Quote:
Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist
The article points out more how badly the Republican candidates get called out for any slight step toward the middle as opposed to the left. Inevitably then, the more and more extreme candidates win nominations that can never win the middle votes
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I'm not convinced that is a media thing though. That is an inherent property of the GOP base. When they feel things threaten their liberty (i.e. it goes against THEIR religious beliefs) the base moves further right. Now that base reads and watches the conservative news and that news needs viewers/readers to survive so perhaps they fan the flames somewhat but I'm not sure they are the cause. I think the cause if the base itself which is ever aging and ever more extreme/defensive with their views. The candidate and media get involved and it becomes some sort of viscous circle.
End result, though, is no different no matter the view you take on it. In order for the GOP to survive they are going to have to create a new base. They have to put the Tea Party and Trump yahoos to the side and move the center and attract the center liberals and independents again. They are not going to get anywhere ignoring that race is a huge issue in the US, ignoring that women are in fact equal and have rights to their bodies, etc etc etc. The only way they can do is to make a fundamental shift away from what everyone likes to call the historical base.
They aren't ready to do that and they won't do that until they put up a candidate that gets absolutely destroyed in an election. Someone so idiotic and right wing that absolutely no one outside the hardcore base can stand to vote for them. In short, they need to stop getting involved in the minutia of peoples pet peeves and actually decide they want to run a country not peoples lives.