Dec 21, 2012
Today, we're witnesses to the unraveling of the conservative coalition, and just maybe the Republican Party itself. Hey, a guy can dream! Greg Dworkin joined us to review the recent polling that reveals a pretty significant brand problem for the Republicans. A message problem, not a messenger problem. He also reminded us of the moment of silence being observed this morning in honor of the victims of Newtown. We also explored the phenomenon of Republican rigidity, noting that elected Republicans were simultaneously refusing to compromise on guns, taxes, the Fiscal Thingy, and pretty much everything under the sun. Which led us to the question of whether what we were dealing with was properly defined as a political party at all. From there, it was back to the topic of "constitutional hardball," and how the Republican practice of it across multiple issues during the George W. Bush administration set things seriously off-kilter for the foreseeable future. A good companion discussion to Thursday's exploration.