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Kristol: GOP's future "center of gravity" lies with Beck, Limbaugh

October 27, 2009 8:05 am ET by Media Matters staff

From William Kristol's October 27 Washington Post column:

Obviously, many Republicans and conservatives -- and lots of moderates and independents -- will be grateful to Mitch McConnell if he can stop ObamaCare, and to Jon Kyl if he can induce the president to embrace a stronger foreign policy. But it's unlikely that the minority party in Congress will be the source of bold new conservative leadership over the next three years. Even if Republicans pick up the House in 2010, the party's big ideas and themes for the 2012 presidential race will probably not emanate from Capitol Hill.

The center of gravity, I suspect, will instead lie with individuals such as Palin and Huckabee and Gingrich, media personalities like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, and activists at town halls and tea parties. Some will lament this -- but over the past year, as those voices have dominated, conservatism has done pretty well in the body politic, and Republicans have narrowed the gap with Democrats in test ballots

Tags: The Washington Post, William Kristol

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    • Author by magnolialover (October 27, 2009 8:08 am ET)
      3  
      I hope so. Because then the party will be marginalized even more than it is already. Keep following those guys, right off of the cliff. If you only want the most radical, most profane white people in your party, Beck and Limbaugh are the go to leaders.

      Those voices have dominated conservatism, because you guys have LET them, and because they're the loudest voices. Being loud, and having lots of people hear you, doesn't mean you're right.

      Republicans have not narrowed the gap, I'm not even sure Kristol knows what gap he's talking about. Then again, has he ever been right about anything?
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      • Author by themidnightreview.com (October 27, 2009 12:08 pm ET)
        1  
        I would think that the low percentage of people identifying themselves as Republicans are the new Beck conservatives. I have noticed on numerous surveys that independents have been growing, and I would assume that a larger portion of these independents are disaffected republicans, and will vote for a GOP candidate, if there was no other viable conservative option, but even considering New York's District 23 election, with people like Palin and Beck supporting Hoffman, from the Conservative Party, I suppose that they are going to try to use their influence to bully the GOP until their ultra conservative views become the party platform, but by then I would imagine the GOP to be a shell of what it once was.

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    • Author by bilbo_dies (October 27, 2009 9:47 am ET)
      3  
      The center of gravity, I suspect, will instead lie with individuals such as Palin and Huckabee and Gingrich, media personalities like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, and activists at town halls and tea parties.


      If by "center of gravity" he means a political/moral black hole that will suck all the life out of the universe as we know it, then I think Palin, Huckabee, and Gingrich is probably the troika that can get that started.

      Limbough and Beck pretty much already consititue a black hole of no intelligent debate, etc.

      Everytime I see Gingrich on T.V. he reminds me so much of Jesse Helms that I think his personal motto should be: "I am a divider, not a uniter".
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      • Author by paul8616 (October 27, 2009 9:19 pm ET)
           
        "Limbough and Beck pretty much already consititue a black hole of no intelligent debate, etc."

        No one ever promised that anyone would get an intelligent debate. This is the real problem with politics in America at the moment: There are reasonable people, and there are conservative Republicans. And the reasonable people are trying to deal with the conservative Republicans the same way you deal with the noxious relative at thanksgiving dinner... You appease them some and hope they don't go too far.

        And well, here we are. I think it's bad politics for Dems and lefties to think they've won anything, and that Kristol is wrong. This new 'center of gravity' is basically the incipient fascism that we've seen growing since the Bush years began. They steal elections, stack courts, poison the pills, and generally lie their policies into place.

        They play dirty. That's why they are far from neutralized.
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    • Author by bintx (October 27, 2009 10:38 am ET)
      4  
      "Some will lament this -- but over the past year, as those voices have dominated, conservatism has done pretty well in the body politic, and Republicans have narrowed the gap with Democrats in test ballots."

      Really, Bill? Once again, you are wrong. Nothing like keeping your record consistent and spotless.
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      • Author by bilbo_dies (October 27, 2009 1:51 pm ET)
           
        I think the whole focus here is, it doesn't matter what you say (lie, cheat steal, misquote, what ever) just keep saying it so that you put the fear of God into the populace. That way, when the next election cycle comes up, they can hope that all the people, who they have scared, will now vote Repub, even though there are no viable Repub canidates.
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