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Grassroots Activists Pushing GOP to the Right
Matthew Yglesias — ... There’s been a lot of talk lately about the Republican Party moderating its message, especially on social issues, but Ben Smith and Jonathan Martin points out that among the party’s grassroots the only appetite is for change in the other direction: ...

What Can The Right-Wing Party In The U.S. Learn From The Tribulations Of The Disastrously Defeat Yesterday Of The Right-Wing Party In Iceland?
DownWithTyranny! — ... This morning Ben Smith and Jonathan Martin at Politico have the worst possible news for the Republican Party. It's own base, driven mad by years of hate-filled propaganda, is rebelling against any Republican politicians who move towards the mainstream. The base wants the pre-adolescent, obstructionist behavior radicals and extremists like Limbaugh, Beck, Coulter and Hannity extol to gain cable ratings points. It works in the ratings game but most Americans hate the extremism and see through the obstructionism. ...

The GOP Base Gets More Radical
The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan — On marriage, immigration and spending, the intensity of the far right is increasing, not decreasing, according to the Politico: "My e-mail overfloweth," said David Overholtzer, a longtime GOP activist in western Iowa's Pottawattamie County. "Amnesty is still ...

Quotes of the day
Hot Air » Top Picks — ... County. ‘Amnesty is still very much a hot-button and gay marriage especially is here in Iowa. The view is that we’ve got to hold our legislators’ and governors’ feet to the fire.’ ‘I’ve never seen the grass-roots quite as motivated, concerned and angry,’ said Steve Scheffler, the head of the Iowa Christian Alliance and the state’s RNC committeeman… Asked about how a presidential candidate urging the party toward the middle on cultural issues would fare, Scheffler said flatly: ‘They’re not gonna go anywhere.’” ***“At a recent listening session that Ryan held in East Troy, a ...

reasons we still don't take the hardly-ever-right wing seriously
skippy the bush kangaroo — in response to a ben smith politico piece titled in gop base, a 'rebellion brewing', an apparently-conservative commentor warns the rest of us: ...

What the Tea Parties Can Teach Moderate Republicans
The Moderate Voice — ... A recent article in Politico states that while there has been some beliefs and opinions that believe the GOP should change, the reality is that the so-called base of the party is still very much alive, even after two drubbings: ...

Links for 2009-04-26 [del.icio.us]
FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog — ... "It's quite possible for this virus to evolve... when viruses evolve, clearly they can become more dangerous to people," said Keiji Fukuda, of the global health watchdog. Mr Fukuda also called for international vigilance as health experts wait to see whether the virus will turn into a worldwide pandemic. Over 1,300 people are now thought to have contracted the virulent H1N1 swine influenza after it mutated into a form that spreads from human to human. In GOP base, a 'rebellion brewing' "There is a sense of rebellion brewing," said ...

links for 2009-04-27
FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog — ... (tags: Twitter facebook) In GOP base, a 'rebellion brewing' "There is a sense of rebellion brewing," said Katon Dawson, the outgoing South Carolina Republican Party chairman, who cited unexpectedly high ...

Poll: 69 percent approve of Obama, highest ?right track? numbers in six years.
The Hollywood Liberal — ... Obama’s decision to release the torture memos, but only 49 percent support his blanket ban on torture. That said, a majority still favors holding investigations into the Bush administration’s use of torture. Update Politico reports that anger is building in the GOP base. “There is a sense of rebellion brewing ,” said Katon Dawson, the outgoing South Carolina Republican Party chairman, who cited unexpectedly high attendance at anti-tax “tea parties” last week. This entry was posted on Monday, April 27th, 2009 at 4:33 am and is filed under ...

You Extreme Right Wing Extremists Are Just Too Extremist
Pirate's Cove — ... Or so thinks the Politico, which proves that the Left just doesn’t get what Conservatism is about, and also shows that the “GOP elite” do not get it, either. You can see it in the headline, In GOP base, a ‘rebellion brewing’, the problem being that Conservatives do not see our politics, which you can call conservative, neo-conservative, or classical liberalism, as a top down proposition, where the elites dictate the way the movement will go. Conversely, we do not see it as a fully bottom up movement, either, but, rather, simply, you ...

You Extreme Right Wing Extremists Are Just Too Extremist
Stop The ACLU — ... Posted on April 27, 2009 Or so thinks the Politico, which proves that the Left just doesn’t get what Conservatism is about, and also shows that the “GOP elite” do not get it, either. You can see it in the headline, In GOP base, a ‘rebellion brewing’ , the problem being that Conservatives do not see our politics, which you can call conservative, neo-conservative, or classical liberalism, as a top down proposition, where the elites dictate the way the movement will go. Conversely, we do not see it as a fully bottom up movement, either, but, rather, simply, you are either ...

In GOP Base: A Rebellion Brewing
PoliGazette — ... Politico has a fascinating analysis up about a rebellion that is brewing in the Republican Party. To cut a long story short: the party’s elites - lawmakers and governors especially - are reasonably moderate, while ‘the base’ is becoming increasingly conservative. Activists (and bloggers and blogreaders) are fed up with Republican politicians, because they believe they have sold out. The elites, on the other hand, fear that the conservatism of the base - which consists out of simplified mottos - is a bad ideology to base one’s ...

Rank (and File) Bigotry
Shakesville — The Politico published a piece yesterday about the tension between Republican leadership, who are starting to veer away from an emphasis on social issues and recast themselves "as a constructive, respectful opposition to a popular president," and the Republican base, who "have no desire to moderate their views." ...

GOP base opposes progress
Political Animal — GOP BASE OPPOSES PROGRESS.... It's hard to say whether Republican Party leaders on the Hill or in the RNC have any genuine interest in moving the party back towards the political mainstream, but in some ways, it doesn't really matter. Even if GOP leaders saw the utility of moderating the party, the Republican base wouldn't allow it . A quick tour through the week's headlines suggests the Republican Party is beginning to come to terms with the last election and that consensus is emerging among GOP elites that the party needs to move away from discordant social issues. There ...

"Go Lemmings Go!"
The Reaction — ... I saw the bumper sticker in the title on a bulletin board in a classroom at Independence Community College in Independence, Kansas, where I was this past weekend. I think that pretty much sums up the attitude of the grassroots Republicans as depicted in this post at Politico. They are not ready to compromise on such issues as marriage equality, reproductive choice, or other hot buttons that get the talk-show phone lines going and the wingnuts like Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Rep. Steve King (R-IA) on TV. ...

Specter to Switch Parties
The Nation: Top Stories — That's the word from CNN. Specter, of course has had to bend further and further right to protect his right flank from primary challenger Pat Toomey. Apparently he realized that was a dead end. The GOP base, which makes up primary voters is getting more and more right-wing . So he's decided to switch parties and become a Democrat, hoping to preserve his political future. He stresses in his statement that: My change in party affiliation does not mean that I will be a party-line voter any more for the Democrats that I have been for the Republicans. Unlike Senator Jeffords' ...

The GOP's base problem
Daily Kos — ... Now Republicans find themselves on the outs, electorally rejected, leaderless and moribund. Yet while we had an activist class clamoring for change and reform, Republicans seem headed in the opposite and (for them) wrong direction. ...