TW: The image above displays by county where McCain in 2008 outpolled W. Bush in 2004. If you are a Republican you look at this and see a party headed South literally. Putting aside the obvious favorite son/daughter dynamic in Arizona and Alaska, the Republicans are becoming a regionalized party in their current incarnation. To be clear, American parties are dynamic entities otherwise our two party system would have collapsed long ago but if the Republicans think the front and center religion and patriotism approach has broad enough appeal to win national elections I believe they are wrong.
What can sell better for them is the small government and lower tax message that has been a more prevalent pillar of the party in the past. That pillar though is vulnerable to pragmatic Democrats who can embrace those concepts on the margin to deflect their electoral effectiveness. I believe an Obama led Democratic Party will be sufficiently pragmatic to do so.
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