That's where the top strategists in the party appear to be at: "We need to finish the sentence" is apparently their current catchphrase. They apparently think that they had the right answers for America's ills, they just didn't completely tell America about them. Which could be true: Paul Ryan never got around to telling America all about his "complex math" that he had in mind to fix the deficit AND economy -- but I rather think he was just BS-ing us anyway. Regardless, I guess all this boils down to "denial" in terms of HUMAN grief.
So the stages we know at that level are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
What could we say about an "anger" phase for Republicans? Hell, they've BEEN angry for decades! How would we know if their anger was part of a grieving process?? I mean, I might guess they could ratchet up their anger, but I can't see how anyone could NOTICE it. And honestly, after seeing the way they "bargain" over the past 6 years.. I don't think anyone would want to see them in that mode. As for "depression"? I think we could all use a bit of time seeing the Republicans go through a "blue" period.
The goal, of course, is to get to "acceptance." The GOP eventually will need to accept that they shot themselves in the foot (kneecap, groin, right nipple, you name it) with their embrace of the Tea Party and politics of hysteria/extremism. Once they accept that they have run off the rails, diagnosed how far they went past "conservative" and into "crazy," they can finally start to figure out how to get back into competitive shape down the road sometime. They way they are looking today, it could be 10 years yet. But you never know.
