http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2015/11/15/1445364/-Why-aren-t-the-Republicans-serious-about-the-presidential-race?detail=email
Because they know that the real battle will be in the states. And the Republicans also know that they don’t need the White House.
While the Democrats must win the presidency to act as a stop-gap against an overwhelmingly conservative Supreme Court that could last for generations, the Republican Party doesn’t have as much to gain by controlling the White House. Control of the Supreme Court and every other rein of federal power is firmly in Republican hands right now.
The 2010 gerrymandering of congressional districts makes it almost impossible for Democrats to win the seats that would truly represent the votes they garner. The Senate is not likely to change hands during 2016—at least not enough to give Democrats the filibuster-proof majority they would need to accomplish anything. The Roberts-led Supreme Court is perhaps the most flagrant, politically partisan court we have ever seen.
So the Republican Party is free to let the circus clowns provide the entertainment its base wants, ensuring that they will send in their contributions and turn out for the primaries as well as the general election. It doesn't matter much whether Ben Carson or Donald Trump runs as their candidate. If a candidate with independent appeal takes the nomination, well, that would be fine too. Not only is a win not absolutely essential, but if they did take the White House, then who would veto all their grandstanding about the Affordable Care Act?
They have already proven that they can prevent a Democratic president from governing. And that is all they want to do on the federal level, keep the government from actually governing. Oh, and transfer as much wealth as possible to the top one percent and to the corporate oligarchy. But the real action is going on at the state level, where not only does the GOP need to maintain majorities to control the 2010 redistricting, but all of the coffers have not yet been emptied.
The Republicans have spent years building up their state operations. They did not just start in 2010. The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), set up by Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie, according to Politico, has been in operation since 2002, slowly gaining control of individual states:
The RSLC has more than 150,000 donors in all 50 states. Additionally, Republicans saw net gains in 62 chambers and picked up six lieutenant governors, leading to 31 total Republican lieutenant governors, along with holding a Republican majority of secretaries of state, now at 28. The RSLC successfully expanded the Future Majority Project and “Right Women, Right Now” initiative, spending more than $6 million in direct support of Republican candidates of diverse descent and women, leading to the election of 181 new candidates. Last cycle, the RSLC also launched the Judicial Fairness Initiative and the new top-level domain for the Republican Party, ‘.gop.’
How did they do it? In a word, money. Yes, they inflamed public fears of an undocumented Kenyan Muslim in the White House and the horrific concept of health care being available to everyone, but mostly, it came down to money. And organization. The Republicans knew that a census would allow redistricting and it was imperative that they be operating the levers of power in as many states as possible when the time came to gerrymander their districts. And we were distracted by the townhall hoopla over the Affordable Care Act.
Operation REDMAP damn near swept the table—not just in congressional districts, but in state legislatures and governorships, as well as secretaries of state, who generally administer elections. Created in 2010 by the RSLC to subvert the will of the voters, they boast of how effectively they have done so. In Ohio:
Republican redistricting resulted in a net gain for the GOP state House caucus in 2012, and allowed a 12-4 Republican majority to return to the U.S. House of Representatives – despite voters casting only 52 percent of their vote for Republican congressional candidates.
in short they cheated Americans out of their rights to vote and stole the voices of millions while telling us that the people have spoken yeah but only the ones they want to hear and the scotus well they still don't seem to think they should repeal the decision that killed sect 4 of voter rights act , of course that is the republican majority of the scotus that did that and still refuses to accept the need to restore it which sends the message that Black votes don't matter, while the party saying it wants to reach out but at every attempt do more to destroy any misguided Black voters who would vote against their own interest.
this also is part of their drive to "return the power to the state" haven't we seen what republican controlled states have done to their people, denying healthcare or medicaid expansion taking food stamps not allowing some to buy ketchup with those stamps. Fla. gov. ordered his admin not tom use words that imply climate change in the face of 97% of our scientist saying it's real. gun carry laws aimed at their crazies if people of color try to exercise that right they get killed no they aren't serious about the race they are however about control at the grassroots level ie the states.
one final thought they loss last two presidential elections but stole governor and house seats and had it not been for the leadership that they say Pres. doesn't exhibit we would not have the many tings he has done for we the people.
