Chris Christie is the only chance the Republican Party has of staying in tact. If they don't nominate him in 2016, they'll be gone by 2024 with the third party rising in 2020.

I predict it will look more extreme than it does today. Eventually we'll hit a crisis point at which point they'll be forced - both parties, that is - to compromise. This may be economically, but I don't think that's the case because we've already hit a near-rock bottom. I think it will be either militarily or environmentally.

I'm thankful on that last point that Romney didn't win. He'd have led us into an environmental crisis in more than global warming/climate change. It'd be widespread and I'm so glad that didn't happen.

Now that the foreign policy is secure, we can full on commit to WW3! yay!

They're going to be become even crazier. Look at the extremists that got elected to the Senate, like the teabagger from TX. They're going to conclude that Romney was not a true conservative and go even more extreme, just like they concluded with McCain. The base never wanted Romney. The base just ousted most of the 'sensible' Republicans that exist in the Senate - people like Lugar, Bennett, etc. The GOP is going to be a regional party, completely irrelevant to the rest of the country.

hmm Bo I guess I feel like thats where they are now. America made it pretty clear tonight we ain't buying what they're selling. How does 4 more years of acting the same help return them to power?

I think they're too smart for that, Putin. Pandering so much to the right has been a ploy, and it worked for them for a while, but the GOP can adapt - my money says then will. Still, I hope you're right. It'd be interesting to see what fills that void.

YJ, it doesn't, but have they not shown a complete inability to compromise? They've shown that they have no intention of changing themselves for the people; rather, they attempt to change the people toward them. That's why they won't back off of rape even when it's killed them this whole time. That's why their main purpose in office if elected is to repeal everything that isn't theirs. That's why Romney would repeal Obamacare and replace it with Romneycare which is the same thing minus contraceptive coverage and abortions.

I'm pretty sure the number of Latinos in the USA is rising - we all have figured that out - and I'm also pretty sure that around 47% of Latinos in America are under 18. That means we have a future in appealing to minority interests. The Tea Party and the GOP have shown a complete inability to do so and I believe that will be exacerbated in the near future.

That's just the thing. This should have been a shoo-in for the Republicans. There was no possible way to screw up this victory, and they did it. Put up a right-of-middle nominee, write middle-of-the-road speeches that basically say "I'm not Obama," come up with some idea of what a reasonable alternative to Obama's policies are (or a reasonable expansion of his policies to differentiate yourself), and keep reminding the public "I'm not Obama."

This was a clusterfuck of incompetence, the kind political comedians have wet dreams about and only comes once every four years.

It won't. But they've completely neutered the voices of reason in the party and it's now a big echo chamber.

Could we see Blue Dogs merging with Fiscal Conservatives within the GOP, allowing Dems to move further to the left and the Tea Party remaining as a fringe third party?

Futurama depicted it best, I think. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs9P44voNfU

dubmdell, "This should have been a shoo-in for the Republicans." Not really. The Republicans were hoping that the Economy wouldn't have recovered as fast, that Unemployment would have stayed high and that Healthcare would have been repealed. All of these failed/succeeded during Obama's presidency.

When you root for failure, it doesn't always determine success.

I'd much rather see something like Gary Johnson or Jill Stein emerge than anything, but if the Tea Party does hang around, it will be more than a fringe third party. It'll be viable in elections. Look at - I know, long time ago - the election in 1848. Lewis Cass lost to Zachary Taylor. Taylor had 47% of the vote and Cass had 42%. Martin van Buren, having changed allegiances and formed the Free Soil Party, took the remaining vote. In New York, Cass and van Buren split the vote, allowing Taylor to take the state. Had Cass taken New York, Zachary Taylor never would have won that election. It was a third party. That's the kind of role I envision the Tea Party taking on if they hang around. That of spoiler.

The 2010 election spelled the end of Blue Doggery. I think the Blue Dogs will be very weak in the next Congress. Maybe 2010 was a blessing in disguise at least on that score.

Hey guys you are right, but its my opinion that the steadfast refusal to compromise this term was all part of a 4 year plan to get Obama OUT OUT OUT whatever the cost. That plan failed. You really think losing this battle is going to cause the collapse of the entire party?

Opposition to Obama forestalled the collapse of the GOP in 2009. Now that that's an impossibility, they will turn on each other. The GOP establishment barely had control of its base this go around. They will lose it completely now as establishment candidates have failed in two straight elections.

Oh I don't doubt there will be a massive shift of power and influence within the party, but the party itself will endure. They don't call it the GOP for nothing, my friend.

GOP will split. About 20% or so will go off and form an extreme right party and the other 80% wrench back control. The same thing will happen to democrats eventually. They're almost as polarized as the Republicans. The Republicans are just easier targets so they get more attention.

http://xkcd.com/1127/large/

You'll notice that while the radical right has almost taken complete control of the GOP, the radical left is growing as well.

Democrats are nowhere near as polarized as the Republicans.

Somebody wise once said - the Democrats hate their base, the Republicans are afraid of theirs. The establishment is firmly in control of the Democratic Party. There's no real insurgency going on. That's because would be Dem insurgents are too unstrategic and foolish to care about electoral politics.

I agree with both statements, but given the current trend there will come a point in time when Democrats will face the same issue. But Dems are definitely more in control of their base

The republicans aren't going down. I think almost unanimously they realize the selected the wrong candidate because they had no good candidates. Even if it was something drastic, in the last century the parties have proved very durable. At the beginning of the 20th century both parties suffered set backs that in all logic should have left them crippled but they survived. The GOP will be back.

And the Tea Party despite all the talk, is not a real movement, it is a set of talking points and an attitude. This election showed that more than ever.

They chose the wrong running mate in 08 and the wrong candidate in 12.

Where do we go from here? We buy guns, gold, and food and we get ready for the coming economic maelstrom.

Don't forget a dog eared copy of the Turner Diaries, Dipplayer2004.

"And the Tea Party despite all the talk, is not a real movement, it is a set of talking points and an attitude. This election showed that more than ever."

Then how come they primary'd and defeated a slew of establishment Repugs?

Still the slams, SillyPutty? OK, then I uess we have to deal with the stupidity of the Dummycrats still holding the Senate and the White House.

Fuck dude. Be a bit more respectful.

I'm not really sure in which thread to post this link to a picture of Obama riding a unicorn and shooting rainbows out of his hand, so I'll post it here.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_md3n4z7mLm1qzsr1io1_500.jpg