And that is probably the main reason respect for Congress is at the level it is.  You've got two camps down there who don't give a shit what happens providing the person they elect has a (D) or an (R) behind his name. 

Gop is a prime example from the Repub side.  For the past couple of years I have seen him on here and in the other group excusing Republican positions as mere negotiating tactics, supporting Obamacare, admitting the Republicans are wrong on some positions and stating that the the lunatic fringe players in the presidential race will not win.  Not one can I recall him offering any real criticism of what either Obama or the Dems have done.  And yet, despite not having anything substantial against the Dems in the past couple of years and being critical of his own parties positions - especially those of the uber conservative wing who appear to be running the show at the moement - he is prepared to throw his vote to whoever will wear that (R) designation no matteer what that candidate's positions or policies are. 

  

Oopsie.
The GOP pre-selection isn't working as planned.

I can't remember gop endorsing a candidate. Instead he has predicted outcomes and expressed generally pro-pre-Teaparty Republican sentiments. It's none of my business, but I predict he will vote Republican unless the Repub candidate is a dangerous megalomaniac (and here, gop, I am referring to Gingrich).

I'm the same way.  I'm going to vote for the Democrat candidate unless by some miracle the Republican convention yields a Repub candidate who promises to move the country toward universal health care, away from the quasi-theocracy that Santorum, Perry, Gingrich and most Southern Baptists say they prefer, supports women's power over their own reproductive systems, supports the rights of working schmos to bargain collectively over working conditions and wages, etc., etc., etc. That Republican candidate has not yet shown up, so look for me to vote Dem. I don't expect my reasonable Republican friends to hold it against me.

And gop, regarding my place in this group that wouldn't like Romney if his first and middle names were "Mother" and Theresa": I do find it hard to respect the guy's integrity because I think that in his heart of hearts he doesn't believe what he tells the Radical Republican base about immigration reform, abortion, Obama's "socialism", "Obamacare", and so forth. It's bunk and he knows it. But I'd respect him even less if he were sincere. If we have to have a
Republican President, I would prefer Romney to all the others currently offered, precisely because of his insincerity on those issues. My capacity to forgive him for what he's saying, and my least-bad preference for a Romney Republican presidency, are based in my opinion (hope) that he is lying to get nominated.

I think Romney's lying to get nominated, too.  He's a Northeastern moderate. Fiscal conservative, social moderate. The type of guy I may have voted for a decade ago. 

http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/archive/2012/01/08

I love the fact that Gingrich is a round bomb in the doonesbury cartoons.  it suits him so well.  hehe

Now, stop that.  That's how Regan got elected.

I can't remember gop endorsing a candidate. Instead he has predicted outcomes and expressed generally pro-pre-Teaparty Republican sentiments. It's none of my business, but I predict he will vote Republican unless the Repub candidate is a dangerous megalomaniac (and here, gop, I am referring to Gingrich).

 As far as I know he hasn't endorsed any of the candidates.  All he has done is said, on an individual basis, that each of them, except Romney, wouldn't win the nomination.  What he has said today, though, is that he and his fellow Republicans would vote for a dangerous megalomaniac regardless of the impact on the country just because that guy has an "(R)" behind his name.  The unfortunate thing is that I haven't noticed him being particularly pro-Tea Party.  He's always excused the Tea Party caucusses excesses as mere negotiating tactics even when they have been screaming to bring the country down.  To me, he seems to be more reasonable and ready to compromise than the Tea Party.  He's even spoken in favor of Obamacare.

Something else he has done is describe the GOP as a big tent with room for all different walks of life and beliefs.  That was probably the case even five years ago but no longer.  Now, as we can see by the posturing of the potential candidates, there's no room for anything but rabid righties.  They are even proud of it. 

I can't help contrasting the Gop condidates of 2008 with this crop.  There were real leaders and good potential Presidents like John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson and even a rational Mitt Romney (I honestly think he has gone power crazy).  A couple of them were on the fringe but nobody from any political stripe thought they would win.  Today, there is nothing there but the fringe but Gop and his more rational cohorts are so blinded by party loyalty they will vote for whoever the candidate is regardless of the effect on the country should that person win.

Really, it would be like you voting for Louis Farakhan just because he had (D) behind his name. 

 

Democrats and Republican don't decide elections, Independents do. Romney is much easier for Independents to swallow than Gingrich and they are not happy with Obama. The worst thing for Democrats is to have Romney nominated. That is why I plan on voting for whom ever is in 2nd, anyone other than Romney, in the primary. I have to hold my nose and declare Republican, but that is a small price to pay.

Jim, I'm not comfortable discussing gop further here. He can post for himself on his views.

I think it's sensible to be alarmed about the Republican Party as we see it today through the eyes of the Republican candidates. But I keep thinking, as I look around at neighbors and acquaintances, that there's a vast body of people who call themselves Republican and are not what Gingrich and Santorum and Romney see the need to pander to in these primaries. Conservatism used to be a point of view. Now it's a thought brand , peddled, through a very sucessful franchise owned by tooth and claw capitalists, by unabashed liars over radio and TV (who, as our resident Republican says, are blowhard fools, and why does anyone pay attention to them). It sells pretty well, as skillful propanda always does. It's streaming dishonesty.

We can hope there are millions of people around us who are Republican voters not listening to it, not buying it. Hopefully there are more them in the big tent than the other kind. But you're right, you wouldn't know it from this year's Republican primaries.

MPicky, I vacillate between thinking Gingrich can't possibly win and that he just might, which would be awful. Romney hasn't insulted the nation's black voters, as Gingrich has.  On the other hand, Gingrich hasn't alienated Hispanic voters, as Romney has. Romney's personal history isn't an affront to women everywhere, like Newt's. Newt's a member of a more mainstream religious cult than Mitt is. Newt's a more skillful crowd exciter than Mitt, but Mitt projects a steadier, calmer vision.  It's a tough call, who'd be a more difficult opponent. But in the event a Republican wins, I prefer Mitt by a mile, for the sake of the country.

Jim, I'm not comfortable discussing gop further here. He can post for himself on his views.

I'm not comfortable with it either.  For the record, I both like and respect Gop.  He's a very bright guy which is why I'm so puzzled by his blind loyalty to a political party.  I wish now, though, that I hadn't singled him out.

JW-I agree, Romney would be better for America than Gingrich, which is why Independents will vote for him. If the choice is between Gingrich or Obama, Independents will vote for Obama. Today the news is that with Gingrich's win in SC, Obama's electability rating shot up to 56%, the highest it has been in 6 months.

that is because he has guilt about it.  most of the rich do.  it is their Achilles heel.  the 1% are very class conscious.

it is not just bloggers, gop.  there are a lot of people who are hurting- whose incomes have FALLEN.  and they have fallen, in part, due to people like Romney.  what he has done to several of those enterprises was not necessary.  several of those businesses were fine.  and would have been fine for many years if they weren't run through Bane meat grinder.  i know, i know- it is pure capitalism, and he had every RIGHT to do what he did.  it was all LEGAL.  i got that.  but there is legal, and there is good, and i find that gulf to be very wide in the case of Romney.

he reminds me of Father Ubu (Pere Ubu).  you know that image?

that makes perfect sense given the following two factoids:

of the four that remain, head to head polling indicates that Gingrich is LAST.
Gingrich has twice as many people who dislike him as like him, and more people that dislike him than Obama has.
given the fact that he has been out of DC for 15 years, i find that remarkable.