When the great GOP Schism happens, how will the sides be drawn?

[Bicoastal]

I think that on one side will be Newt Gingrich, Mitt Rommney, John McCain, Eric Cantor, and a lot of the other sane-but-useless Republicans. Their symbol shall be an Ostrich with its head in the sand; their style shall be Bill O'Reilly's boring bombast.

On the other will be Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Bobby Jindal, Michael Steele, and the bulk of the evil-but-crazy Republicans. Their symbol shall be the Tasmanian Devil; their style will be Glenn Beck's shrill hysteria.

But of course, the Great Rushbo Shall Hold Sway UBER ALLES!

(Any more ideas?)

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. That is more or less how it will shake down, I think.

The two main factions will be the greedheads, for whom money is the primary issue (McCain, Gingrich, Romney, et al.), and the fundie/hater/wackjob contingent (Palin, Bachmann, et al). Limpballs and Orally like to fire up the haters but their real allegiance is with the greedheads, while Beck is more of a true hater/wackjob. To complicate matters, Orally dissed Limpballs the other night on Letterman, sneeringly referring to him as a mere entertainer, while he (Orally) is a true newsman (:rofl:). So who knows, there may be a rift between the two most monstrous egos in the rightwing media. Palin seems to be getting pushed aside, with Gingrich rearing his ugly head again. But the greedheads are going to have as tough a time as the marginalized fundies, considering how loathed the Wall Streeters are these days. The Republicans really have nothing at all going for them.

[OmahaBlueDog]

7. I see the breakdown a little differently

I think their schism (and, by the way, I think the Dems are headed for problems as well) will start not with the fundies, not with the greedheads, and no with the defense hawks. I think the problems will start with the Ron Paul neo-libertarian crowd; those who are both against the war and against some (not all) of the tenents of social conservatism, but who also want to abolish the IRS and about 90% of the Federal Government as we know it.

Here's the real problem that the GOP has: Paul only pulled down about 10% in many primaries, but his supporters represent the youngest, most energetic members of their party (read: the future). Some enterprising younger politician - sooner than later, I suspect - is going to take the baton from Ron Paul, loudly declare that the Republican party has sold out it's ideals, and then shear about 10% off the top of GOP support and take quite a few like minded indys with them. At this point, the right will have an analog to the Greens on the left. The difference will be that this small group is better organized and can fund raise with the best of them.

At that point, the greedheads will likely be forced to move toward the center to try to lure in independents. This means moving away from the fundies socially. That's where the real fun begins.

Don't get too happy, though. It's entirely possible that many on the left wing of our party -- many of whom are upset about war crimes prosecution (or lack therof) and the non-bailout of GM (and the potential loss of tens of thousands of UAW jobs), will be walking away as well.

I said before the election and I'll say again that we may see as many as 4 viable parties running slates in 2012, and the 2nd Obama administration may look more like a European coalition government than anything we've seen before.

[Xipe Totec]

2. 60% will align with the fundies

another 60% will align with the tobacco and firearm lobbies (the freepers).

another 60% will align with the libertarians (the taxaphobics).

and the rest will be torn by indecision (the schizophrenics).

[tularetom]

4. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say math wasn't your best subject in school

[Xipe Totec]

5. Why? What's wrong?

:evilgrin:

[rug]

3. Dumb and dumber.

[AtomicKitten]

6. Fire & Brimstone vs. Armed and Insane