(Community Matters) A weak second party doesn’t serve our long term national interests but it could help us avoid the fringe objectives of their party. I don’t know about minting platinum coins but a 14th amendment solution might be critical to avoiding global economic calamity in the face of rabid, blood thirst for revenge and affirmation of relevance.
Politico’s Playbook: REPUBLICAN REBOOT — L.A. Times A1, ” Republican divide is increasingly a matter of region: Split between party’s Southern base and the rest of the country seems to be widening,” by Paul West: “That regional split became evident when members of the House of Representatives cast votes last week on a budget deal designed to avoid massive tax hikes and spending cuts: Almost 90% of Southern Republicans voted against the ‘fiscal-cliff’ compromise. At the same time, a majority of Republican representatives from outside the South supported the deal … The GOP’s geographic schisms burst anew after House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) canceled an expected vote on a $60-billion disaster relief package for victims of Superstorm Sandy. … [T]he South’s preeminence could pose challenges to national GOP efforts to broaden the party’s appeal on social and cultural issues …
“‘An increasing challenge for Northeastern Republicans , and West Coast Republicans, … is the growing perception among their constituents that the Republican Party is predominantly a Southern and rural party,’ said Dan Schnur, a former GOP campaign strategist who directs the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC. … [T]oday’s Republican majority in the House is centered in the states of the old Confederacy. The GOP enjoys a 57-seat advantage across the 11-state region that stretches from Texas to Virginia. … As a result of reapportionment and the 2012 election, the GOP no longer controls a majority of non-Southern congressional districts. In the last Congress, Republicans held a slim, two-district majority in non-Southern states; now Democrats have a 24-seat edge. Still, the Republicans have a comfortable 33-seat overall majority in the House – two seats are vacant – and only the most optimistic Democrats believe that Republicans will lose control of the chamber in 2014.” http://lat.ms/UsBAKy
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