Skip Navigation

The Daily Dish - 2006-2011 archives for The Daily Dish, featuring Andrew Sullivan

The GOP's Problem

By The Daily Dish
May 4 2009, 8:54 AM ET

A.L. gets to the root of it:

When you've just been voted out of power for manifest incompetence and your opponents are led by a very popular and reasonable-sounding person, you don't have the luxury of acting righteous and uncompromising all the time. You have to acknowledge error. You have to act civilly. You have to appear pragmatic and reasonable. But the GOP is not interested in doing any of these things. Those who are left in the party are ultra-partisan and utterly convinced of their own infallibility and moral righteousness.  Until they lose that attitude and general combativeness, it won't matter what their ideas are. They'll just keep turning people off.

Cantor and Jeb are at least trying, I suppose. But it reminds me of the endless Tory "listening tours" in the wake of their 1997 collapse. It's eleven years later, and only now do they look like getting back into office. And only after Blair has long left the building.



Presented by

More at The Atlantic

The Implications of the Military Opening More Positions to Women The Implications of Adding More Women to Our Armed Forces
translating the Bible—Into an E-Book That Works on Any Phone Translating the Bible—Into an E-Book That Works on Any Phone
Kanye West Actually Should Throw a Fit at the Grammys This Year Kanye West Should Throw a Fit at the Grammys This Year
French Moms: We're Not as 'Superior' at Parenting as You Americans Think French Moms Aren't 'Superior'
What Do Republican Voters See in Rick Santorum? What Do Republican Voters See in Rick Santorum?
Special Report
Election 2012 Reuters Election 2012
The destination for full politics coverage, from the primaries to the White House. Read more ›
View All Correspondents

The Biggest Story in Photos

The Civil War, Part 3: The Stereographs

Feb 10, 2012

Subscribe Now

SAVE 59%! 10 issues JUST $2.45 PER COPY

Facebook

Newsletters

Sign up to receive our free newsletters

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)