This is what a flailing party looks like
by David Atkins
It's a little thing, to be sure, but little things can be instructive:
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus threatened to pull the group’s partnership with NBC and CNN for 2016 GOP presidential primary debates if the networks moved ahead with plans to air films on Hillary Clinton.
“If they have not agreed to pull this programming prior to the start of the RNC’s Summer Meeting on August 14, I will seek a binding vote stating that the RNC will neither partner with these networks in 2016 primary debates nor sanction primary debates they sponsor,” Preibus said in a statement.
CNN's response?
CNN said their Hillary Clinton documentary had been commissioned by CNN Films, a division of CNN Worldwide and would be a “non-fiction look at the life of a former First Lady and Secretary of State."
“Instead of making premature decisions about a project that is in the very early stages of development and months from completion, we would encourage the members of the Republican National Committee to reserve judgment until they know more,” said the news network in a statement. “Should they decide not to participate in debates on CNN, we would find it curious, as limiting their debate participation seems to be the ultimate disservice to voters.”
Gee, I wonder who has the upper hand in that fight?
As infuriatingly powerful as conservatives seem to be right now, it's important to remember that Republicans are a party increasingly out of options. Their voters are literally dying, and the fastest growing voter populations despise them. They no have well-known and well-respected political celebrities of any note. Their ideas poll terribly. They still have money and power, to be sure, and politics is a fickle thing. But right now their backs are against a wall.
Much of what happens in the political trench warfare must be seen in that context. These are desperate people in a hole, few of whom are frantically trying to crawl out, but most of whom are furiously digging deeper to escape.
All they have is obstruction and the fervent hope that something magical happens to save their national chances before the dreaded 2020 census comes calling.
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