Horses lost years ago, GOP moderates now consider open barn door problematic
There have been a surge of stories about bewildered GOP “moderates” who have recently discovered that they belong to a political party that stands for strident cluelessness and lunacy.
Rep. Steve LaTourette, a key ally of House Speaker John A. Boehner and one of a dwindling number of congressional GOP moderates, issued a broadside against an increasingly polarized House on Tuesday, as he formally announced he will not seek a 10th term.
News of the Ohio Republican’s decision had leaked on Monday and he acknowledged at a news conference in his Painesville district that he was leaving local Republicans in the lurch by stepping out with only 100 days left before the November election.
But he said he had come to believe the personal toll of holding office outweighed his ability to get things done in a divided and bitter Washington.
“I have reached the conclusion that the atmosphere today and the reality that exists in the House of Representatives no longer encourages the finding of common ground,” he said.
Ya think?
It’s all a product of the Reagan Revolution. Before him, the GOP was mostly moderate by today’s standards. And don’t kid yourself, the Dems have shifted to the right also. They had to in order to get votes.
Moderate Republicans who still want to serve may as well just become Democrats. They’ll fit right in.
I’m convinced that the only way to restore balance is hasten the demise of the GOP. It’s not that all the Dem candidates are the better choice but the GOP needs to be a Phoenix for a cycle or so and then perhaps either a new GOP can arise from the ashes or even get replaced by a different party. The only way to do that is to not vote for GOP candidates. Of course we have to make the sure the Dems don’t go hog wild in the interim with no counter balance.
Dems will not go hog wild. They are split almost as evenly as the entire congress. In you are a Democrat and come from a conservative district, you ain’t voting Liberal… Just ain’t happen’…..
The only difference that will occur with having a trifecta of a full Democratic Congress in both houses and the executive branch, is that the conservatives and liberals will have no reason not to compromise: after all they are both in the same party.
When you have Republicans who are actually more progressive than some Democrats, but have them vote against their conscious with the Republican side simply because they are “told” to…. you have the problem that has plagued Congress ever since Republicans took control of the House.