Category: Yglesias Award Nominee

"We lost many demographic groups.  The issue to me is why. I don’t think we are one comprehensive immigration bill away from winning Hispanic voters, any more than we are one marginal rate increase from economic nirvana," – Republican Congressman Trey Gowdy of South Carolina.

"Too many people have spent the past four years obsessed with birth certificates. Now they are obsessed with voter fraud conspiracies, talk of secession, and supposed election changing news stories if only we had known. So let’s add dabblers in this latest nuttiness to birthers as a category of people we do not welcome at RedState. Our aim is to beat the Democrats, not beat a retreat to a Confederacy that Generals Grant and Sherman rent asunder well over a hundred years ago. Even here at RedState, while we may not much care for him, President Obama is still our President and we are still quite happily citizens of the United States. If we must drain this fever swamp that’s taken hold of a few people on the right over this past week before we can drain the swamp in Washington, so be it," – Erick Erickson, Red State.

Noam Chomsky decries the Israeli blockades as a cruel sort of diet. Gaza Gateway, an activist organization in defense of those subsisting in the blockaded enclave, fact-checks him admirably here.

“Dick Morris is a joke to every smart conservative in Washington and most every smart conservative under the age of 40 in America. The problem is that most of the people watching Dick Morris don’t know that,” – Ross Douthat.

The question is: does Roger Ailes know that? Or is that why he hired Morris in the first place?

"We’ve got to make sure that we are not the party of big business, big banks, big Wall Street bailouts, big corporate loopholes, big anything. We cannot be, we must not be, the party that simply protects the rich so they get to keep their toys… It is no secret we had a number of Republicans damage our brand this year with offensive, bizarre comments — enough of that. It’s not going to be the last time anyone says something stupid within our party, but it can’t be tolerated within our party. We’ve also had enough of this dumbed-down conservatism. We need to stop being simplistic, we need to trust the intelligence of the American people and we need to stop insulting the intelligence of the voters," – Governor Bobby Jindal to Politico.

I'll believe him when he names Limbaugh as one critical source of the problem. I'll believe him even more if he were able to find space within the GOP for those who support marriage equality, efforts to combat climate change and a non-absolutist position on abortion rights. But he cannot change theology in a religious party – especially when he is one of its high priests.

"It won't kill the country if we raise taxes a little bit on millionaires. It really won't, I don't think. I don't really understand why Republicans don't take Obama's offer," – Bill Kristol, on "Fox News Sunday".

"Win or lose, we are in the twilight of the Age of Reagan. Romney’s efforts have almost recreated the Reagan coalition, but in today’s America that is no longer enough. To prevail in 2014 and beyond, the Republican party will need to learn to adapt its principles to new times and new voters…

We must take on this challenge anew as we undertake our rendezvous with destiny and remake the conservative majority Reagan bequeathed to us. To do that, we must also ask and answer two other questions. If we didn’t [win], why? If we must, how? I believe we can and will answer these questions, as painful as the discussion amongst us will be at times, and I believe that regardless of what happens tomorrow, the American sun will rise and set with conservatism. For there is nothing wrong with conservatism that reapplication of conservative principles won’t solve, and there is nothing wrong with America that rededication to conservative principles won’t cure," – Henry Olsen, a vice-president of AEI, predicting an Obama victory in National Review.

"One of the things that you always want to be for, whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, is that you want everyone who's eligible to vote to vote. … I think that all of this stuff that has transpired over the last two years is in search of a solution to a problem, voting fraud, that doesn’t really exist when you look deeply at the question. It’s part of the mythology now in the Republican Party that there’s widespread voter fraud across the country. In fact, there’s not," – Steve Schmidt, top McCain strategist in '08.

“My party, unfortunately, is the bastion of those people — not all of them, but most of them — who are still basing their positions on race. Let me just be candid: My party is full of racists, and the real reason a considerable portion of my party wants President Obama out of the White House has nothing to do with the content of his character, nothing to do with his competence as commander-in-chief and president, and everything to do with the color of his skin, and that’s despicable,” – Laurence Wilkerson, former chief-of-staff for Colin Powell.

For our many new readers, a glossary for all our awards is here. We invite you to nominate anything you find in each category and email them in for consideration. At the end of the year, all Dishheads get to vote on the champion for the year in each category.