Makers, Takers, Fakers by P. Krugman

[elleng]

Republicans have a problem. For years they could shout down any attempt to point out the extent to which their policies favored the elite over the poor and the middle class; all they had to do was yell “Class warfare!” and Democrats scurried away. In the 2012 election, however, that didn’t work: the picture of the G.O.P. as the party of sneering plutocrats stuck, even as Democrats became more openly populist than they have been in decades.

As a result, prominent Republicans have begun acknowledging that their party needs to improve its image. But here’s the thing: Their proposals for a makeover all involve changing the sales pitch rather than the product. When it comes to substance, the G.O.P. is more committed than ever to policies that take from most Americans and give to a wealthy handful.

Consider, as a case in point, how a widely reported recent speech by Bobby Jindal the governor of Louisiana, compares with his actual policies.

Mr. Jindal posed the problem in a way that would, I believe, have been unthinkable for a leading Republican even a year ago. “We must not,” he declared, “be the party that simply protects the well off so they can keep their toys. We have to be the party that shows all Americans how they can thrive.” After a campaign in which Mitt Romney denounced any attempt to talk about class divisions as an “attack on success,” this represents a major rhetorical shift.

But Mr. Jindal didn’t offer any suggestions about how Republicans might demonstrate that they aren’t just about letting the rich keep their toys, other than claiming even more loudly that their policies are good for everyone.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/28/opinion/krugman-makers-takers-fakers-.html?hp

[Mnemosyne]

1. Mass exorcisms of all his R colleagues will convince me he is sincere.

[Warpy]

2. Oh, some of them can talk purty

but when you ask them how they're going to do any of those neat things, they fall mute. Or get defensive.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

3. What's funny is they are in search of a salesman....

They had it with the Corporate Spokesman Reagan and thought they had it again with Romney.

They feel he wasn't convincing enough. They really believe they can sell crap with the right delivery.

[Cal33]

8. And they believe it because they have been so successful with it for so many decades. Don't you

think? About half of our country is so easily fooled.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

9. It's not half....

If it were, they wouldn't need to cheat.

[Major Nikon]

4. Yet they still keep pitching the supply-side bullshit

When your economic ideology revolves around making the rich richer, changing the sales pitch is nothing more than trying to polish a turd.

[Jefferson23]

5. There was a discussion of sorts on this matter last week on NPR I happened to catch.

It was very clear by statements by the RNC they had no intentions of changing their
positions..on anything. Just change the wording.

There was no discussion I'm aware of that confronts any of these players with a very simple
question. Why do the Republicans believe they're believable?....that voters do not check out
their claims vs policy?

[underpants]

6. Anyone remember Condi during the civil war in Iraq? It's how we talk about it that matters

they are the party of "perception is reality". The entire Bush administration was an "empty spectacle" as Frank Rich so aptly put it.
During the worst of the worst in the war on Iraq their talking point was actually - it's not what is happening that matters it is how we talk about it. Their talking points were about their talking points. They have the glossiest leggy-ist blonde-ist propaganda operation going so they think they can sell anything. It turns out that they sold themselves on themselves sort of like getting a bigger shovel to solve that pesky hole problem.

[bemildred]

7. The problem is the Republicans have no more room on the right.

They cannot distinguish themselves by moving farther right and still win national elections, or statewide elections in many states.

And they cannot just copy the Democrats. That's obvious isn't it?

So only moving to the left is left. Heh. And that is a big change.

So I think it's going to take a while, and I think it's going to involve some factional realignments between the parties, as happened back in the 60s & 70s.