Harry tackles a political question: GOP dead? LOL!

DEAR HARRY: I know you don't like to get involved in the political area, but this is a nonpartisan thing that has me deeply puzzled. I trust your knowledge of history and statistics to straighten me out. Ever since the election, I've seen a multitude of commentators (print, radio and TV) discussing just what's wrong with the Republican Party. Many predict it will fall apart or become too right-wing for the people to support it, or become exclusively the party of the rich. If any of these is the case, why is the party able to tie up much of the Democratic agenda from legislation to appointments? Aren't there more Republican governors than Democrats? Except for the far-right-wingers, I haven't found any commentators who say that the party is alive and strong. I'd love to read your reaction to my "puzzlement."

WHAT HARRY SAYS: Let's look at our history first. Back in 1964, the Republican nominee for president was a classical conservative, Barry Goldwater. He lost by a huge margin to Lyndon Johnson, a middle-of-the-road Democrat. Many of the pundits and commentators predicted a Republican demise then, as they are doing now. Since then, of the eight presidents, four Republicans were elected and only three Democrats (Gerald Ford was never elected). Not bad for a party in disarray. Today, we have 30 Republican governors and only 19 Democrats (one is an independent). In the U.S. Senate, the Republicans have 46 seats, the Democrats 54. That's enough to filibuster to death the things they don't agree with. The House has 234 Republicans to 201 Democrats. Somehow, the history and the numbers say to me that we shouldn't order that casket.

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