It doesn't really pain me at all to point out to my right-wing friends that, for all their dogged determination and heroic efforts, the American people are no longer listening to them, their various self-appointed spokespersons, or interested in their positions on the issues. Now, to be sure, this has certainly not deterred them from pushing their crazy ideas and off-kilter world-view on an apathetic public. On the contrary, the more people either shrug and turn away, or point and laugh, the louder and more strident they become.
Like the Democratic Party of a generation ago, I do believe that it will be at least a little while before the Republican Party finds a new voice. In the meantime, we have the sad spectacle of the conservative movement imploding, the Republican Party bickering with itself, and Democrats forced to smile and accept Arlen Specter as a member in good standing of the party (I suppose you gotta take the bad with the good . . .).
Overall, though, their relevance to current political and policy debates? Null. Zero. The most interesting debates are within the Democratic Party.
