Hope she's right, but strengthening of the GOP for the elections depends mostly on two issues. First is whether or not Republicans can unite, given the current political differences between the main stream (moneyed) segment of the Party and the groups farther to the right. Second of course is whether Dems can once again be successful with their campaign of GOP wars on race, gender and the poor.
Since the Democrats have no success stories to taut, I'm guessing they'll go with what got 'em here in 2012...fear of Republicans.
A few weeks ago I was having dinner with some friends when the subject of increasing gas prices came up.
My friends are a well-educated, bright career couple who are somewhat apolitical and drift all over the place on issues.
I began talking about the relative cost of money as it related to the Federal Reserve Board's current policies, the depreciation of the dollar as a result of excessive printing and how printed money (money created out of thin air) steals value from money in current circulation as soon as it hits the money supply, and that as a result of all those factors, the people selling us crude simply wanted more little green pieces of paper bearing the likeness of dead ex-Presidents in exchange for their product. Then I noticed the glazed look in everyone's eyes, INCLUDING my wife's (another intelligent educated individual) so I stopped talking.
We finished dinner and left.
Here's what I KNOW FOR A FACT and what I think I learned from that exchange.
People, even intelligent people, are losing the ability to hold complex thoughts and reason things through. By and large, people are replacing (or have already replaced) reason with emotion, and visceral reactions are the norm where logic and understanding used to reign.
Had I simple said that gas prices were going up because _______ (fill in your particular boogeyman. Leftists fill in "greedy corporations/CEO's/the Koch brothers, etc, right wingers fill in unions/government/ - which happens to be the correct answer - the EPA, etc) wanted more money and didn't give a shit about "the little people", everyone at the table would have seen me as a wise man who understood the issue, IRRESPECTIVE of what entity I filled that blank with.
Sound bites and headline news have destroyed our intelligence, and how we vote is now decided almost completely by an emotional reaction to pushed buttons by either side of the political ideofence.
We are so screwed.