MSNBC is a steaming pile of shit no doubt, and just as biased as Fox News on the opposite side of the spectrum. But no network can really be as bad as Fox News, which basically feeds itself to rednecks (which is probably the dumbest demographic with access to television). I can't think of anything that can really compare with Fox feeding birthers and hicks who still think Obama is a kenyan born muslim.
And MSNBC was doing its job during the Bush years. He was objectively one of the worst presidents we've ever had. $4 trillion down the drain in starting wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, the patriot act, expanding the deficit by giving us Bush tax-cuts without paying for them in the budget. Fox News is pretending Obama is a muslim communist. But Bush actually was one of our worst presidents.
And I agree Republicans will have to modernize their platform with regards to the religious right, but as far as the business class goes I think the party can still hold a lot of leverage. If Democrats ever did decide to drastically raise tax rates, many business owners might retaliate by collectively hiring less and damaging the economy in order to give the democrats a bad name. Hell the republicans were obstructionists toward any economic progress whatsoever in the past four years to prevent Obama from winning, and they did a good job. At least 60% of the country I believe blames him for the slow recovery, considering polls during the summer showed that 60% of the popular vote would prefer a generic republican candidate to the incumbent.
And I have no idea where the bullshit of Obama not compromising is coming from. He had to force Obamacare through (which I oppose by the way) because of the Republican filibuster in the Senate. Mitch McConell outright said his party's number one goal was to prevent Obama's re-election. Obama didn't raise taxes. He supported the stimulus which was basically a giant tax cut. He's spent a shitload on the military. Gay marriage is still illegal. Where hasn't he tried to compromise? He's not my ideal candidate in the least, I'm a social conservative. But there's still a large difference between the GOP and the Left as far as how full of shit each party is.