The fact that there is not a viable opposition party should never be celebrated. One party rule, by either party, is a colossal failure.

We need the republicans to become viable again.

What we need to do is adopt a Parliamentary system of government. Until we do that this will always be a two party system. As Randy Rhodes used to put it, "pick one."

Personally I hope that the TEA party movement does not become part of the republican party. I would welcome a viable third party (although I doubt it would be TEA partiers)

If they're going to vote for the TEA candidate in solidarity, then it seems the TEA people should be courting non-Republicans. There are plenty of Democrats that are just a fiscally ignorant as TEA people.

Also, for our readers, another regular reminder: The Bob Tiernan who often comments here at BlueOregon is not the same person who is the chairman of the Oregon GOP.

The confusion is understandable. From where I sit, they both seem like first class jerks. Who cares if they jerk to the left or to the right? Both jerk around with our tax dollars, do they not?

Posted by: Garrett in SE | Jan 30, 2010 3:56:16 PM

What we need to do is adopt a Parliamentary system of government. Until we do that this will always be a two party system. As Randy Rhodes used to put it, "pick one."

Garrett rolls the dice. Mentioned 1,352 times on Blueoregon and ignored every time, will he be the lucky one...

James Bopp and OR chair Bob Tiernan deserve each other.

Neither seems to believe what Barry Goldwater once said,

"You catch more flies with honey than by hitting them over the head".

But if the GOP establishment thinks they will win elections by hitting people verbally over the head as if they can force compliance, they will likely see no better success in November than in recent years.

Scott Brown of Mass., Gov. McDonnell of Virginia, as I understand their campaigns, actually ASKED for votes and specified which ideas they supported and how they would approach solving problems.

Bopp and Tiernan don't understand that concept. Perhaps that is why BT is party chair and also a former incumbent defeated for re-election.

The night he was defeated, the winning candidate said something on the order of "voters decided they wanted civility from their legislator".

Remember, the GOP is an interventionist party from Alexander Hamilton, Henry Clay, Abraham Lincoln on up to Teddy Roosevelt and on to John McCain, with the exception of Goldwater and Reagan who were more like 19th century Democrats, the libertarians from Jefferson and Madison. So, the GOP has little interest in conservatism, except that most Republicans are Conservatives...in spite of the party leadership. claysamerica.com

Clay Barham,

I see that you mention the Democrats from the 1800s. The same Democratic Party who in the 1850s was a regional party based solely in the South shortly after the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.

Do you really want to put Goldwater and Reagan in the camp of the Democrats from the antebellum period?

Should we discuss the Southern honor where Democrat Preston Brooks caned Democrat Charles Sumner as Sumner's feet were wrapped around the legs of his desk preventing him from defending himself?

If Southern honor means beating a defenseless human being, then the South and their politics can keep it.

Finally, does that make the Democratic Party of today in the same boat as the Lincoln Republicans from the antebellum and Civil War era?

But … But … Bob's BFF with Michael Steele! He was pivotal in getting Mikey into the USGOP chair – just ask him! He's a big man in Oregon and therefore the GOP. Bon mots drip from his lips like gold ingots! How DARE some visionless hack from Indiana treat him like that?

I have sympathy for anyone who hopes the Tea Partiers don't become part of the Republican party. They already are and, just like the religious hardcore right, they are demanding their turn at the wheel and, also like the religious hardcore right, will either have it or interfere with the driver and send the clown car over a cliff if they don't get it because if they can't have it, nobody can have it.

The two or three sane Republicans that are still left know this and they're trying to ease the Tea Partiers back into a supporting role, and will have about as much success doing that as they did with the religious hard right.

Sal, thanks for the link. Unfotunately, it appears other than trying to be a loose affiliation of Oregon voters who are neither hard-core dem or hard-core rep, the site has little to say about what the Independent Party of Oregon is about.

They do have a great aninal symbol though!

"Bob Tiernan who is advocating against the litmus-test for Republican candidates and Bopp who is arguing for it."

The problem for Tiernan is that the activist base of the Republican Party in Oregon, the volunteers who do the actual work and provide the energy, have embraced the Tea Party ethos and agenda like a drowning man grabs a life saver. This base is going to agitate for a purity test regardless of whether Tiernan says it applies or not. His choice is to ride the tiger backwards and hang onto its tail or get off and face the end with teeth...

"I hate to interrupt all the chortling and high-fiving, but..."

The fact remains that "Mr. Bopp and Bob Tiernan, the Republican chairman from Oregon, quarreled before reporters over whether the watered-down compromise had any real force. Mr. Bopp insisted that it did, and Mr. Tiernan insisted that it did not, repeating himself and interrupting Mr. Bopp until Mr. Bopp turned to him and said, “Shut up!”"

Sounds like Republican infighting to me, but I say "Good for you, Bopp!" Keep fighting to keep Repulicans from running any "squishy moderates... who accomplish close to nothing conservative".

Zak: That is, if having to k'ou-t'ou to the Sanctimonious Hardcorps didn't teach them.

It's not a Republican "party" now so much as it is a distributed anomaly – kind of like Woodstock, only much whiter and a whole lot more uptight.

And the music is horrible!

Your Readers might consider joining our new Centrists Group at Linked In and might like to look at my new blog for and about Centrists, The Rest of U.S.

Extremists have become so loud, they’re deafening. And because they shout in perfect sound bites, the media birddog their every rant, however irresponsible or outrageous.

But we believe the political tide’s about to turn with a vengeance. No matter their party affiliation or lack thereof, Americans are disgusted with those who harass to harass, obstruct to obstruct, tear down to tear down. Compromise, consensus, bridge-building, and respect for differing viewpoints have been the hallmarks of American life as long as there’s been an America. We’re certain they will be again.

Please read: The Rest of U.S. – Who We Are and What We Stand For

http://newcentristera.wordpress.com/2010/01/06/the-rest-of-u-s-who-we-are-and-what-we-stand-for/

If you like it, please circulate to your family, friends, and colleagues. Or perhaps to your favorite extremist!

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