Fight for the Soul of the G.O.P.

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Any surprises in store for 2008? -- Logo courtesy Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
The American system of political parties has undergone a sea change since the mid 70's. Basically, we've taken a large step rightward. Since 1972, we've had 6 Republican terms (tallying 22 years by end of 2006). We've had only 3 Democratic terms (12 years) and those were with the centrist Southerners Carter and Clinton. The Democratic Party is winding its way toward total irrelevance I hate to say. It's become so leftwing doctrinaire and ivory tower, it pushes platforms and candidates that could never be elected by the country at large. Political parties need to consider "big tent" diversity in an even larger sense than the party itself. A party should ask itself, "Could our way of thinking appeal to 51% of likely voters". The Democrats, in their most recent Hillary-Howard moments, have clearly ceased asking anything of that nature.

The nation's impetus is with the GOP. Republicans have such a momentum now, that really much of what will be decided about our nation's future is there within the animus of the Republican Party. With such important cargo in tow, the outcome of the 2008 GOP nominating process is critically important to the future of this nation. As John Dean pointed out in "Conservatives without Conscience", there are no less than 15 strains of American conservatism: Christian, cato-, paleo-, neo- and more. Some of these overlap, but some are so many degrees apart that they could be opposing parties. To help crystallize the dilemma, let’s consider the extremes:

Rockefeller Republicans – These guys are socially liberal and fiscally conservative. They care more about the boardroom than the bedroom. They’re more likely to keep their spiritual lives private and promote a policy of “live and let live”. They are less likely to promote “preventive wars” in foreign policy.

Christian Conservatives – These people are more likely to be fiscally and socially conservative. They are more likely to want to dictate sexual mores, restrict women’s right to choose, teach Special Creation in schools and dispense with Church-state separation. If anything gets thrown out with the bath water, it’s more likely to be fiscal, not social discipline. This group also encompasses “End Times” Christians who see our role in the Middle East as some type of Biblical manifest destiny.

With Nixon, Reagan and Herbert Walker Bush, we were blessed w/ more Rockefeller style presidents. With W. Bush, we have experienced a decided lurch toward Neo/Christian and who among us can’t say that he’s scared by the budgetary mess and the Iraq war. The names thrown out for 2008 are somewhat encouraging: McCain, Giuliani, Pataki, Hagel and Romney all lean more toward the Rockefeller wing. Jeb Bush, Sam Brownback and George Allen all wax toward the social conservative. Gingrich is somewhere dead center, although his heavy baggage (affairs and personal matters of the past) will probably pull him down anyway.

W. Bush represents a step of political devolution. With his Good Ol’ Boy demeanor, awkward pronunciation of English, and “Cowboy” diplomacy, he has been the wrong face for America’s international persona. Bush alone probably accounts for 50% of the vitriol America gets from 3rd world nations. Dear GOP, please redeem yourself by putting forth a more thoughtful choice. And America: those of you in red-blue states of Pennsylvania and Ohio especially – please consider the effect of how you vote. If we devolve much more, we’ll be like the Middle Easterners who vote in a Taliban government and wonder why their lives are so miserable.

© 2006 blogSpotter.