Sunday, January 20, 2013

Letter to the editor

A letter to the editor of the LA Times...

-Re "Time to grow up, GOP," Opinion, Jan. 15


Jonah Goldberg accurately describes some of the Republican Party's problems, but he is deluding himself if he truly believes its main issue is that it isn't doing a good job of persuading Americans.

The real problem for the Republican Party is the extreme ideological views of its core constituencies. The religious right believes God is on its side; economically conservative Republicans believe in failed policies of deregulation and trickle-down tax rules; climate-change deniers believe global warming is a hoax; the GOP money establishment maintains that giving money to politicians is free speech rather than legalized bribery; and the gun-rights wing is opposed to any sensible measures on firearms.

The problem is not that Republicans haven't done a good job of persuading but rather that their views are unpersuasive.

Michael Asher

Valley Village

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