there once was a time when the republican party was a  highly respected political party , what happened?
409234
It's not just the Republican party that's lost face, it's politics and government in general over the past 10 years or so.
433768
There is a chance for a third party to become viable history has shown it.  Don't forget that the Republican party was a third party; the other two parties were Democratic Party and the Whigs.  \n\nUnfortunately, the current political structure and popular culture make it nearly impossible for this to happen.  One states regulate elections and political parties.  Secondly, most people who are part of third parties for my opinion has shown that they do not have a full understanding the nuances in the political process.  Lastly, people like to see things  in a bipolar fashion.
678398
B-The Republicans gained power.
1074333
50 years ago the people in the Republican party would nowadays be Democrats....and vice versa.\n\nThey all switch sides and flip flop.  All politicans are scumbags.
946741
A neocon is a former democrat who became republican.\n\nI'm glad i could help educate you.
895620
It actually came from an "incident" in New York and represented the Republican vote, not the party. The elephant got scared off by the donkey in the story. The elephant would come to be the party symbol.
26079
Generally, the Republicans, but in certain areas, the trend is reversed.
716131
Republicans ironically have an aristocratic reputation. They have a major stake in keeping themselves wealthy by keeping the poor destitute. They resent upward mobility. They also have the reputation of acting like robber barons and raiding the pension funds of working class families. Enron, Worldcom, and other massive accounting frauds were perpetrated by people who belong to the Republican party.\n\nDemocrats are socialists. They go to great lengths to level the playing field. Often the lengths go a bit too far, to the point of reverse-discrimination. They don't believe in doing the greatest good for the most people. They believe in doing the greatest good for the smallest social special interest. The more outrageous the special interest the more dearly they hold onto it.\n\nThis is why I'm an Independent. You know the group that attracts ALL the really strange weirdos.
900073
It started as the Federalist party versus the Democratic Republicans.  Once the federalists dwindled into nothingness, the Democratic Republicans were left as a single party and it wasn't long until the liberals and conservatives within the group caused it to splinter into what is now known as the Democrats and the Republicans.  The names are arbitrary, its the ideology behind each (Reps = Cons, Dems = Libs)
555325
To be a Republican  is to be a member of the Republican Party which means they may belong to one of many  different groups that tend to be in the Republican Party.  I think it is easier to say what the Republican party has been against and then you will begin to understand it.  Under Theodore Roosevelt it was an environmental party, but for over one hundred years now, and especially in the last forty years it has fought against most laws established to protect the environment and people.  It fought against Social Security in the thirties and for the past forty years has attacked it and even tody would destroy it if it could.  It has fought against every minimum wage law that has been passed.  It fought against the Medi-Care bill in 1965 that gave senior citizens health care coverage.  It has fought against the Medi-caid program that pays for nursing home care for seniors.  It fought against most civil rights legislation in the 1960's including the Civil Rithts Act and the Voting Rights Act.  It caused legislation to be passed to restrict the rights of Unions after the Supreme Court gave them the right to organize.  It fought against the establishemnt of the National Labor Relations Board  regulating employer employee relations.\n\nBut what does it stand for?  \n1.Under President Bush: the  Reduction of taxes for the richest Americans and shifting more tax burden on to the middle class.\n2.Attempted destruction of Social Security.\n3.Protection of large corporations with special tax breaks and favorable legislation:  i.e., tax breaks to the oil industry (as if they need it) and making it a crime to buy a prescription (with a prescription) from a pharmacy in Canada or other foreign country.\n3. Reducing automobile emission standards and air and water standards in the country.\n4. making it a crime to legally possess medicinal marijuana in states where it is legal for pain relief.\n5.Creating the largest deficit spending in the history of our nation after calling the Democratic party the "party of taxing and spending".
900877
To me, it goes back to the Civil War, when the Confederacy was red and the Union was blue. In other words, Republicans(today, even though roles were reversed back then) are in many ways still like the Confederacy, pretty much all the states that were in the Confederacy are still Republican.
915721
How can anyone know what the MINORITY republican party will do?  As far as the majority Republican party we'd had for 12 years, they did no such thing
787544
the question of "States rights" was one of the divisive issues facing this nation at that time. which one should be supreme, the States or the Federal government. the Whigs were AWOL on that issue, truth be told. the Republican Party was actually founded on a States rights platform
193199
they sold out and became republicans
785565
Yes, Humanist.  \n\nYou were wrong.\n\nOnce upon a time, the Republican Party had a good direction, a good vision for America. \n\nThey have betrayed their own vision and betrayed America by thinking that the end justifies the means.
339645
Is there such a thing as Christian politics? Yes. And I think it's gone too far. I personally think that the Republican party has become a religious party. People are voting for republicans because they think republicans attend church more and are more faith based.\nMaking decisions based on faith without fully understanding a situation is dangerous in my opinion.
894269
I think you had a perfect storm of events.  I dont think there was a single reason.  First you had Republicans acting like Democrats spending money like dunken sailors on leave.  Then you had Bush getting in the way of imigration reform.   That made some Republicans stay away from voting and other vote against their own party.  \n\nIn the meantime you had the Left wing nut jobs fired up and they turned out in force.  \n\nThen the Dems were pretty smart in running conservative democrats in many of the races.  \n\nOn top of it all its not unusual for the party in power to lose its grip in mid term elections.  Just look at what happen to Clinton the Dems lost both houses for the first time in 40 years.    Now its the Republicans turn to be on the outside looking in.