What's Wrong With the Republican Party?

ATeam · Oct 9, 2023

This is a thread about the Republican Party. It's not about the Democratic Party. It's about the Republican Party. So saying the Republican Party is doing something bad because it's the Democrats' fault, or saying if the Republican Party is doing something bad, the Democrats are doing something worse, won't fly here. As I said. This thread is about the Republican Party. Specifically, what's wrong with the Republican Party?

This article addresses that very question.

‘What Is Broken in American Politics Is the Republican Party’

Fourteen experts on the roots of Kevin McCarthy’s ouster and why Republicans keep destroying their own leaders.

www.politico.com

muttly · Oct 9, 2023

Too much emphasis on Ukraine and the wasteful billions for one.

ATeam · Oct 13, 2023

The hoped-for 2022 red wave did not materialize.
Republicans are losing far more state legislature special elections than they are winning.
Republicans have lost every statewide referendum on abortion rights since Dodd became the law of the land.
Voters reinstate the two Tennessee legislators Republicans expelled.
Republican McCarthy booted from House speaker chair, House paralyzed.
Santos receives additional charges in superseding indictment.
Alabama's Republican-designed district map overturned by federal court, appeal rejected by SCOTUS.
Feeling voter heat, Wisconsin Republican lawmakers drop their bid to impeach a liberal state supreme court justice.

Do you notice a trend?

ATeam · Nov 8, 2023

Nov. 7, 2023 General Elections; Bad Day for MAGA

In addition to the huge setbacks Republicans suffered in yesterday's state elections (Ohio's Issue 1, Kentucky governor race, Virginia state House of Delegates), reports are coming in about numerous, widespread and thorough defeats of MAGA school board candidates who ran on culture war issues. More to follow as the reports are finalized.

Update: Culture wars are not fun anymore, at least not if you like winning.

Right-Wing moms known as Moms for Liberty (close ties to MAGA) endorsed over 130 school board candidates holding extreme culture-war issues. Voters soundly defeated the vast majority of them. (various sources)

Examples:

Four of four in Minnesota lost.
Twenty of 25 in Ohio lost.
Five of 6 in Virginia lost.
Twelve of 13 in Iowa lost.

Go, Moms for Liberty! Go, MAGA. Keep taking up all the oxygen in the Republican Party endorsement process. Keep fielding extreme candidates the voting public does not want. Doing so hastens the inevitable collapse of the Republican Party, and clears the way for democracy to reassert itself and thereby Make America Great Again!

The icing on the cake is their post-election commentary. They are not talking about moderating their extreme positions. They are blaming other Republicans for their election defeats. Go, go, go, my extremest friends! You got this!!!

muttly · Nov 8, 2023

ATeam said:
The hoped-for 2022 red wave did not materialize.

Republicans are losing far more state legislature special elections than they are winning.

Republicans have lost every statewide referendum on abortion rights since Dodd became the law of the land.

Voters reinstate the two Tennessee legislators Republicans expelled.

Republican McCarthy booted from House speaker chair, House paralyzed.

Santos receives additional charges in superseding indictment.

Alabama's Republican-designed district map overturned by federal court, appeal rejected by SCOTUS.

Feeling voter heat, Wisconsin Republican lawmakers drop their bid to impeach a liberal state supreme court justice.

Do you notice a trend?

But in 2024, Trump will be the nominee and he will garner a heavy turnout that Republicans wouldn’t normally see and they’ll coattail off of him.

ATeam · Nov 8, 2023

muttly said:
But in 2024, Trump will be the nominee and he will garner a heavy turnout that Republicans wouldn’t normally see and they’ll coattail off of him.

Trump has done a pretty good job of losing elections; his own, and his endorsees where races are competitive. The coattails won't be a benefit, they will be a drag, just like they have been a drag in the recent past. In case you have not noticed, Trump and his endorsees are not winning elections, they are losing elections.

muttly · Nov 8, 2023

ATeam said:
Trump has done a pretty good job of losing elections; his own, and his endorsees where races are competitive. The coattails won't be a benefit, they will be a drag, just like they have been a drag in the recent past. In case you have not noticed, Trump and his endorsees are not winning elections, they are losing elections.

Big difference from endorsing a candidate and being one. When he was on the ballot( twice) he’s had coattails.

muttly · Nov 8, 2023

Mic drop:

https://x.com/charliekirk11/status/1722422528436752416?s=46&t=d_l2HMNrla_oQHd9HhBKfw

ATeam · Nov 9, 2023

Another Example of Republican Extremist Overreach Reversed by the Voters

Pennridge School Board in PA had 8 Republicans and 1 Democrat. After they implemented a controversial, right-wing curriculum, voters responded. Five of nine seats were up for election. Voters placed Democrats in all five. The district voter registration is 50% Republican, 34% Democrat, and the rest other.

Overreach reversed.

"People just said this is enough," said Jane Cramer about the election results.

Cramer is a parent in the Pennridge School District and a member of The Ridge Network, a group formed by residents concerned about school board issues.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1722628123400011816

Pilgrim · Nov 10, 2023

ATeam said:
Another Example of Republican Extremist Overreach Reversed by the Voters

Another reference to Republican "extremism". Apparently all Republicans are now "MAGA Extremists" according to the Democrat party and the mainstream media.

ATeam said:
Pennridge School Board in PA had 8 Republicans and 1 Democrat. After they implemented a controversial, right-wing curriculum...

A glaring absence of specifics or details. What exactly was the "controversial, right-wing curriculum"? What were they teaching these kids that was so outrageous?

BTW, Bucks County, PA is solid Blue and borders with NJ. They voted decisively for John Fetterman and Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro, so the Democrat party has a definite influence in this area. The five new Democrat school board members were elected as a slate, not individually.

ATeam · Nov 10, 2023

Pilgrim said:
A glaring absence of specifics or details. What exactly was the "controversial, right-wing curriculum"? What were they teaching these kids that was so outrageous?

I don't know the details. But it is clear from the voter response that it was enough to flip the partisan makeup of the board. The Republican majority tried to push something onto the people and the people pushed back, such that the Republican majority on the board is no more.

muttly · Nov 10, 2023

Pilgrim said:
Another reference to Republican "extremism". Apparently all Republicans are now "MAGA Extremists" according to the Democrat party and the mainstream media.

A glaring absence of specifics or details. What exactly was the "controversial, right-wing curriculum"? What were they teaching these kids that was so outrageous?

BTW, Bucks County, PA is solid Blue and borders with NJ. They voted decisively for John Fetterman and Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro, so the Democrat party has a definite influence in this area. The five new Democrat school board members were elected as a slate, not individually.

Apparently it was the Hillsdale 1776 school curriculum. (gasp)

Pilgrim · Nov 10, 2023

muttly said:
Apparently it was the Hillsdale 1776 school curriculum. (gasp)

Imagine "The Horror". Anyway, after wasting more time than I intended on reading a couple of articles by the local press, it looks like the teachers and other forces from neighboring school districts came together against the new curriculum. It appears that it was just too conservative to suit them, and also bad management on the part of the school board by trying to implement it only a few days before classes started. Apparently it was 3000 pages long and the teachers had no way to prepare lesson plans or learn the material, which was certainly unreasonable. Regardless, this was a local school issue in a small PA town that had nothing whatsoever to do with the national Republican party.

"The deeply divided board voted 5-4 to adopt a new curriculum that leans heavily on framework speakers described as a “dog whistle for white supremacy” and an example of what happens when “politics inform education....

Public comment included 41 speakers, most of whom asked the board to either delay the curriculum implementation or reject it outright because of what they said is an overemphasis on “American Exceptionalism” at the expense of what they characterized as an accurate representation of hot-button topics such as race and gender." (Bold emphasis mine)

Pennridge adopts new curriculum in emotional 5-4 vote - The Bucks County Herald

A Pennridge School District saga that began in April with the last-minute approval of a curriculum consultant contract came to an end Monday night in a bitter 5-4 vote.

buckscountyherald.com

RLENT · Nov 10, 2023

Pilgrim said:
BTW, Bucks County, PA is solid Blue and borders with NJ.

Ahhh ... no ... from Bucks County's website on voter registrations:

2023 Voter Registration Statistics
As of June 2, 2023:

Total Voter Registration: 469,938

Democrat: 198,457

Republican: 193,109

Others: 78,372

So definitely not "solid" blue ...

ATeam · Nov 11, 2023

RLENT said:
Ahhh ... no ... from Bucks County's website on voter registrations:

So definitely not "solid" blue ...

It could be said the school board Republicans painted the school board district solid blue by not listening to the people and attempting to impose their unwanted, extremist policies on voters, teachers and their children.

ATeam · Nov 11, 2023

Pilgrim said:
... it looks like the teachers and other forces from neighboring school districts...

Not entirely.

"Kearney, whose two children attend Pennridge schools, ..."

And more probably, not at all during the public input part of board meetings. Board policy does not allow public comment from people who are not "residents or taxpayers of this district, any district employee and any district student." (Policy #903)

These public participation policies are very similar to those of my school board and city council meetings here in FL. School board meetings are not an open forum for outsiders to come in to speak on any topic. The Board may create agenda items and invite speakers in as they wish, but that is fully under board control. Because only local stakeholders may speak during the public comment parts of the meeting (speakers must preregister and then announce their address at the podium), and because the board approves all other speakers in advance, it is highly unlikely that these meetings were dominated or influenced by "teachers and other forces from neighboring school districts."

1200 North Fifth Street, Perkasie PA 18944 | 215.257.5011 BoardDocs® Pro

go.boarddocs.com

ATeam · Nov 11, 2023

muttly said:
Apparently it was the Hillsdale 1776 school curriculum. (gasp)

When Republican Pennridge School Board members attempted to impose this "curriculum" in their community, voters responded by obliterating the board majority the Republicans held. Five Republicans were up for election last week. District voters (who had previously elected these board members) replaced all five with newly elected Democrats.

The following piece is a critique of the "curriculum" published in Bucks County. There are schools that have adopted this item. It seems it is politically acceptable for some charter and private schools and areas; and not politically acceptable in others.

The 1619 Project might be considered a competing curriculum promoted by liberals (extreme liberals).

I think both of these "cirriculua" are symptomatic of the political divide that characterizes America today.

What’s In Hillsdale’s 1776 Curriculum?

History is a conversation, unending and always open to new discussion and insights. What Hillsdale is pushing is a completely other view of what history even is, a view that looks remarkably like indoctrination.

buckscountybeacon.com