Looking To The Future

Republicans have been reduced to the image of nothing more than immature name callers who are mean, angry, bitter racist. It was bad enought that over the last 8 years while the Republicans were in charge, they acted very selfishly and irrisponsibly and never put the country first but instead put the country at risk on almost every level. (Katrina, Terry Shivo, failing economy, lowest graduation rates in years, insufficient infrastructure investment, and the list goes on.)

To make it worse, instead of offering change and a plan the McCain campaign rallies simply turned into whites only groups with members allowed to show the worst side of their personalities without correction.

American just decided that combination of the past 8 years of Republican rule and the lack of vision the McCain camp was showing was simply unaffordable.

Republicans have been reduced to name calling, angry, bitter, racist. They have to stand for more than that. Over the last 8 years they have done nothing conservative and have weakened America in every way possible.

Republicans have been reduced to name calling, angry, bitter, racist. They have to stand for more than that. Over the last 8 years they have done nothing conservative and have weakened America in every way possible.

It'll take time for the post-election dust to settle, which is lucky for the GOP, which seems to be, from what Republicans are telling each other, not only out of power but also punch drunk.

Although I agree that the G.O.P. has fallen apart and that it has no powerful leadership, looking back at the history and the origins of this party gives me hope about its future. It is indeed detached from reality and the problems America faces, and Barack Obama is indeed the greatest choice for this country at that point in history, but as he himself mentioned in his speech, solving these problems will take a long, long time.

Barack Obama will most probably get re-elected, if the country gets back on track as he has promised it will, but what happens in 2016? It seems a little excessive having Democrats running Congress and the White House for more than a decade, no matter how bad the situation is today.

The G.O.P. lost because it adopted this image of ultra-conservatives, who believe blindly in ideologies and policies that damaged severely the country for the past eight years. I am confident though, that this defeat will work as a wake-up call, and that it will bring about a new G.O.P., a G.O.P. for the 21st century, consisting of highly intellectual people who will have the goodwill, wisdom and industry to address the problems of our times in a way that pretty much helped Barack Obama win this election.

The world is in chaos, and while the message of "change" attracts people and gives them hope, the message of "remaining with the same old policies that got us into this mess" sounds frightening and terrifying. But the G.O.P. is the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, and it would take more than one bad presidency to destroy a party with that kind of history and substance.

My point is, what America should do now is support Barack Obama???s efforts to restore the country, and when his work in the White House is done, a reborn G.O.P. should re-establish itself in the political scene, and convince the American people that it can still lead the country into a prosperous, peaceful and safe 21st century.

This country had been slowly evolving into that which we have sacrificed countless lives opposing--a militant nation with an agenda driven by religious extremists who promote freedom of thought only so long as it does not conflict with their own ideas. Sound familiar? We had become the enemy.

Ever since the 1960's, the GOP consistently has been, and will always be, the party of exclusion, the party that attempts to diminish those who look different than themselves, pray to a different deity, or follow a different lifestyle. They are the party that uses fear and hatred as a weapon to intimidate any who do not share their points of view. The GOP offers 20th century solutions to 21st century problems.

It is time for a fresh perspective, a new philosophy of America's place in the world. It can no longer be us versus them at all costs; the world is far too small for such a narrow-minded point of view.

It is time to embrace those who are different than ourselves and accept them for who they are--it would be the "christian" thing to do. President-elect Obama is the perfect person to lead our nation in this cause and once again transform our nation into a positive, democratic beacon for the rest of the world.

I fail to see how Republicans are FOR individualism and fiscal responsibilty. I definitely see how they are FOR telling other people what to do with their own bodies and FOR telling people what religion to believe and who to love for starters, maybe someone can explain to me how this coincides with individualism because I just don't see it. As for Repubs being fiscally responsible, is this meant to be a joke??? I mean look at the last few administrations, Reagan: deficit, Bush Sr.:deficit, Clinton: SURPLUS! Bush Jr.: deficit, soooooo again WHATTTT??????

Sarah Palin speaks in a simplistic style reminiscent of Miss Nancy of Romper Room. Her comprehension of the complexities of foreign relations is appallingly lacking, as though she attained her knowledge of world affairs from a comic book. (Good guys vs. bad guys? Really?)

And her inability to speak extemporaneously on matters of domestic or foreign policy is frightening. Every time she went off script during a stump speech or interview, the McCain campaign had to go into damage control mode.

A Palin run for the Presidency in 2012 would be the best possible decision...for the Democrats.

Not knowing anything about the geography of Africa is only one small example of Palin's dearth of knowledge. Her apparent lack of intellectual curiosity is extremely disconcerting for someone who aspires to be a future POTUS. Her inflated ego is at least twice her IQ.

For example:
How about not being able to answer simple questions in an interview, such as which newspapers she regularly reads to find out what's happening in the world.
Or 5 colleges in 6 years to get a Journalism/Communications degree--not exactly a high-brow major.
Or not knowing that fruit fly research is not about fruit flies, but is a fundamental model for studying human genetics.
Or not realizing that the VP is NOT in charge of the U.S. Senate, apparently not understanding what the term "presides" means in this context.
Or having no clue about the nature of the "Bush Doctrine".
Or not even knowing that you cannot see mainland Russia from mainland Alaska, let alone her back yard.
Shall I continue?

In some ways, Palin was the perfect running mate. Because she has no ethical boundaries, she was willing to do ANYTHING that the RNC strategists asked of her.

"Sarah, we need you to accuse Obama of being a foreign-born, christian-hating, terrorist sympathizer. Will do you this?" "You betcha!"

"Sarah, we need you to convince America that they should be afraid of a black man living in the White House. Can we count on you to sell this message?" "You're darn right you can!"

Well, fortunately the American people did not buy the hate-filled rhetoric that Palin was selling.

To borrow a famous line by Aaron Sorkin used in "The American President": "We've got serious problems, and we need serious people.....this is a time for serious people, (Sarah), and your fifteen minutes are up."

Some people are already hinting at a Palin run for the presidency in 2012. I suspect these people are giving her too much credit.

True, she is a moderately savvy politician, but she also is blissfully ignorant about the inner-workings of anything beyond the borders of Alaska. She has the faux folksy charm and lack of intellectual curiosity of George W. Bush and the Machiavellian mindset of Dick Cheney. Do we really want to relive the nightmare of the past 8 years?

Palin may very well return to a much more hostile Alaska. She was riding on the coattails of an over-inflated price for a barrel of oil that delivered huge profits to her state. People were willing to give her a pass with respect to her management style so long as they shared a piece of the profit pie.

Well, the price of oil has plummeted and as a result, the Alaskan economy will suffer. Her statewide ratings have already dropped 20 points, and the increased scrutiny of her conduct while governor has given many Alaskans another perspective of her leadership. I suspect we have only seen the tip of her "mismanagement" and "abuse of power" iceberg.

By the next election cycle, Sarah Palin will very likely no longer have the positive image or clout to contend for the presidency. In fact, she may be lucky to get re-elected as governor.

OK, let us be frank: the GOP of the 80es really was the party of ideas. They have had some pretty radical things at the time they were willing to try, because it was obvious that some of the radical things at the time of 30es were not working, and, what's worst, the Dems weren't willing to admit that some of their ideological assumptions were wrong. The truth is that you can't do politics on ideological assumptions.

Republicans right now have some things from the 80es that very apparently don't work. This includes the notion that low income taxes in the high bracket stimulate the economy, or that deficits don't better because US will grow out of them, or that a bunch of things like healthcare always should be an individual responsibility, or that the markets regulate themselves. Until this denial stops, GOP is getting nowhere. Of course, it will stick to Palin's trying to wink their way through delivering the message fewer and fewer Americans find relevant.

Current economy - when US borrows from China to buy goods from China - is in a sense a distilled version of many of the Reaganomics policies. It is also clearly unsustainable, and right now it looks like it is even unsustainable in the short run. Both Republicans and Democrats need to find a way to make a more meaningful economy. I'm dissatisfied with Obama's effort to paint a better future; some of his programs are half-hearted at best; however, GOP as a whole did such a terrible job trying to picture a better future through tax cuts for the rich and taxing health insurance that I seriously feel that they should be nowhere near the White House this election. Reading the comments of these kids make me feel that next election they want Palin to tell exactly the same nonsense about tax cuts and health insurance, hoping that she's cute enough to get the message through. It won't work.

Just reading the responces of these college students makes me think the Republican party has no future for the next couple of years or so.

After Nixon, Bush #1, Bush #2 and the last eight years, someone please tell us what could possibly be wrong with the GOP DNA. Are Republicans the Hitler's, Mussolini's, Stalins, Ghengis Khans, Himmler's of each generation.?

Note to Sarah Brown from Alaska: If Sarah Palin is the future of the Republican party, the Democrats will be the majority party for a long, long time! Sarah Palin does read a teleprompter very well and she is attractive. She needs to learn how to speak in concise sentences without all of the winking and other distractions. She needs to learn something about national and foreign policy. She needs to learn more about the US Constitution. She is even deficient in energy contract law. Not everyone can go to Wharton, Harvard, MIT or Caltech, but her educational credentials are very weak and it shows! If she is the future, the GOP is done!