Ditto. Same here.
But I believe as soon as the GOP alienates these albatross ideologues it will resurface again to be what it used to be. I look forward to that day.
What was this mythological GOP you speak of, and why does this projection of "the good old days" keep changing with each reiteration of the Party platform and surge in internal polling? It wasn't long ago I was hearing the desire for fiscal responsibility to be the main message, and the romanticism of Ron Paul. Now that that is the broad-based message (and we can quibble about many specific details), suddenly the good old days refer to a lack of populism and hardcore principles.
Look, from my perspective, the whole thing is a crock. You find me someone who romanticizes the past GOP, and I'll show you someone who doesn't recall that those tendencies (both loved and despised) have long-since existed and were integral parts of the conservative dilemma. For some reason we think that religion sprung up out of nowhere in the 1970s and took over the Party. Somewhere along the line we think that ideologues of the current could not match the
prudence and
compromising natures of their forefathers. It's a bunch of crap. Your previous generations were the same pig-headed, religiously inspired, small-government narrow-minded, "Liberal Republican"/RINOs, war hawkin', civil liberties hatin', corporation worshiping, ideologically-driven, uncompromising jerks you think rule this place now. What changed were the details and the balance of power within the Party platform. There were moments where Barry Goldwater was making head ways, and moments where Rockefeller was more influential. Yet, both were influential in the Party's structure, both represented a given set of tendencies.
John Adams discovered that his political foes were both the other Party and members of the Federalist Party who were influenced by Hamilton. Two wings, one Party.
There was no "good ol' days." The only people that get serviced from that romantic foolishness are the ones temporarily with less influence and those from the other Party who stand everything to gain by making their current foes look like fallen angels.