Is the Republican Party Relevant?

Of course it is. It has the ability -- one that it's been using for quite a while -- to do serious damage to our economy and to the health of our republic. But are their policy ideas relevant?

Today, on the cover of the Washinton Post, we find that the GOP is most decidedly no longer relevant. Here's the headline:

GOP races to prove it has plan to help the middle class

Here's the article. Here's the key graph:

The challenge for Republicans is convincing voters that their newfound concern is sincere. After three years of budget cuts and fiscal crises that badly damaged the GOP brand, voters not only rejected presidential nominee Mitt Romney in 2012 but also have told pollsters that they view Republicans generally as indifferent to middle-class interests.

So, when the Republican Party, with its four separate responses to Barack Obama's SOTU address, said it had plans, what they were really saying was, "We don't have plans. Our plans don't make sense. In fact, they stink. But give us a pig and give us some lipstick and give us a little time, godammit, and we'll have a plan, okay? Is that too much to ask?

Clown car, packed to the brim.