http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/opinion/11krugman.html?_r=1
Krugman noticed that the GOP does not describe itself as the party of Lincoln anymore. When Obama won Virginia, N.Carolina and Florida in the last election it did not go unnoticed. Richard Nixon's southern strategy has been at the heart of their electoral politics for a long time. They need a "solid south" to win national elections and to send GOP reps to Congress. They did what any business would do if a competitor was attracting its best customers. They put the southern strategy on steroids. They put some money behind the organization of the Tea Party in the south and in much of rural America. Underneath all of the rhetoric within the Tea Party are the lingering ideas of the old confederacy. They include racism, states rights, militarism, nativism and a host of conspiracy theories. The GOP has mixed the Tea with its traditional focus on tax cuts as the foundation of its electoral strategy. The GOP and much of its electorate are indifferent to reality. They are fundamentalists who have no patience for facts that run counter to its belief system. This may be a dangerous path to take. The GOP House is already showing signs of disorder as its newly elected members, supported by the Tea Party, are testing the ability of the House leadership to develop a common strategy.
The Chairman of the Federal Reserve has been a lifetime Republican. Its hard to imagine how he must feel about his party after the ignorance displayed by Paul Ryan who is regarded within the GOP as its brightest star.
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