Do you think the GOP is throwing in the towel?

[Seen the light]

I'm getting that feeling tonight. We have McCain suddenly reversing on his decision to go after Obama personally and getting booed by the angry lynch mob. There's also the rumor of the RNC pulling their McCain ads soon to help Senate candidates instead.

Do you think they know it's over? Bob Dole redux?

[begin_within]

1. Let's put it this way:

[gravity]

2. McCain is

I bet the GOP is going to do whatever it can to hold onto its Senate seats

[Creamfields USA]

13. probably, but..

I'd wager that both parties will not be around under Senator Obama's administration.

[OmahaBlueDog]

22. My theory is that both parties will realign/reorganize in the next 4 years

I see the Republicans breaking into:

a) a small government/small tax group that resemble the Ron Paul vision, but with a less strident social policy and an isolationist bent
b) an alliance of defense hawks and evangelicals that will look kind of like the fascists of the 30s
c) fiscal conservative/social moderates (think the Governator, Rudy, Collins, Snowe) that I'll touch on below


I see the DLC (read Bill, Hillary), and folks like Senators Webb and Landrieu possibly breaking away from the Democrats over fiacal policy (most specifically - free trade). Were this to happen, I could see a centrist alliance forming among Republicans in group "c", DLC dems, and independents such as Michael Bloomberg and Joe Lieberman.

[Marsala]

23. Obama won't let the Dems split

He's too skilled - and, despite DU's dreams, too centrist - to let that happen. The Democratic party will continue, likely as a new "Obama coalition". We may even absorb disaffected moderate Republicans.

[Fovea]

3. There is war in hell tonight.

And it will probably claw its way into the light by Monday.

I would not be surprised to see Palin at the top of the ticket.
I would not be surprised to see McCain/Palin replaced by a non red meat ticket.
I would not be surprised to die next week resisting marital law.

We are off the map, in Terra incognito.

[cliffordu]

12. We are off the map. This could go anywhere.

I fully expect murders of Obama canvassers by racists before it's over.

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

17. "Here there be Monsters"

I swear that the Firesign Theatre and Monty Python combined to write the Repuke script this year.

[Fovea]

18. "Is this your bar of Soap?"

"No."
"Are you sure? Look again."
"Yes I am."
"Just as we thought"

[Fed_Up_Grammy]

4. Let's stop calling it the GOP--- ----too complimentary.

Repukes has always worked for me.

[OmahaBlueDog]

14. GOP is easier to type

..and I perfer Republican'ts to Repukes, personally.

Plus GOP can stand for things like Greedy Oil Profiteers

[AndyTiedye]

5. I Think Palin is Finally Scaring Even McCain

McCain is slow, but he seems to have at least one functioning brain cell
and that brain cell is finding Palin scary.

[Essene]

6. GOP Pundits are already positioning and starting to spin for post-election GOP reform

Listen to Gergen, Brooks, Frum, Will, Sillivan, Parker, etc.

Moderates and more sensible pundits have draw the line in the sand, and are implying that the party must back down from a Rove-style cultural warfare approach. That party is now in SERIOUS TROUBLE. I don't mean like...
"zomg we have no power" type of trouble. That party can truly implode in the coming 2-4 years.

[droidamus2]

7. Agreed

The Republican coalition was built on combining the fiscal conservatives with the social conservatives it is very likely that a big loss here could see this coalition blown wide open. I could definitely see the two sides pointing fingers at each other. So I agree that there could be an implosion or explosion or some kind of plosin.

[Imagevision]

8. This is a mind-fucker for Mccain though...

[OmahaBlueDog]

9. The polls aren't turning. They see the writing on the wall

The economy is tanking. At this point, the RNC has probably told the McSame campaign that they're on their own, and that the Party money will go to salvaging Congressional and Senate races. The alternative, President Obama and a fillibuster proof Senate, is unthinkable for the other side. The good news (from the GOP perspective) is that many of their Senate seats could very possibly be salvaged if they make a quick and decisive infusion of cash now.

Meanwhile, McSame-Failin' will continue the race over the next 3 weeks much likea boxer behind on points in the final round -- throw haymakers and hope they get lucky and one connects.

[iceman66]

10. Absolutely not.

I expect them to fight until the bitter end.

Don't be surprised to see them come out with an even more slanderous set of ads.

[AlCzervik]

11. it's over when it's over.

[Abugface]

19. You're absolutely right.

The Republicans will never give up. They will try to steal this election through any means possible.

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

15. Ed Rollins is a pretty sharp cookie

and there is a link around DU somewhere that shows him saying, in essence, that the game is over and the only remaining question is how bad the Congressional bloodbath will be for the 'pukes.

[Mz Pip]

16. No and they

are willing to take the whole country down with them. Scorched earth.

If they lose they will leave Obama with a country divided by hate and fear. If they win it's because they were successfully able to divide this country with hate and fear.

[Recursion]

20. As I OP'ed a minute ago, something just feels unhinged

Like they had a script for Crisis A but Crisis B happened instead. The wheels are off the track, somewhere. I just can't put my finger on what it is.

[bdamomma]

21. probably they are re grouping but alot of us are on to them

and their stinking tactics, and Obama's poll numbers are going up. McCain supporters are another subject.

[OmahaBlueDog]

24. The hint is the disconnect between the markets and the price of gas

I think the script was supposed to be falling gas prices would make us all feel that the economy wasn't so bad, and we'd feel warm and fuzzy about the status quo. Then the credit crisis (which I suspect President Obama was supposed to get stuck with) blew up early. OK -no problem; a hastily written script was thrown together. Senator McSame would suspend campaigning, and lead us to a solution. The problem is that either the House Republicans weren't in on the gag, or just flat out rebelled, or McSame's people couldn't get clear on whether he was supposed to oppose or support the bailout. If McSame goes on to lose, that week of campaign suspension will be cited as the blunder that cost him the election.