Politics
Joe Biden: "There isn't a Republican Party"
Vice President Biden laments the disorganized state of the Republican Party, saying Democrats would benefit from having a viable negotiating part...
Posted on 02/14/2014 8:55:19 PM PST by neverdem
Just days after warning his party that it will lose its electoral grip on Texas if it doesn’t broaden its appeal, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., offered an even more dire prediction on Thursday: Forget losing Texas – the GOP might never win a presidential election again if it doesn’t change its tune.
“I think Republicans will not win again in my lifetime…unless they become a new GOP, a new Republican Party,” Paul said during an interview with conservative radio host Glenn Beck that aired Thursday. “And it has to be a transformation. Not a little tweaking at the edges.”
The Kentucky Republican said the GOP needs to do a better job of tailoring specific messages to specific groups.
With young people, he said, he would stress an opposition to excessive government surveillance and a respect for personal privacy. And among minority communities, he said, a message of criminal justice reform – including changes to the “war on drugs” and sentencing laws – would resonate.
“There are many people who are open among all these disaffected groups, who really aren’t steadfast supporters of Obama or an ideology,” he explained. “I think they’re open to listening, but we have to have a better message and a better presentation of it.”
Paul said he welcomes a robust debate within the party about how to move forward.
“There is a struggle going on within the Republican Party,” he said. “I tell people it’s not new, and I’m not ashamed of it. I’m proud of the fact that there is a struggle. And I will struggle to make the Republican Party a different party, a bigger party, a more diverse party, and a party that can win national elections again.”
And he compared this new attempt to rejuvenate the GOP to Ronald Reagan’s own effort to refashion the party after Watergate, when he challenged then-President Gerald Ford for the Republican presidential nomination in 1976.
“Everybody told Reagan to sit back and shut up,” Paul recalled. “They told him it wasn’t his time, and it wasn’t going to be his time. The establishment wanted Ford…It was bitterly fought, but in the end, Reagan won and the party became a better place, at least for a while. We need to have that debate again, and we need to be a bigger, stronger party.”
It may surprise Paul to hear that even some Democrats are hoping the Republican Party can resuscitate itself.
Vice President Biden told the House Democratic caucus at a policy conference on Friday that Democrats should hope Republicans can pull themselves together – if only for the sake of having a viable negotiating partner.
“There isn’t a Republican party,” he lamented. “I wish there were, I wish there was a Republican party. I wish there was one person we could sit across the table from and make a deal and make the compromise and know when you got up from the table that the deal was done.”
“All you had to do was look at their response to the State of the Union, what were there, three or four?” he added. “I think we should get a little focused here, let's get a little focused.”
So Rand thinks legalizing weed is the key to victory?
He’s being a mite vague.
I agree. The TEA trend must continue.
Rand Paul has inherited his father’s insanity.
Rand is an interesting character.
He is trying to carefully maneuver the political waters between Dems, GOP and conservatives.
Much smarter than his dad.
He votes ‘no’ on everything, yet he doesn’t say things to alienate the GOP, or the public in general/. .
Watch for his next move.
Reagan would have done great in 2012, and he was supported by the religious right.
I think he makes some good points. But, Reagan didn’t win in ‘76. He lost to Ford. The gopE wanted Ford and they got Ford. Then they got Carter.
Rand Paul is an idiot. If you want a big tent and cannot stand on principle, switch to the democrat party.
I agree. We need to oust the RINOS. I don’t think this is the change Rand desires, however. We do not need to accept indolent criminal invaders into our already screwed up society. We have enough criminals in the U.S. to have to handle the rest of the world’s criminals as well.
Reagan had ideas. He promoted those ideas often. What’s Paul doing? Spouting vague stuff. I tune him out.
From the article: "With young people, he said, he would stress an opposition to excessive government surveillance and a respect for personal privacy. And among minority communities, he said, a message of criminal justice reform – including changes to the “war on drugs” and sentencing laws – would resonate."
You first. I like the Bill of Rights. Fast and Furious was built on the War on Drugs. Paul agrees with border security first, IIRC.
Rand Paul is a Libertarian just like his old man. He just hides it better. A wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Rand Paul is absolutely right on both points, and I agree with him wholeheartedly. Let's save prison for the real criminals: those who commit crimes of force or fraud against their fellow citizens, regardless of their excuse or motivation.
“There are many people who are open among all these disaffected groups, who really aren’t steadfast supporters of Obama or an ideology,” he explained. “I think they’re open to listening, but we have to have a better message and a better presentation of it.”
Once again, I agree.
Paul said he welcomes a robust debate within the party about how to move forward.
“There is a struggle going on within the Republican Party,” he said. “I tell people it’s not new, and I’m not ashamed of it. I’m proud of the fact that there is a struggle. And I will struggle to make the Republican Party a different party, a bigger party, a more diverse party, and a party that can win national elections again.”
... “Everybody told Reagan to sit back and shut up,” Paul recalled. “They told him it wasn’t his time, and it wasn’t going to be his time. The establishment wanted Ford... but in the end, Reagan won and the party became a better place, at least for a while. We need to have that debate again, and we need to be a bigger, stronger party.”
Well said, all of it. Some of you might not be fans of Senator Paul or other TEA party favorites, but between him, Cruz, Palin, and a few others, it's shaping up to be a very interesting and halthy 2016 campaign season for the GOP. The GOP establishment is not going to stand a chance against the TEA party coalition this time around!
I, for one, welcome this debate, because it will expose the Democrats' fraud just like the GOPe, and if there is any patriotic soul left at all in America, the Democrats will get electorally slaughtered for at least the next 2 cycles...
That's it in a nutshell.
Randmesty Paul pushing Illegal Alien Amnesty again...
The GOP will lose if it continues to attack its conservative base
Rand Paul is no Conservative. Amnesty Liberal, Open Borders, supporting McConnell over Bevin in Senate race
This guy is more dangerous than his father
I’ve been leery of supporting Rand Paul. And this is a good example why.
“better job of tailoring specific messages to specific groups.”
Nothing wrong with that as long as we’re not caving on the issues. Conservative principles work. Socialism doesn’t. There’s no reason to become Venezuela.
RAND PAUL: SECURE THE BORDER FIRST
The BS media buried it. The war on drugs gave us Fast and Furious. I can live with potheads. Most can't beccome a doctor. That's their problem.
That Virginia Governor election should have been won if we had just ran a conservative. I am so sick and tired of the GOPe. They always pick losers.
I still go for Scott Walker as the GOP’s best hope for that, no first term Senators.
God bless you! I agree with you 100 percent. So sick and tired of putting those loser one term senators on the pedestal who haven’t done a dang thing except run their mouths. Scott Walker all the way….the only one that has achieved RESULTS!
What do we win if the GOP wins?
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