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Coming on the heels of Ben Carson's criticism of Muslims, Donald Trump's repudiation of undocumented immigrants from Mexico and a presidential race where personal insults are flying, the sudden resignation of House Speaker John Boehner is creating an unease the party establishment has not experienced in years.

"It's tough enough to win elections by offending every demographic group that we can identify," said Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona "What we've seen in prior elections is, you could say until you're blue in the face: 'That's not my view.' But if the head of the ticket, or those running for the head of the ticket, are espousing that view -- it hurts. It really does."

The anxiety is a sharp departure from the heady days after the 2014 midterm elections, when GOP leaders promised they could govern effectively and present a compelling vision for the country. Despite the largest House Republican Conference since 1928 and an eight-seat Senate majority, Congress is just as divided and gridlocked as it was when the GOP only held the House and Democrats ruled the Senate.

Those differences will become more pronounced with new House leadership eager to take on President Barack Obama and their Senate counterparts, setting up high-profile fiscal showdowns over the debt limit and budget.

"This is a manage-by-crisis town," said Sen. Steve Daines, a freshman Republican and former congressman from Montana. "We've got to get out of this cycle."

READ: Donald Trump: I've been 'a little childish'

Adding to the fear is the expectation that the already unwieldy GOP presidential race will continue to drag on well into 2016, showing an ugly side of the party to the American public, just as they have a chance to take over the White House.

"If people don't think you are being respectful or they don't think you particularly like them, they certainly are not going to be attracted to you or support you," said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican, referring to the Trump and Carson comments. "I think we need to be more careful and be respectful. If it starts becoming part of our brand or our party, then it hurts everybody."

Still, Republican leaders argue their significant majority hasn't been for naught, having passed sweeping trade legislation, changes to Medicare rules and an overhaul of surveillance laws. And some Republicans believe their prospects will improve if they can pull off an orderly succession to Boehner, and that the acrimony in the presidential race will eventually subside with the party uniting behind one candidate.

"The jockeying is early enough in the process that I don't see a long term effect," said Sen. John Thune, No. 3 in GOP leadership. He quickly added: "Obviously, you don't want to see our guys beating the heck out of each other."

But after advancing a stopgap spending bill in the Senate Monday night, Republicans are only pushing the bigger ticket fights until later into the congressional year. It will grow harder to resolve sticky issues, including raising the debt ceiling and finding a long-term budget plan -- particularly as conservatives in the House try to stiffen the spines of their newly elected leadership team, and those new leaders seek to prove their conservative bona fides.

The intraparty fighting is part of a long-running battle between conservative Tea Party groups and the GOP establishment, which have sparred since the 2010 elections over tactics and strategy. Tea Party lawmakers are hailing Boehner's upcoming departure as one of their biggest achievements, saying the party leadership needs to adhere to their principles -- not water down their conservative ideology.

"We need a new speaker who can stand up to the president," said Rep. Tim Huelskamp, a Kansas Republican and member of the House Freedom Caucus. "I fully expect there will be more candidates who run for speaker."

READ: Carly Fiorina defends waterboarding

The debate will head behind closed doors Tuesday, as the House GOP Conference will meet for a special meeting to discuss the party's future for the first time since Boehner stunned the political world Friday.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, is the leading contender to replace Boehner as speaker. Despite only serving eight years in the House, McCarthy has developed deep relationships across the ideological spectrum and has been working methodically to lock down support ahead of his bid.

But he still has to contend with a group of roughly 30 members in the House Freedom Caucus, which is calling on the conference to elect a rock-ribbed conservative and take its time before holding leadership elections. The group -- which has been a persistent thorn in Boehner's side as he's tried to lead the divided House -- has not formally endorsed a candidate yet for the position.

McCarthy so far only faces a nominal challenge from Rep. Daniel Webster, a Florida Republican who mustered just 12 votes when he challenged Boehner last year.

In his letter to his caucus Monday, McCarthy made clear that he would have the "courage to lead the fight for our conservative principles and make our case to the American people."

Some conservatives hope that's the case.

"We told people give us the Senate and things would be different," said Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-South Carolina, on "Fox News Sunday." "We told them back in 2010, give us the House and things will be different. Things are not that different."

"There is a reason the American people are fed up with Washington," Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in an impassioned floor speech Monday evening. "There is a reason the American people are frustrated. The frustration is not simply mild or passing or ephemeral. It is volcanic."

With backlash from the right growing, the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, took to the floor Monday afternoon to defend his chamber against charges that it hasn't fulfilled its promises to voters. He touted the work the GOP has accomplished and blamed gridlock squarely on Democrats for bottling up the chamber, a message echoed by his close allies.

"It takes two to tango," said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee. "We've done our job."

READ: Inside the battle for the next House speaker

For Republicans, the concern comes as polls show voters growing increasingly critical of their leaders in Washington. And it comes as Republicans have to worry about a daunting Senate map in 2016, with 24 seats in cycle -- compared to only 10 for Democrats.

Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, who faces a tough reelection next year, said that the acrimony in his party actually could give "those of us who want to distinguish ourselves an opportunity to do so." But, he added that some of the more incendiary comments espoused by his presidential candidates create a "brand issue" for Republicans.

"I would say to the candidates: Talk about the Democrats more," Portman said. "And that would help me more, frankly, if they were talking more about the differences between the two parties rather than the intramural fight."

Cornyn added: "We are going to nominate somebody or elect somebody who will be a respectful or inclusive person. Right now, it makes headlines but I don't think it represents where Republican Party is or where it should go."

CNN's Deidre Walsh contributed to this report

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Leadership void has Hill Republicans worried about 2016 ...

The Alabama Republican Party is the state affiliate of the national Republican Party in Alabama. It is the dominant (or majority) political party in Alabama. The state party is governed by the Alabama Republican Executive Committee. The committee usually meets just twice a year. Composed of more than 400 members, it is easily the largest Executive Committee in the entire nation. Most of the committee's members are elected in district elections across Alabama. The district members are elected in the Republican Primary once every four years with the most recent election for the committee having been on June 3, 2014. In addition, all 67 County GOP Chairman have automatic seats as voting members. The State Chairman can appoint 10 members. Each County Committee can appoint bonus members (maximum of 5 per county) based on a formula that theoretically could add 312 seats, although that formula currently calls for only about 50 seats.

The Alabama Republican Executive Committee has several important functions. It is responsible for electing the State Chairman every two years as well as all other officers who run the day-to-day operations of the party. The committee sets election rules for the state party and has oversight responsibilities over all county parties. The Committee also elects The National Committeeman (Paul Reynolds since 2008) and National Committeewoman (Vicki A. Drummond since 2012) to serve on the Republican National Committee from Alabama. Once every four years the committee selects the GOP slate for U.S. Presidential Electors and chooses alternate delegates to the GOP National Convention.

The Chairperson of the Alabama Republican Party is Terry Lathan of Theodore. She became the second woman to serve as Chairman of the Alabama GOP upon her election on February 21, 2015. She has twenty-five years of active service to the Republican Party including a recent stint as Mobile County Republican Executive Committee Chair.

The Secretary of the Alabama Republican Party is Lynn Robinson of Winston County and the State Treasurer is David Wheeler of Jefferson County who were also both initially elected to their respective posts on February 21, 2015. The three most recent Chairman were former Alabama State Senator Bill Armistead (2011-2015) of Shelby County; State Representative Mike Hubbard (RAuburn) (2007-2011); and Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh (2005-2007) of Montgomery, who was the first female Chairman. The longest serving chairman in state party history was Claude O. Vardaman of Birmingham who held the post for twenty years from 1942-1962. The first Chairman of the Alabama GOP was John C. Keffer (1867) of Montgomery.

When the Republican Party was first organized in 1854, as an anti-slavery party it did not compete in southern states like Alabama. In fact, its 1860 nominee, Abraham Lincoln, was not even on the ballot in Alabama. Following The Civil War and Alabama's readmission to the union in 1868, Alabama was a Republican dominated state for much of the Reconstruction period due to a combination of factors including its support from unionists, poor white farmers, and newly enfranchised black voters. The Republican Party of Alabama was initially organized on June 45, 1867, when the party held its first State Convention in Montgomery.

In 1868, William Hugh Smith was elected to a single two-year term as the state's first Republican governor. That same year saw Republican Andrew Applegate elected as the first ever Lieutenant Governor of Alabama under the state's newly adopted constitution of 1867. That first post Civil War legislature under the new constitution was elected in February, 1868, with a 100-member House of Representatives (two year terms) composed of 97 Republicans and 3 Democrats. The State Senate (four year terms) was even more lopsided with a single Democrat to its 32 Republicans.[1] The 1868 legislature also included 27 African-American Republicans, the first minority members in Alabama history. All but one were members of the House of Representatives. That same year Benjamin F. Royal became the first black State Senator in Alabama history.[2] Governor Smith was defeated for re-election in 1870, garnering 49.5% of the vote and losing by a margin of just 1,439 votes. Although the Senate was not up for re-election that year, Democrats retook the House with 57 seats to the Republicans 38 seats of which 19 were African-American Republicans.[3]

After Republicans spent a single term out of the Governor's office, David P. Lewis was elected as the state's second GOP governor, winning 89,020 to 78,524 over his Democrat opponent. He served from 1872 to 1874.[4] His GOP Lieutenant Governor was Alexander McKinstry.[5] During Governor Lewis' term, disputed election results produced two competing legislatures, one with a Democrat majority and the other a Republican majority. After this dispute was ultimately settled, Republicans had a 2-seat majority in the House and Democrats a 1-seat majority in the Senate. Again, this 1872 legislature included 24 African-American Republican members with 5 being in the Senate.[6] The 1874 legislature would see only 13 Republican Senators and House membership at 40. However, this legislature would hit a high-water mark for minority representation with 33 African-American Republicans. The 1876 election would result in 18 members (7 of which were African-American) being elected to the House and only 4 Republicans to the Senate. Republicans would be reduced to just 8 members in the House in the 1878 election. Following the 1880 election Republicans held only a single seat in the Alabama House with the election of Benjamin M. Long from Walker County.[3][7] In fact, Walker County had a strong Republican Party for much of the remainder of the 19th century.

Republican representation in the legislature and other public offices had declined rapidly after the 1875 Constitution was adopted. That document began the process of restricting black voter participation and expanding all forms of Jim Crow laws. Further orchestrated efforts at voter intimidation, lynchings, vote fraud, and the inability of differing Republican factions to work together all doomed the party to long-term failure. After the 1878 election no black, and few Republicans, would be elected to the legislature again until the 1970s.

During this same Reconstruction period three African-American Republicans were elected to the United States Congress from Alabama. They were Benjamin Turner (42nd Congress), James T. Rapier (43rd Congress) and Jeremiah Haralson (44th Congress). However, the first Republican Congressmen from Alabama were elected in 1868. They were Charles W. Buckley (40th and 41st Congress'), Francis W. Kellogg, Benjamin W. Norris, Charles W. Pierce, John B. Callis, and Thomas Haughey who would be assassinated in Alabama while giving a speech. The first Republican Senators from Alabama were Willard Warner (18681871) and George E. Spencer (18681879)[8] who were both elected by the legislature before adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

By the late 1890s, a coalition between the Populist Party and the Republican Party often produced "fusion tickets", that combined forces in several subsequent elections to win control of several of Alabama hill counties in this era. They were most dominant in Marshall, St. Clair, Shelby, and Chilton Counties. Between 1892-1932 Shelby County was usually closely contested under the leadership of A. P. Longshore. Marshall County elected Republican Thomas Kennamer in 1896 to the Alabama House of Representatives. DeKalb County voted in 1896 for GOP Presidential candidate William McKinley. Chilton County was decidedly Republican between 19001912, including electing Lewis W. Reynolds as a Republican Probate Judge in 1904 and again in 1916. S. J. Petree was elected as a Republican Probate Judge in Franklin County in 1910; C. C. Scheuing was elected Cullman County Sheriff in 1910; J. B. Sloan was elected as a Republican to the State Senate from a district made up of Blount, Cullman, and Winston Counties. In 1910, J. J. Curtis of Winston County became the first Republican Circuit Judge (for Winston & Walker Counties) in Alabama since Reconstruction.[7]

In this time period, in the 54th United States Congress, two brothers, Truman H. Aldrich (18961897) and William F. Aldrich (18961897), both served as Republicans. William Aldrich also served in the 55th Congress (189899) and the 56th Congress (190001) with the unusual distinction of having been seated all three times in disputed elections ultimately decided by Congress itself.[8] After William Aldrich left Congress in 1901, no Republican would be elected again until 1964.

Following the end of the populist era, Republicans effectively competed in even fewer isolated hill counties, mostly in north Alabama. While the Reconstruction period saw their strongest voting base in the black belt counties, Republicans also relied on many north Alabama counties that had never been strong proponents of the institution of slavery. They garnered support from a coalition of small farmers, blacks, labor, prohibitionists, labor, etc. Again, these were often voters primarily from counties across the northern width of the state like Lawrence, Blount, Cullman, Walker, Winston, and DeKalb counties. Many of these counties elected Republicans to local office or occasionally to the state legislature even as late as the 1920s. However, only Winston County reliably elected Republicans to almost all offices as the county had attempted to secceed from Alabama during the Civil War and has always been considered ancestrally Republican. During this period the Republican Party relied heavily on federal patronage with federal appointments during Republican administration in Washington for such offices as local Postmasters.

The modern Republican Party in Alabama traces its roots back to the election of John Grenier as State Party Chairman in 1962. He played a leading role in re-organizing the party and moving beyond the "Post Office Republican era". His recruitment of serious candidates for Congress in 1964 would help Republicans sweep five of Alabama's eight congressional seats with victories by Jack Edwards, Glenn Andrews, James D. Martin, John Buchanan and Bill Dickinson. Martin would give up his congressional seat two years later in an unsuccessful run for Governor against Lurleen Wallace, but the GOP would hold three of the congressional seats for decades to come. That election, commonly referred to in Alabama as "The Goldwater Landslide" would see the GOP win several dozen local offices. It also included the election of Probate Judges in Cullman County named Guy Hunt and Perry O. Hooper, Sr., in Montgomery County. Both would later go on to greater electoral successes. The 1964 election is credited as partially laying the foundations for Alabama's modern Republican Party. Among the party's other prominent officeholders in the period were George G. Siebels, Jr. who served two terms as Mayor of Birmingham from 19671975, and Emory Folmar who served as Mayor of Montgomery from 1977-1999.

In 1972, the state party made a historic change from a state convention nominating system for all candidates to having a statewide party primary where voters would directly choose all nominees for public and party offices. This change would only slowly have one of its desired goals to greatly increase support for the GOP. In 1978, the party would begin its long steady build-up to competing for seats in the legislature by winning a few seats in suburban Birmingham, Mobile, and Montgomery. In 1980, Jeremiah Denton became the first popularly elected Republican U. S. Senator in Alabama history.

In 1982, Emory Folmar would make the party's first serious run for Governor since Martin in 1966. Four years later in 1986, Guy Hunt in a very unusual election would defeat the Democrat with 57% of the vote in the Governor's race. Hunt's election is widely viewed as effectively making Alabama a two-party state. In 1994, Perry O. Hooper, Sr. would defeat the incumbent Chief Justice of Alabama. That same year Republicans increased there total in the Alabama House of Representatives from 24 to 31 seats. Legislative membership continued to modestly climb each cycle and Republicans began winning other statewide offices.

Today, Republicans hold both U.S. Senate seats and six of Alabama's seven seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. No Democrat has been elected to the U. S. Senate from the state since 1992 when Richard Shelby was elected to a second term. Shelby switched parties in 1994 and has since been re-elected easily. The Alabama Republican Party has also greatly helped GOP presidential candidates in the state. All Republican presidential nominees have won Alabama in nine straight elections; the last Democrats to carry Alabama were Jimmy Carter in 1976 and John F. Kennedy in 1960 although Carter only received a plurality of the vote. Republican Mitt Romney easily won Alabama in 2012 over Democrat Barack Obama in excess of 60%.

Republicans have won seven of the last eight governors races in Alabama dating back to 1986. The GOP has won six consecutive races for Attorney General dating back to 1994. Six of the eight seats on the State Board of Education have elected Republicans. The Alabama Supreme Court, State Appeals Courts, and the rest of the state judiciary are moving decisively to Republican dominance. All nine Supreme Court justices and the ten judges who sit on the two statewide appellate courts are all Republicans. Today even the lower courts are moving to the GOP. The line-up of Circuit Judges as of August, 2015 consists of 78 Republicans, 67 Democrats and 1 Independent. Also as of early March 2015 the GOP has a majority on the district courts with 57 seats to the Democrats 47. In the last four years the GOP has achieved a net combined gain of 39 Circuit and District Judges through a combination of election wins, party switchers and the Governor filling vacancies with GOP appointees. It is all the more dramatic when one considers that there were less than one half dozen GOP judges in Alabama prior to 1986.

The victory in the Governor's race in 1986 was the first Republican win in a state constitutional office since Reconstruction. Almost immediately the party became focused on winning all the other statewide races (Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, State Auditor, Commissioner of Agriculture and the Public Service Commission). The move to GOP hegemony in these offices occurred fairly quickly with the last one being taken in 2012. But the real prize was always for a GOP majority in the State Legislature. In the November 2010 general election 136 years of Democrat control of the Alabama state legislature finally came to an end. That day, the GOP won large majorities in both chambers gaining 17 seats in the House and 11 in the State Senate. Within two weeks four additional House seats moved to the GOP as four self-styled conservatives bolted from the Democrats to the GOP. Over the four-year term another Democrat in the Senate would switch as well as two more House members.

In the 2014 general election, Republicans held on to every seat in their current majority and increased their numbers again in both chambers defeating incumbent Democrats and winning open seats. They added three more Senate seats and now hold 26 seats to just 8 for the Democrats and 1 Independent. In the House, they added five more seats taking their majority to 72 seats for the GOP and just 33 for the Democrats. Yet, as recently as 1977, there were no Republicans in either chamber of the Alabama Legislature until a lone seat was won that year in a special election.

Also, in the 2014 general election GOP Governor Robert Bentley received almost 64% of the vote, leading a sweep of all statewide offices that included the re-election of Lieutenant Governor Kay Ivey, the state's first female Republican Lt. Governor. Republican U. S. Senator Jeff Sessions was unopposed for a fourth term, the first time in state history that Democrats failed to produce a nominee.

The Yellowhammer State can accurately be described as one of the more staunchly Republican states in the nation. According to The Gallup polling organization, Alabama is the eighth most Republican state in the nation[9] As of November 6, 2012, every elected position at the statewide level in Alabama is held by a Republican.[10]

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Alabama Republican Party - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But conservative Republicans were hardly offended. In fact, many were effusive over Pope Francis' overall message and argued that the Pope deftly -- and effectively -- avoided antagonizing the GOP with his famously progressive views. The Pope also spoke quietly and calmly, not in a confrontational tone. Moreover, lawmakers -- who did not have a copy of his prepared remarks -- also had a hard time understanding the pope in a chamber with poor acoustics.

Instead, the Pope's remarks were seen as cautious and compassionate. And his nuanced -- and sometimes ambiguous -- comments left many lawmakers thinking they heard what they wanted to hear.

"You know politics doesn't involve as much nuance as he was giving to all those subjects so I think people are going to look for things they can glom onto to say, 'This supports what we've been trying to say,'" said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas.

Indeed, climate change is one of them.

Despite being an outspoken advocate of controlling global warming, a message he delivered at the White House on Wednesday, Francis did not say the words "climate change."

Instead, he said that "environmental deterioration" is caused by "human activity."

"I am convinced that we can make a difference, and I have no doubt that the United States -- and this Congress have an important role to play," Francis said.

Global warming skeptics took heart in his statements.

"He didn't mention the words 'climate change' at all!" said Rep. Andy Harris, R-Maryland. "This was an equal opportunity speech."

Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, the Senate's leading climate skeptic, said the Pope was saying things that "everyone would agree" upon.

"Everyone agrees that it's responsibility to do what we can to provide a good environment," Inhofe said.

But the Oklahoma Republican said that the Pope seemed to be striking a "cautious" tone to avoid offending the audience, something Inhofe noted Francis also did in his remarks in Cuba and at the White House.

"I would think he would use his influence where the audience could actually do something about it," Inhofe said. "In a way, I think it was less forceful on those subjects than I thought it would be."

For Republicans, perhaps that was a good thing.

Ahead of the speech, many Republicans were wringing their hands over the first-ever papal address to a joint meeting of Congress. They feared he would use the worldwide platform to speak aggressively to rail on climate change, capitalism, gun violence and other hot-button topics as he has since assuming the papacy in 2013. One lawmaker, Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Arizona, even boycotted the address.

But many Republicans came away thinking that the Pope delivered an overall unifying message.

Texas Republican Rep. Pete Sessions said he didn't feel like Pope trod on political turf, telling CNN, "He respectfully approached us."

"His Holiness spoke about America in fair and glowing terms, and challenged us to accept our roles and responsibility not only in the United States but around the world with American exceptionalism," Sessions said.

California Republican Rep. Devin Nunes downplayed any partisan split on the issues that the Pope covered like immigration and addressing the refugee crisis.

"There's very little disagreement with the goals that the Pope laid out," he said. "The question is what happens, how do you implement that?"

Indeed, many Democrats had a similar view.

Minnesota Democratic Rep Keith Ellison, who was raised Catholic but converted to Islam at the age of 19, said: "I thought that was a very appropriate message for the world we live in today and it was a good reminder to some of the people in the presidential race that we need to understand there is good and bad in all, and we shouldn't demonize people based on religion."

Presidential candidate and former Sen. Rick Santorum echoed Ellison's feelings on an interview with CNN's "New Day" on Friday, shortly after one with Ellison.

"To see the kind of unanimity of interest and support in the Pope and his message, I think it's a wonderful thing," Santorum said. "I agree with Congressman Ellison, it's a tone changer. It allows everyone to take sort of a step back from politics and the decisiveness and and listen to someone who's a shepherd."

Another presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, called Pope Francis' remarks "powerful" and said he "encouraged all of us to appeal to our better angels."

Indeed, on immigration, Pope Francis talked about the plight of 'thousands of persons (who) are led to travel north in search of a better life for themselves and their loved ones."

"Is this not what we want for our own children?" the Pope said.

Outside the chamber, Cruz and other immigration hardliners took away a different message from the Pope.

"When we speak of welcoming immigrants, I believe that we should refer to legal immigrants," Cruz said. "With regard to compassion, we should have compassion to everyone."

Similarly, Francis spent little time discussing his opposition to abortion, an issue that would put him on the opposite sides of most Democrats. But most Republicans weren't critical that Francis largely skirted that topic.

"It inspired me to be a better person in my personal life but I didn't take a legislative mandate from it," Cruz said.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, said, "I think that's a very important religious teaching but my view is that women should make those choices with their family, with their doctor, with their God."

Gillibrand added that the Pope offered a unifying position on the issue of life by calling for the abolition of the death penalty.

"That's an important message that I think all of us can take away," she said.

And though he made calls for more traditional families, Democrats declined to criticize the Pope, instead expressing their own support for gay marriage.

Yet, despite the bipartisan praise for Pope Francis, few expect it to change much.

Asked whether the Pope's message would change the partisan dynamic on Capitol Hill, Nunes started to chuckle and said, "I don't even think the Pope can alter that."

CNN's Tal Kopan contributed to this report.

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How Pope Francis won over Hill Republicans

By Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein April 27, 2012

Rep. Allen West, a Florida Republican, was recently captured on video asserting that there are 78 to 81 Democrats in Congress who are members of the Communist Party. Of course, its not unusual for some renegade lawmaker from either side of the aisle to say something outrageous. What made Wests comment right out of the McCarthyite playbook of the 1950s so striking was the almost complete lack of condemnation from Republican congressional leaders or other major party figures, including the remaining presidential candidates.

Its not that the GOP leadership agrees with West; it is that such extreme remarks and views are now taken for granted.

We have been studying Washington politics and Congress for more than 40 years, and never have we seen them this dysfunctional. In our past writings, we have criticized both parties when we believed it was warranted. Today, however, we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the Republican Party.

The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.

When one party moves this far from the mainstream, it makes it nearly impossible for the political system to deal constructively with the countrys challenges.

Both sides do it or There is plenty of blame to go around are the traditional refuges for an American news media intent on proving its lack of bias, while political scientists prefer generality and neutrality when discussing partisan polarization. Many self-styled bipartisan groups, in their search for common ground, propose solutions that move both sides to the center, a strategy that is simply untenable when one side is so far out of reach.

It is clear that the center of gravity in the Republican Party has shifted sharply to the right. Its once-legendary moderate and center-right legislators in the House and the Senate think Bob Michel, Mickey Edwards, John Danforth, Chuck Hagel are virtually extinct.

The post-McGovern Democratic Party, by contrast, while losing the bulk of its conservative Dixiecrat contingent in the decades after the civil rights revolution, has retained a more diverse base. Since the Clinton presidency, it has hewed to the center-left on issues from welfare reform to fiscal policy. While the Democrats may have moved from their 40-yard line to their 25, the Republicans have gone from their 40 to somewhere behind their goal post.

What happened? Of course, there were larger forces at work beyond the realignment of the South. They included the mobilization of social conservatives after the 1973Roe v. Wade decision, the anti-tax movement launched in 1978 by Californias Proposition 13, the rise of conservative talk radio after a congressional pay raise in 1989, and the emergence of Fox News and right-wing blogs. But the real move to the bedrock right starts with two names: Newt Gingrich and Grover Norquist.

Originally posted here:
Lets just say it: The Republicans are the problem. - The ...

Dont Waste Your Time Arguing with a Republican

I had to take a hiatus from GreedyRepublicans.com midway through the Republican primaries. I was getting depressed and burned out by the stupidity I was hearing on a daily basis. And lets face it, the worst Republican stupidity always rises to the top during primary season when all the candidates try to out crazy each other to get the nomination. During the last primaries, we heard republican freaks make statements so absurd that it was no big surprise that Barack Obama was re-elected. Normal people (people who have empathy for others) dont want to hear crap about building moats filled with crocodiles around boarders so illegal immigrants are eaten alive when they try to cross the border. Surely there is a more humane solution to the illegal immigration problem. But I guess that would take thought, something that most Republicans despise doing.

Last night, I was enjoying watching the Eclipse Awards for thoroughbred champions when my daughter came home and told me that she had been engaging with a Republican co-worker on Facebook. I was disgusted. Ive warned my kids not to engage with Republicans because the facts just roll off their backs and the debate will end up being an exercise of frustration. Most Republicans get their information from Fox News, conservative websites or other Republicans. And republicans almost always lack empathy which makes it impossible for them to see things through other peoples point of view.

Of course, my curiosity got the best of me and I paused the Eclipse Awards to check out the debate. Sure enough, we have a 23 year old young woman, still living at home with her parents, spewing bold talk about Obamacare and socialism on my daughters Facebook page. She had just recently started working, her first ever job. This young woman is obviously one of the lucky ones. Shes probably never felt the sting of a hungry belly or the discomfort of sleeping in a place with no heat. She lives in her parents warm house, enjoying their hospitality and good graces, and worrying that other people might be getting financial help from the government. She has little, if any, life experience to speak of.

When I was a teenager, my father used to lose to tell me, Someday, that big door is going to swing open and youll be on your own. And he was right! Its a cold, cruel and expensive world out there if you dont have a great job with benefits or a family to support you. I went without health insurance for nearly 20 years, as I made too much money (working as a waitress and a clerk at a bank) for public health insurance, but not enough money to buy private health insurance. I had to do a lot of marginal things to survive. I went without preventative care or examinations for a long time. When I had an infection, I went to the pet store and bought antibiotics that were meant for aquarium fish. By the time I was finally able to secure health insurance as a 42 year old woman, I was sick. Real sick. I had an autoimmune disorder for years that causes terrible inflammation in my body. All those years of not going for routine checkups came back to haunt me. If I had seen a doctor, I probably wouldnt be so bad off now.

Pro-life Republicans are always squealing about health insurance reform. Republicans generally have a Ive got mine, screw everyone else attitude. If they are currently covered by health insurance, thats all they really care about. But what about the million dollar babies? People with health insurance put a strain on the system too. When a baby is born premature or with health problems and requires incredible amounts of money to save, who pays for that? Should there be limits on how much a person can take from their health insurance to protect the other people from insurance rate increases? Should these babies be left to die because theyre putting too much strain on the health care system? It doesnt matter if the family has health insurance or not, someone is going to pay for it, either the taxpayers or people/employers who pay for private health insurance.

I didnt want to engage the young woman too much, so I simply asked her if she had health insurance. She stated, rather shamelessly, that she was currently covered on her parents insurance until she is 26 years old. I told her that if it wasnt for Obamacare, shed already be uninsured. Thankfully for this young woman, The Affordable Care Act extended the time that young people can stay on their parents health insurance from age 22 to 26. Of course, she missed the whole point. Then she started talking about Obama and how he wants to turn the United States into a socialist country. The same tired crazy babble that all Republicans say when they feel their political views are being called into question.

When I explained that not having health insurance could have serious health ramifications, she said, Ill risk it. All I have to say is, Good luck. Youre going to need it. A young republican with no life experience making bold statements about her unknown future. What could be sadder than that? Id love to talk to this young woman in ten years and see if shes changed her tune. The problem with that is most Republicans subscribe to the skunk always smells himself last way of thinking. The red states usually have the highest rates of welfare. So many Republicans dont practice what they preach. Or they feel its okay for them to get welfare, food stamps, free public school, college financial aid ect but its not okay for anyone else.

I just laughed. Lately I enjoy contemplating the futility of arguing with republicans. Their incredible shamelessness is quite amusing. I turned off my computer and put the Eclipse Awards back on. Congratulations to Wise Dan, 2014 Horse of the Year!

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Greedy Republicans | Exposing the Greedy Republican Idiots ...