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A couple things this past week helped pull me out of my post-Election depression. (I know, Obama, Change, Hope, Bush Gone, and all that, but all I could think of was 52% of CALIFORNIANS voting to take away gays’ right to marry, and the dismal showing of almost all non-incumbent OC Democrats.) But then along came this Gallup Poll last week just in time to pull me out of my drunken stupor:
Seems that Americans’ approval/disapproval of the Republican Party, already
pretty dismal BEFORE the election, has gone to ABYSMAL in the weeks since: 34% approve, 61% disapprove. I guess a pointless endless illegal 2-trillion-dollar war, a priceless historic American city demolished, an economy in meltdown and the nation made a laughingstock will get you down to 40% approval, but add the stench of “LOSER” and then you really go down. (Oh, since you ask and aren’t bothering to click the link, the Dems remain at a healthy 55% approve, 39% disapprove.)
The comic gold comes later in the 
poll when the folks who have remained proud Republicans are asked what direction the Party should take now: 28% want it to stay exactly the same, while 59% want it to become even “more conservative” (a grand old word I feel is abused in these contexts.) That’s 87% of Republicans who want either MORE or EVEN MORE of the same we’ve had these last eight years: More de-regulation, more trickle-down economics, more war, torture and eavesdropping, more executive overreach, less environmental 
protection, more immigrant and gay bashing. I am afraid that moderates like Ron St. John, Red Vixen, and Schwarzenegger Centrist Republican (wherever he disappeared to) are going to be without a party for some time. Sorry guys… there’s room over here?
TPM’s Eric Kleefeld concluded his article on this poll with the wisecrack, “Hmm, can anyone say Palin/Bachmann in 2012?” I feel that he is overlooking the talents and wisdom of one of the national GOP’s real up-and-coming stars! (pictured at right)
So. All of this has to eventually trickle down to Fortress Orange County, doesn’t it? We’ve been registering circles around the OCGOP (as even the grim Shadow admits.) At the very least we should be able to take out our most corrupt Congressman, Ken Calvert, in 2010, and continue our gains against the aging Viet-GOP cabals in AD 68. Till then, let a thousand City Council candidates bloom!
I am afraid that moderates like Ron St. John, Red Vixen, and Schwarzenegger Centrist Republican (wherever he disappeared to) are going to be without a party for some time. Sorry guys… there’s room over here?
Well, I am very satisfied that a really smart guy with a plan , Barack Obama, executed a stellar campaign and won the office of President. I am also satisfied that the GOP suffered massive losses in the last election. I am also satisfied that a filibuter-proof majority is not all that big of a deal because the remaining Republicans in the House/Senate will be under intense scrutiny to actually do the right thing or be booted again in 2/4 years.
I am also satisfied that, in a break from traditional Party norms, that Mrs. Clinton or some other party loyalist “who is next in line” was not just coronated at the Democratic convention. Diligence, skill, and visionary ethics-driven efforts by Barack Obama has set the expectations bar at the highest level seen. I admire what he’s accomplished and I look forward to seeing what he will do when in actual office.
Thanks for the invitation to the democratic party. You still have a bunch of losers that I despise, but I’ll consider it if your party can deliver something of substance. As far as I am concerned the Democrats are largely untested – having been out of power for decades- and now have a chance to show us what they are all about.
We ALL know Republicans are a mess. Game time for the Dems.