What do you see as the primary fissures in the Republican Party right now?

AuntB, as you can see the rift seems to be between the moderate Republicans (who get called RINO (republican in name only)) and the ultra Conservative Tea Party folks, who are insisting on revisionist history (America was founded on Christian principles, the wealthy create the jobs, the 51% who pay nothing in income taxes are getting a free ride, etc etc). They seem to ignore the fact that the programs that they hate the most are programs which were put into place by Republican administrations (EPA - Nixon, Fuel Assistance for the poor - first Ford then strengthened by Reagan, Progressive tax rates - Coolidge then Hoover and then again, Eisenhower). It would seem that at LEAST half of the progressive legislation which came about during the 20th Century was DURING a Republican Administration yet the TEA Party is completely in denial of all of that. The TEA Party is nothing more than the ultra-Conservative wing of the Republican Party with a tiny smattering of gullible Democrats tossed in to sort of give them the illusion of inclusiveness. They FAIL to realize that the vast majority of Republicans are PROUD of the History of the party during the20th Century, that it took a LOT of what is known as REASONABLE compromise with the conservative wing of the Democratic Party (known as Blue Dogs, in case you never heard of such a thing). Why? not to screw the American people out of their rights but to enable ALL Americans to enjoy the benefits of BEING Americans. The TEA Party wants to establish rule of law based SOLELY upon THEIR narrow interpretation of events and the Constitution and the majority of Americans can go pound sand. They will lie, cheat, steal and bully in order to force their agenda first on the Republican Party (by insults (RINO), blackmail, or Religious fervor (Rick Perry, Bachmann, O'Donnell, etc). It is the TEA Party that is the Anti-American bunch, THEY want to tear apart the actual framework of the Constitution (not just a few amendments but the actual original language of the main document, in Perry's case. It is the TEA Party that wants to eliminate the system of checks and balances in our government and turn our FREE Nation into a dictatorship of the majority who will outlaw the minority. No, not immediately but surely by tiny increments until they actually achieve their objective. The single most dangerous enemy of the United States is the TEA Party. It is Americans, hiding behind God and "Moral" Outrage who wish to subvert the Constitution of the United States of America. WE the people need to stand up for our founding document because it IS the source of protection for the citizenry, ALL of the citizenry, not JUST conservatives or liberals, not JUST Christians of non-Christians but ALL Americans. That specifically includes ALL the minorities as well as the majority. The system of checks and balances between the branches of the government was instituted to protect the minority against the tyranny of the majority. It also exists to protect the majority against a tiny minority (which the TEA Party IS).

The presence of conservatives is a good thing; the presence of liberals is a good thing too. We NEED both to be able to make sure that everyone receives equal and fair treatment by our government, rich and poor, right and left, strong and weak, young and old, Christian and non-Christian, EVERYONE. We CAN'T allow the minority of the TEA Party to shout down all of the common sense which has prevailed over the last 200+ years of our Nation's existence. When they shout out the way they DO at the various "town hall meetings" which our elected officials used to conduct their noise silences everyone else's voice and THEY too have a right to be heard. They TOO have just as much a right to have their grievances addressed as well.

Let's put a stop to this RUDE behavior by the TEA Party.If they wish to participate in the political process then THEY must follow the RULES of that process and NOT expect those rules to be changed just for them.

Brightest Blessings,

Raji the Green Witch

The only "fissures" I see are between the Country Club Republican Establishment and the Tea Party led Conservative Ascendancy. It is out with the old and in with the new. Of course the Establishment will resist. But it only makes the Party more vibrant.

In a nutshell, political insiders of both Parties know Obama doesn't stand a chance and that the Republicans will take both Houses of Congress. Neither will come out and say that for various reasons but their internal polling confirms it. What is going on is positioning for control after the fact. For the Republican Party the battle is between the Conservatives and the Establishment. In the Democrat Party it is between the Liberals or Clinton wing and the Progressives or Obama wing. For the Democrats, the battle is to get rid of the Obama Progressives and position Clinton Liberals for future positions of power.

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Clearly the biggest fight in the Republican party is between the TEA Party Conservatives such as myself who are the growing rank and file of the party and the RINO establishment types who think that they are going to still be able to get away with shoving their go along to get along DC beltway insider establishment candidates down our throats anymore.

We will replace the elected RINO officials in each cycle and we will replace the party leadership apparatus as more of our TEA Party leaders begin to assume leadership positions and get rid of the old guard. The RINOs wouldn't know a good idea if it bit them on their backside.

Obama doesn't have a prayer of re-election.

The Democrats are divided with the left wing of the party upset over Obama's hawkish war mongering and the independents that supported him in 2008 abandoning him.

Judging from Maxine Waters meeting with black voters in Detroit last week Obama is losing support even amoung them.

If the Democrats had any sense they would convince him not to run for a second term and run someone else instead.

They sort of do that with Ron Paul-sometimes. When he wins, they don't speak of him. If he comes in second, they ignore him and speak of the third place person as second. Of course we all know that is an insult to the voters. The Republicans have adopted the ways of the Democrats and its time to dump them.

The only Republican I will vote for is Ron Paul. I will not vote for Obama either. Maybe it's time for Republicans to just put in a write in vote for Reagan's Corpse. I mean that with all due respect.

The issues are all very clear if you look at Ron Paul's positions. I will only vote for Ron Paul because he's the only candidate that's not in the pocket of the big corporations.

The question should be more geared towards what our Leaders can do for our country, not what the Republican Party can do.

The far right has caused the GOP to implode. Even the moderate Republicans are getting called liberal traitors. With the course the GOP is taking, Obama is going to get another 4 years easy.

The invasion of TP.