Posted on 09/13/2009 7:45:58 AM PDT by Maelstorm
The Democratic Party struggled at the national level throughout the 1970s and 80s all but shut out of the White House because it was defined by its most extreme elements: war protestors, loony peaceniks, angry black activists, crime apologists, etc. It took years of concerted effort by the Democratic Leadership Council, Bill Clinton and others to reclaim the Democrats reputation as reasonable and pragmatic.
The Republican Party of today is stuck in the same place, defined by Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, birthers, tea partiers and Joe Wilson. John McCain fell into the trap of being defined by the extremists when he chose former Gov. Palin to run on his ticket. She energized the base, but she scared off moderates and intellectually honest Republicans . Todays big rally in Washington holds the potential for aggravating that reputation. Because TV cameras always focus on the loonies, it wont take many handheld signs denouncing Obama as a Socialist/Muslim/Nazi or questioning his citizenship to exacerbate the GOPs reputation as, to quote Politico, the party of cranks.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.ajc.com ...


Where are the media fly by shots? During Jackson’s death watch they panned the crowd with fly overs and everything.
Cynthia Tucker, on MSNBC, claimed that 45% - 65% of the Townhall protestors are racists. She is not a credible source.
No she isn’t she is a far left nut.
The helicopters were flying so I know that they have the aerial shots.
I don't know how long it takes to get a copy of the photo released.
They’re scared, they are very scared...and they should be. This isn’t going to go away, and the GOP better be shaking in their boots as much as the dims.
The dims have become the party of radicals and they want to rule the world by regulation.
I notice that in this piece. This leftist racist gas bag usually is not so terse. They are indeed afraid.
Didn’t hear Tucker saying the Dems were extremists in the 80’s.
And is she now positing that there are no extremists in the DEms?
Yep that Granny flanked by two young ladys really looks like a radical to me. /s
They still are extremists. They are defined by the most extreme of their number. Nancy Pelosi is there Speaker, Obama is their President and they are two of the most extreme left individuals to ever hold those offices in the history of this nation.
To a Communist, Americans have always been considered extremeists.
Cynthia Tucker is on the editorial board of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, and she’s one of the most liberal people I’ve ever heard, why would anyone care what she says?
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No she isnt she is a far left nut.
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Which puts her firmly on the right of the current democrat party.
This is wishful thinking because I see the real story as a revolution involving people who vote in elections.
The hippies and young radicals of the past were sometimes too young to vote. The early part of their protests saw a 21 year old voting age and by the 70’s when 18 year olds voted, few did.
We who are Tea Partiers, 912’ers etc. are older, more mature and ready to vote. The younger Obama supporters are not as motivated.
Maelstorm, you KNOW that private aircraft can’t get anywhere near the Capitol OR the White House and never could.
Since 9/11/01, airspace around DC for some distance (maybe 30 miles?) is absolutely off limits to private aircraft without special permission. One poor pilot took his small private plane within that perimeter and was greeted by F-16s, escorting him out of the area.
What is interesting is the media never show the worst of the left. Never ever cover obscenity in the streets during san fran sicko parades. Have to be forced to cover flag burnings and the burnings of our soldiers in effigy. They can keep up the extremist spin, they will find out the meaning of the word.
How can a hard working accomplished mother scare "intellectually honest Republicans", but a former ACORN worker that touted close ties to domestic terrorists, the Nation of Islam, a communist American hating pastor of twenty years, and criminal power brokers not "scare" them?
Pretty amazing.
Where are these extremists?
Last time I checked, simply wanting spending under control and taxes reasonable didn’t define an extremist.
Gosh, I see Americans who love their Country. To those who Hate America in the Establishment, that is extreme and won’t be tolerated.
Pray for America and the Tea Party Movement
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