Ring of Fire received the below email today from a lifelong, conservative Republican, explaining why she now has given up on the party:
I sent you guys a tweet saying that though I am lifelong conservative Republican, native San Franciscan, and with loads of leadership and volunteer active credentials for years and years, I stopped paying attention to Fox political news and commentators. They cater and pander to the most paranoid intellectually ignorant and naïve and social Neanderthals and cultural hicks. I prefer to associate with rationally and more sophisticated intellectual type of conservatives which too often makes me feel like a real minority. The more enlightened, forward thinking and compassionate type of conservatives are as prolific in the U.S. as a speck of dust in a tightly enclosed cylinder. The dumb and backwoods thinking the GOP conservative candidates speak is no exaggeration as they do reflect the level of fear mongering which they claim is their mission in accordance to their Christian bible. Ironically, setting aside the word Christian, they seem to sound as hatefully zealous as the Muslim extremists. Both sides see sacrificing human lives, after leaving the womb, as necessary casualties of war. Both sides see war as the main solution for just about everything. Sad…. Signed San Francisco born, lifelong conservative Republican
The GOP has become a party that is so filled with hate, bigotry and racism that it’s impossible for many of their traditional base to continue to support them. Much of the Party’s base certainly will lack the motivation to get out and vote for them. For those who can’t bring themselves to vote Democrat, they likely will not vote.
On the other hand, the GOP rhetoric will galvanize groups such as Hispanics to create mass movements to get their base registered to vote and to the polls on election day. It’s the enthusiastic base that drives national elections. How many white supremacists, bigots, racists truly exist? There are many, way too many, but nowhere near the numbers needed for the Republican Party to win a national election where they are energizing their adversaries much more than their base.