The State of The GOP
The Page by Mark Halperin — istockphoto.com TIME's new cover story concludes that the party, by lacking leadership and fresh ideas, has officially entered the political wilderness. But: Writing in the new issue, ...

State of the GOP
The Page by Mark Halperin — TIME TIME's new cover story concludes that the party, by lacking leadership and fresh ideas, has officially entered the political wilderness. But: ...

Joe the Plumber Leaving the Republican Party?
Politics Daily — ... In the words of Sarah Palin's speech writers, "Say it ain't so, Joe!" Time magazine reports that Joe the Plumber (does anybody care what his real name is anymore?) is readying to bolt from the GOP: ...

The Republican Death Spiral
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire — Time magazine's cover story on how the Republican party -- with no new ideas and a lack of leadership -- has lost its way: "As the party has shrunk to its base, it has catered even more to its base's biases, insisting that the New Deal made the Depression worse, carbon emissions are fine for the environment and tax cuts actually boost revenues -- even though the vast majority of historians, scientists and economists disagree. The RNC is about to vote on a kindergartenish resolution to change the name of its opponent to the Democrat Socialist Party. This plays well with ...

This Week's Cover
Swampland — Here's this week's cover story by Michael Grunwald on the state of the Grand Ole Party. An interesting tidbit: Joe the Plumber is leaving the Party in disgust. An excerpt: So are the Republicans going extinct? And can the death march be stopped? The Washington critiques of the Republican Party as powerless, leaderless and rudderless — the new Donner party — are not very illuminating. Minority parties always look weak and inept in the penalty box. Sure, it can be comical to watch Republican National Committee (RNC) gaffe machine Michael Steele riff on his hip-hop vision for the ...

Joe The Plumber -- Quitting The GOP?
TPM Election Central — ... Is Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher really quitting the Republican Party? That's what a new Time article on the current sad state of the GOP says. ...

Et tu Dumbfuck, et tu?
Rising Hegemon — The GOP will soon be comprised of Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, and the contestants on "To Catch a Predator": Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber, tells TIME he's so outraged by GOP overspending, he's quitting the party — and he's the bull's-eye of its target audience. Yes, morons, dipshits, and internet trolls. And furthermore: [But non-Joe] wouldn't support any cuts in defense, Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid — which, along with debt payments, would put more ...

Douthatian Watch: McHenry On Taxes
The Atlantic Politics Channel — One of the more interesting quotations from Michael Grunwald's Time cover story on the woes of the Republican Party: Representative Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, a conservative who keeps a bust of Reagan on his desk, surprised me by declaring that the Reagan era is over. "Marginal tax rates are the lowest they've been in generations, and all we can talk about is tax cuts," he said. "The people's desires have changed, but we're still stuck in our old issue set.

Joe Plumber’s come and gone
Balloon Juice — First as farce…then as even more farce: Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber, tells TIME he’s so outraged by GOP overspending, he’s quitting the party — and he’s the bull’s-eye of its target audience. But he also said he wouldn’t support any cuts in defense, Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid — which, along with debt payments, would put more than two-thirds of the budget off limits.

Joe The Plumber Quitting The GOP: Time Magazine
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Stop the presses... (even though we haven't received the press release yet). Time Magazine is reporting - burying rather - the news that Joe the Plumber, also known as Samuel Wurzelbacher, is quitting the GOP. That's big news considering Joe became the new GOP mascot during the McCain campaign and has since advised the party during conferences and in ...

Sen. Snowe: GOP is ‘the party of Big Business and Big Oil and the rich.’
Think Progress — ... her fellow Maine senator Susan Collins (R) made last week. She also complained that, “to the average American,” the GOP is just the party of “Big Oil and the rich“: ...

GOP Rep. McHenry Complains: "All We Can Talk About Is Tax Cuts"
TPM Election Central — ... In the new Time article on the current sorry state of the party, McHenry decried the endless rhetoric about tax cuts -- and apparently declared that the era of Reagan is over: ...

Is Paul Ryan The Hope For The GOP-- Or Just A Great Electoral Target For The DCCC?
DownWithTyranny! — ... Time Magazine's new analysis of the state of the Republican Party is absolutely devastating. It stops just short of pronouncing the still twitching corpse dead. And it isn't just mainstream conservatives like Arlen Specter fleeing in droves; even the target demo-- Know Nothing nitwits like Joe the Plumber are leaving too! And the North Carolina pip-squeak congressman who once bragged he would be the model of ultimate right-wing obstructionism, Patrick McHenry, is now declaring Reaganism over. ...

Karl Rove VS Stormy Daniels, the Biggest Implants?
Notes From a Grumpy Old Man — Sami Moubayed Timothy Geithner Michael Grunwald "I usually side with the minority, so my sympathy would be more the Republican side" -- the Dalai Lama, to the NY state Senate ...

uggabugga — Joe the Plumber walks away from easy money: In the news: Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber, tells TIME he's so outraged by GOP overspending, he's quitting the party ...It's not clear exactly what he's looking for since he doesn't want to see cuts in "Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid", so his move may be based on (yet to be clarified) principles. But whatever you can say about the guy, he got a ton of recognition and, presumably, opportunities to make money giving speeches or with a (well ...

Even Joe The Plumber Is Sick Of The GOP, Announces He's Leaving The Party
Crooks and Liars — Oh noes! If you can't hold on to your basic, "queer"-hatin', low-information, unlicensed plumber not really named Joe that you hold up for WAAAAYYYY past his fifteen minutes as the epitome of the Republican Party, who can you hold on to? Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber, tells TIME he's so outraged by GOP overspending, he's quitting the party — and he's the bull's-eye of its target audience. But he also said he wouldn't support any cuts in defense, Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid — which, along ...

Glenn Reynolds, are you listening?
INSTAPUTZ — Probably not. As the party has shrunk to its base, it has catered even more to its base's biases, insisting that the New Deal made the Depression worse, carbon emissions are fine for the environment and tax cuts actually boost revenues — even though the vast majority of historians, scientists and economists disagree. The RNC is about to vote on a kindergartenish resolution to change the name of its opponent to the Democrat Socialist Party. This plays well with hard-core culture warriors and tea-party activists convinced that a ...

Grumble
Shakesville — The thing that bothers me about all the stories in the mainstream media—like Time's "Republicans in the Wilderness: Is the Party Over?"—is that, when I read them, I don't feel like there's a lot of serious assessment of a failed ideology going on; I feel like I'm reading groundwork being laid to celebrate the awesomest comeback evar! ...

Time examines the goposaurs, finds them near extinction
Daily Kos — ... Time headline: Republicans in the Wilderness: Is the Party Over? Answer: Yes. The article is devastating, even if it occasionally tries to soften the blow. Sure, it can be comical to watch Republican National Committee (RNC) gaffe machine Michael Steele riff on his hip-hop vision for the party or Texas Governor Rick Perry carry on about secession or Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann explain how F.D.R.'s "Hoot-Smalley" Act caused the Depression (the Smoot-Hawley Act, a Republican tariff bill, was enacted before F.D.R.'s presidency), but haplessness ...

Quote of the Day
Political Animal — QUOTE OF THE DAY.... Time has an interesting cover story in its new issue, exploring the depths of the Republican Party's problems, and when the party might recover. There was one quote in the piece, however, that I had to read a few times, just to make sure I wasn't seeing things. The most urgent question is the meaning of economic conservatism. Representative Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, a conservative who keeps a bust of Reagan on his desk, surprised me by declaring that the Reagan era is over. "Marginal tax rates are the lowest they've been in generations, and all ...

Patrick McHenry: "All We Can Talk About Is Tax Cuts"
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... In an interview with Time, McHenry said that Republicans are too focused on tax cuts, despite rates being at a generational low. "Marginal tax rates are the lowest they've been in generations, and all we can talk about is tax cuts," he said. "The people's desires have changed, but we're still stuck in our old issue set." ...

No More Mister Nice Blog — ... at his behest, state spending increased by 50 percent, more than double the rate of inflation, and the number of state government workers rose by 20 percent. Know who wrote that? Pat Toomey, the king of the GOP's other values voters, the anti-tax dogmatists. (Toomey, as you probably know, seems to have the GOP Senate nomination close to locked up now that Tom Ridge says he's not going to run.) **** Meanwhile, I see that Joe the Plumber has quit the GOP altogether: Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber, tells ...

" Joe" The "Plumber" To GOP: Drop Dead
Preemptive Karma — ... )When you've lost Samuel "Joe the Plumber (not really Joe, not really a plumber either)" Wurzelbacher, you've lost America. Time Magazine : Joe the Plumber, tells TIME he's so outraged by GOP overspending, he's quitting the party — and he's the bull's-eye of its target audience. But he also said he wouldn't support any cuts in defense, Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid — which, along with debt payments, would put more than two-thirds of the budget off limits. And he was one of their remaining brain-cells, too. I'm sure he'll join a party that represents his beliefs. ...

you know things are bad when even disengenuous liars won't hang w/you
skippy the bush kangaroo — ... is samuel "joe the plumber" wurzelbacher really quitting the republican party? that's what a new time article on the current sad state of the gop says. ...

Is the GOP going extinct? And if so, is conservatism to blame?
protein wisdom — Well, yes, if you believe Time’s Michael Grunwald : The party’s ideas — about economic issues, social issues and just about everything else — are not popular ideas. They are extremely conservative ideas tarred by association with the extremely unpopular George W. Bush, who helped downsize the party to its extremely conservative base. A hard-right agenda of slashing taxes for the investor class, protecting marriage from gays, blocking universal health insurance and extolling the glories of waterboarding produces terrific ratings for Rush Limbaugh, but it’s not a majority agenda. ...

Endangered Species?
The Democratic Daily — ... Polls suggest that only one-fourth of the electorate considers itself Republican, that independents are trending Democratic and that as few as five states have solid Republican pluralities. And the electorate is getting less white, less rural, less Christian — in short, less demographically Republican. ...

Quote of the day.
Upper Left — Ruy Teixeira in Time… "The outlook for Republicans is even worse than people think. Their biggest problem is that they really believe what they believe." Reminds me of another one from John Cole that's been bouncing around my buffer for awhile... Tax cuts are, to Republicans, secular creationism.All evidence to the contrary, they just believe what they believe because they believe it. ...

Damn it!
d r i f t g l a s s — Now we'll have re-shoot the family photo. Local man quits GOP. Film at 11:00 From Time: Republicans in the Wilderness: Is the Party Over? Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber, tells TIME he's so outraged by GOP overspending, he's quitting the party — and he's the bull's-eye of its target audience. But he also said he wouldn't support any cuts in defense, Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid — which, along with debt payments, would put more than two-thirds of the budget off ...

How long will it take Rep. Patrick McHenry to beg Limbaugh for forgiveness?
Crooks and Liars — TIME Magazine: Republicans in the Wilderness: Is the Party Over? The most urgent question is the meaning of economic conservatism. Representative Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, a conservative who keeps a bust of Reagan on his desk, surprised me by declaring that the Reagan era is over. "Marginal tax rates are the lowest they've been in generations, and all we can talk about is tax cuts," he said. "The people's desires have changed, but we're still stuck in our old issue set." I give it one day. Once Rush mentions it on ...

Are taxes off the table for Republicans?
News — ... I didn't get a chance to read Michael Grunwald's dissertation on Republican woes when it came out yesterday, but skimming it just now this passage jumped out: The most urgent question is the meaning of economic conservatism. Representative Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, a conservative who keeps a bust of Reagan on his desk, surprised me by declaring that the Reagan era is over. "Marginal tax rates are the lowest they've been in generations, and all we can talk about is tax cuts," he said. "The people's desires have changed, but we're still stuck in our old issue set." ...

Joe The Plumber
The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan — Kinda like Glenn The Blogger: Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber, tells TIME he's so outraged by GOP overspending, he's quitting the party — and he's the bull's-eye of its target audience. But he also said he wouldn't support any cuts in defense, Social ...

Nancy L. Cohen: Palin v. McCain, Round Two
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... war. Eric Cantor, Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney and assorted headmen and headwomen from the GOP establishment have kicked off a listening tour and censored all talk of gays, abortion, creationism, immigrants, and the traditional family. The Right threatens, howls, and schemes. The nearly extinct moderates are jumping ship, retreating from battle, or speaking out against extremism. Those outside the circular firing squad observe with a mixture of detached analysis, glee and concern. Even Frank Rich warns of the dangers of one-party ...

It was the Worst of Times… and TIME
Patterico's Pontifications — ... TIME magazine has piece from Michael Grunwald, “Republicans in the Wilderness: Is the Party Over?”, that is so packed with Democratic talking points that David Axelrod could have faxed it over from the White House.  The result is cognitive dissonance: ...

Time Mag on GOP: 'Extremely Conservative Ideas' for 'Extremely Conservative Base'
NewsBusters.org - Exposing Liberal Media Bias — ... cover story. Michael Grunwald contended “the party's ideas -- about economic issues, social issues and just about everything else -- are not popular ideas.” He then asserted in the article for the May 18 edition of the magazine:  They are extremely conservative ideas tarred by association with the extremely unpopular George W. Bush, who helped downsize the party to its extremely conservative base. An excerpt from “Republicans in Distress: Is the Party Over?”, which is part of the magazine's ...

You Know, It Really Wasn't That Long Ago That...
Eschaton — Media types were loving the "permanent Republican majority" storyline Uncle Karl fed them. It was stupid then, and it's stupid to talk about them going extinct, now, too. ...

Gov. Perdue: States Shouldn’t Rely On Supply-Side Economics During Recession
Think Progress — ... — all of whom are resistant to anything other than tax cuts. In an interview with Time, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) said of the GOP, “Marginal tax rates are the lowest they’ve been in generations, and all we can talk about is tax cuts.” ...

Is it over for the Republican Party?
Power Line — ... Now that the wise men of Time and many others are writing the obituary for the Republican Party, the conventional wisdom is rapidly shifting in the other direction. They may be right this time, but I would like to provide grounds for keeping an open mind on the question. ...

G O P
BAGnewsNotes — ... I found this a clever visual commentary by photographer Brooks Kraft, illustrating the diminution of the Republican Party. ...

John Wellington Ennis: Picking on Pelosi
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... , the crazies have scared off the credible, and the leading spokespeople are beauty pageant runner ups. The languishing magazine business is even piling it on, suggesting that morbid fascination in the wane of the GOP goes beyond the blogosphere and Op-Ed pages, and is actually tabloid-worthy. ...