GOP rasslin' with its image

Congress is like a Tier B rassin’ match in a small high school gym in Minot, ND:  Fuss and feathers, bluster and boisterous boasts, bad acting and a predictable outcome.

The main difference is that after the public displays of disaffection, the participants do not go to Flo’s Eat and Drink for chicken fried steak and a couple of beers.

Members of Congress, circa 2013, are part and parcel of one of the most dysfunctional governing bodies in the history of this nation. While opposing party members have not yet resorted to beating on another with canes and fireplace tongs, with few exceptions they don’t try and work together to solve problems, content to play the age-old game of Partisan Politics with a vengeance.

The rise and fall of political parties – from the Federalists to the Whigs to the Bull Moose Party and including regional parties like the Blue Enigma Party, Taxes are Too Damn High Party and Vegetarian Party – is determined by the long-term relevance of individual party platforms and the competency its leaders bring to the national (or regional) debate.

Today, like it or not, accept it to not, the Republican Party is rendering itself irrelevant on the national front by refusing to accept the reality that the party’s influence is diminishing in direct proportion to the changing demographics of the nation.

The problem and solution can be simply stated: The nation’s voter base is changing; that dynamic change creates opportunities in which compromise is not only preferable, but necessary. The only other pathway is extinction.

That is not an overtly overstated scenario. Before the campaign of 2012 started, there was absolutely no way that Barack Obama could be re-elected: Economy, foreign policy, a distanced administration, unemployment … all pointed to a clear chance for the Republican Party to win back the White House.

What happened? The perfect storm of events that spelled doom for the party:

1) A slate of candidates as weak and clueless as any every offered up by any party, ever;

2) Monied interests buying preferred platform planks from favored candidates;

3) Candidates bowing and scraping to the ultra-right-wing segment of the party;

4) All candidates, by actions and words, putting party before the needs of the country;

5) Fighting for “issues” that a majority of voters were not interested in … at all.

What’s changed since the election? Nothing, except the loud voices of party heirs blasting their own party as they start the race to vie for party leadership; Bobby Jidal of Louisiana and Chris Christie of New Jersey have uttered words of wisdom and hope not heard from the Republican camp in years.

What can GOPers do to change the cycle, to become relevant again? Apparently the hatred the current party leaders have for the president trumps any chance for bipartisan compromise.

To change its chances to remain an active participant in government, the GOP must change, and quickly.

But, will the party accept that change is inevitable. Recent history would point to “no way.” That is a sorry state of affairs for the Republicans. And a sorrier state of affairs for America.

American needs a two-party (or more) system in order to give clear choices to voters. It is, after all, the American way.