democrats can not only go to war but declare that war=peace and we are bombing them to protect civilians or something. but still, trust in the system is nearly dead. so i am quite sure they will put in a republican. it might make it easier for them to impose their austerity to finish off the economy and cement the police state. they could do it with obama, he probably wants to, but they see that the democratic party has lost so many followers that it would be safer for the perception of democracy to wait on the most serious austerity until a republican wins. to be honest even if a democrat won they would still go forward with harsh austerity but they want people to think there is democracy so they will try hard to get a republican in.

If I were to guess right now, and many things can change in 4 years, I would say Democrat. The Republican party is a mess right now. But, I do see a way that the Republicans can win it.

1. Banish the Tea Party. This is the single biggest problem that they have, IMO. These extremists are ruining any chance that the Republicans have with the common man. The more power they get, the less "common men" will vote with them. In other words, move back towards, not into, the middle.
2. Take the lead in Immigration Reform. If you are going to put up someone like Rubio and say "hey look. We have a minority that is in a leadership role," then you have to follow through. You do not have to cave on the issue, but you cannot just dig in and say "self deportation is the way."
3. Manage your message. Republicans say, and I am paraphrasing here, that fiscal conservatism and trickle down economics is good for the country. Prove it. All the middle class hears is "take money from us and give it to rich, white guys."

If the Republicans can do this, then I see them as having a great chance at the next election. If they do none of them? A worse drubbing than the last time and the real chance of being marginalized for the foreseeable future.

With the white religious population of the US booming thanks to immigration from Spanish speaking nations the long term future of the Republican party as right wing religious party seems safe enough. Damned shame really. The US would benefit from a bit more separation between religion and politics.

@Octavious - actually, that is completely wrong. The Republican won an overwhelming amount of the white male vote last year, and lost by more that the last election. The truth is, the white male population is shrinking and by not branching out to the minority population, the Republicans are losing ground each and every year.

The Republicans need a Bill Clinton -- someone who can present a new image of the party, who can drag the party kicking and screaming back towards the center while giving off every indication that this was the direction they were headed all along, someone who can look strong and decisive and get his party to swallow their goddamned medicine. If they can find that person, they can reclaim a huge percentage of their lost audience. Someone like a Jon Huntsman, but with charisma, could do more for the party in one election than 10 members of the Paul family ever could.

hmm Octavious I think that logic would be sound if those Spanish Catholics were actually voting Republican. They aren't anymore, because of the differences on immigration. Right?

@jimgov

Nope, the white population is growing faster than ever. It's only shrinking if you play a bunch of games with stats (which Yanks are traditionally inclined to do, I admit) and pretend that large chunks of the white population aren't really white. If you did the same thing with the black population you'd find them shrinking as well. All rather silly, really.

@ yellowjacket

That's a very short term problem. Immigration is a big deal when you're a recent immigrant. It doesn't take long before that changes and you're cursing those new arrivals that are coming over and taking your job by undercutting your wages. The Republicans will be able to turn that around easily enough.

Their biggest problem is that they can't argue to bring back core Republican polices (low taxes and the like) because the Democrats haven't got rid of them yet. Obama's ineptitude and inability to get anything done is the Democrat's biggest strength.

@Ocatvious - We may have to back up a bit here. By white male, I mean white, non-hispanic male. And by that definition, it is shrinking as a percentage of the voting population. And it is the white, non-hispanic male that overwhelmingly votes Republican. I am looking for the stats now, which I have seen, and will post them once I find them.

@Octavious. I'm not so sure. I think most 2nd and 3rd generation Latin-Americans have very strong pro-immigration opinions. The reason Republicans are suffering from this is because people of Latin American descent are starting to become a major voting bloc - they can't just ignore them any longer and it's only going to get worse.

Republicans (if you want to look at it from a "maximize vicotory potential" standpoint) are silly to continue to alienate these people because they are in general devoutly religions and politically conservative. They SHOULD be Republican voters.

http://www.cnn.com/election/2012/results/race/president#exit-polls 62% Romney
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls/#USP00p1 57% McCain

Romney won a greater percentage of white male votes than McCain, yet still lost the election.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2012/11/08/president-obama-and-the-white-vote-no-problem/

This chart shows the decrease of white voters over the years as a percentage of voters. White (non-hispanic voters) have decreased from about 88% in 1980 to about 73% in 2012.