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House Republicans on the Defensive
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire — ... Meanwhile, Nate Silver observes that the Republicans "are in something of a death spiral. The more conservative, partisan, and strident their message becomes, the more they alienate non-base Republicans. But the more they alienate non-base Republicans, the fewer of them are left to worry about appeasing. Thus, their message becomes continually more appealing to the base -- but more conservative, partisan, and strident to the rest of us. And the process loops back upon itself." ...

House Republicans on Defensive
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire — ... Nate Silver argues the Republicans "are in something of a death spiral. The more conservative, partisan, and strident their message becomes, the more they alienate non-base Republicans. But the more they alienate non-base Republicans, the fewer of them are left to worry about appeasing. Thus, their message becomes continually more appealing to the base -- but more conservative, partisan, and strident to the rest of us. And the process loops back upon itself." ...

Midday open thread
Daily Kos — ... Yup, I still like Russ Feingold's proposed Constitutional amendment to require special elections to fill Senate vacancies. The GOP's Pat Boone strategy. I wish them the best of luck with that. Ha ha ha! NH-Sen: Judd Gregg is seriously worried about reelection, given that the normally conservative senator has become one of Obama's most reliable Republican votes. Nate: The more conservative, partisan, and strident their message becomes, the more ...

today's repubbblicans
skippy the bush kangaroo — here's the general feeling amongst congressional repubbblicans on the hill these days: (thx & a tip o'the kangaroo tail to joe benevides commenting @ 538!)

Oppositional
Stubborn Facts — ... Nate Silver wonders why "House Republicans are opposing popular legislation from a very popular President, and doing so in ways that stick a needle in the eye of the popular (if quixotic) concept of bipartisanship. They would seem to have little chance of actually blocking [] legislation, since they are far short of a majority, and since the Senate Republicans, who can filibuster, have thus far shown little inclination to go along with them...." They're between a rock and a hard place, and I suppose the answer comes down to is this: in resisting Obama's agenda, they risk ...

Rush Limbaugh Gives Republicans Hope Again
Jon Swift — ... effort to make things better. If he succeeds, he'll get all the credit and then he'll be free to turn America into a socialist country and no one will be able to stop him. And if he fails, who will Americans turn be able to turn to? So Republicans finally realized that they have to be against whatever Obama is for, whether it is the ...

When Governance Dictates Politics
TalkLeft — ... One of the bizarre strains of thought that has emerged in the blogs is the view that President Obama and Democrats will now be judged by the direction the opposition from the GOP takes. Here is Nate Silver: ...

A Republican Death Spiral?
The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan — Nate Silver notices something I hadn't: It's not just the goose egg that the House Republicans laid on the Democratic stimulus package yesterday: Boehner's Boys have been equally uncooperative on other matters. Case in point: a bill yesterday to delay the transition to digital TV.   This measure was approved unanimously by the Senate; every Senate Republican gave it the green light.  But 155 out of 178 House Republicans voted against it, which resulted in the measure's defeat since a two-thirds majority would have ...

Tone Deaf
The Mahablog — ... The “no new ears” syndrome is haunting the entire Republican Party these days. They are busily congratulating each other for sticking it to the Obama Administration this week. As Nate Silver says, House Republicans in particular seem to be saying no just to say no. I mean, what’s with blocking a delay in the changeover to digital television? ...

The new Villager meme: don’t mess with Rush
Balloon Juice — ... One of the most cherished beliefs among Beltway insiders is that the massive talk radio audience swings elections…or something like that. Since all the Ditto Heads vote Republican anyway, Parker et al. can’t really believe that, can they? I think what they actually believe, in some form or another, is that if all the Rushbo Strike Force all send balls or silly putty or whatever to Obama, then Obama will have to surrender to the power of Greater Wingnuttia. Of course, Greater Wingnuttia only constitutes about 20% of the population, as Nate Silver points out: ...

GOP '09: The Party Of Bad Faith
DownWithTyranny! — ... And he appears to be in no hurry to repeal Bush's tax cuts for the rich. At the same time, the Obama team is eschewing even the easiest appeals to populism, responding with discreet pressure rather than more public outrage earlier this week when it was revealed that executives at Citibank-- who received a $45 billion infusion of tax dollars -- were buying a $50 million corporate jet. And what does Obama have to show for all this outreach and restraint? A stick in the eye... and lots of bad faith. Cantor and those clowns want to play ...

Conservatives' Profoundest Fear: What if Obama succeeds?
Crooks and Liars — ... OK, I expect you'll ignore this memo like our previous ones. Nate Silver is right: Republicans are caught in a death spiral, and it's going to be awhile yet before they hit bottom. ...

Conservatives' Profoundest Fear: What if Obama succeeds?
Orcinus — ... OK, I expect you'll ignore this memo like our previous ones. Nate Silver is right: Republicans are caught in a death spiral, and it's going to be awhile yet before they hit bottom. ...

US Political News Blog — ... strong generational component also. The real and latent bigotry as well as the terminal unhipness of the Republican right has made Limbaugh and the GOP anathema to younger voters. To an 18 to 30-year-old, Limbaugh must seem like the oldest man in the world. Polling research by Stanley Greenberg indicated that Limbaugh had an approval rating among American younger than 40 of 11 percent. Eleven percent! Having Limbaugh as the face of the GOP will accelerate the party's "death spiral." ...

Conservatives Hope Tea Will Spur the Second Coming of the GOP
BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash — A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS by Meg White Everyone seems ready to proclaim the death of the GOP . But conservative ideologues have managed to get a bunch of people all worked up about this tea party phenomenon, while pushing policies that would be detrimental to the overwhelming majority of the people going to these "parties."The main item tea party organizers are rallying behind (because they don't want to associate themselves with the ...

March Of The Clowns
Newshoggers.com — ... Boehner *House GOP Whip Eric Cantor *House GOP Conference Chairman Mike Pence *Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell *The No. 2 Senate Republican, Jon Kyl *And the Senate GOP Conference Chairman, Lamar Alexander Is this a hit parade of the Republican clowns or what?  You will notice who is not on the list, the few voices of sanity who still call themselves Republicans - Gov. Jon Huntsman and Sen. Olympia Snowe. Just another example of the Republican Death Spiral. ...