Giving up on the GOP

I understand that political parties have platforms, agendas, and an ideological base to uphold. I also recognize that there are levels of devotion to ones ideology, and party, and that one can be ideological on single issues, a multitude of issues, or perhaps even NO issues at all. Sometimes individual character and leadership can inspire people to follow.

But at this point in time, I am troubled by the Conservative take-over of the Republican Party. It's been a long time coming, but now it seems as if this party is one bad election from dissolving and becoming the "Conservatives of America" party.

Gone are the Alan Simpsons (pro-choice leader), the Bob Doles (deal-cutter in chief), the Warren Rudmans, Lowell Weickers, John Chaffees (budget first, social issues last), etc. Former Conservatives like John McCain are now seen as too moderate for the "true believers". The party bows down before names like Goldwater and Reagan, even though Goldwater would cringe at what the party has become. People like George H. W. Bush and Howard Baker aren't even footnoted in the annals of Conservative vernacular.

And it's gotten worse. Republicans have put most of the federal judges and justices in place over the past 20 years, and yet there is a constant drumbeat about "activist judges" from the right. Apparently, these Republican-leaning judges are just too damn liberal for the country at large. Television shows on Fox News don't encourage real debate, but rather an affirmation of all things anti-Obama, anti-Liberal agenda, and Pro-Conservative. And Fox has been actively encouraging the politicization of all of its programming, even holding a Fox News/Football Sunday towards the end of the Presidential Election campaign. The ideologues on the Right are forcing people to choose sides.

And this is unfortunate. Because since Reagan, the Conservatives could force such issues, knowing they would win in a pointed choice between their views and a liberal alternative. It has made for great politics for about 20 years. Unfortunately, with political victory comes the mantle of having to actually govern, and put your ideas into practice. And Conservatives found it far more difficult to govern than to shout down ideas from the sidelines. Issues are far more complex in reality than they are on a 3 hour talk show. There are more opinions than the ones calling into the Sean Hannity show, and some of these "truths" that these shows take for granted turn out to be false (anyone remember the line, "we will be greeted as liberators"?).

Republicanism isn't dead, and neither is Conservatism. About 6 more months of a down economy, or a terrorist attack, and you may be amazed at how quickly the Democrats will be labeled "out of touch" by the main-stream media.

But the fact of the matter is, most people are not particularly ideological. They are practical (dare I say, "pragmatic"?), and will support solutions that make sense, and fit what they see in their every day lives.

Tax cutting as a religion doesn't make sense to people, especially after watching two tax cuts in the past decade lead to only larger deficits and a lethargic-at-best economy. Certainly no one got rich in the stock market in the past 15 years since the great "Republican Revolution" of 1994, and for all the talk about Conservative greatness on economic policy, it's hard to see the proof of such statements.

The masses don't tend to have unassailable positions on issues like the death penalty, immigration, gun rights, health care, or even foreign policy. What I mean is that they want each of these issues to be improved from where they stand today, and they have an opinion on the matter. But it isn't usually very strident. I think most Americans would favor a sensible immigration policy, or even health care for all, but can be relatively flexible on the means to achieve such an end. As long as the results are not too adverse to their current situation, hey, most of us will take a sensible position.

That used to be a point to start the conversation between Republicans and Democrats. That's no longer the case. Nowadays, if you aren't supporting the Conservative agenda on ALL of these points, NO EXCEPTIONS, you are not a REAL Conservative. Since the Conservatives dominate the Republican Party, once you disagree with Rush or Hannity, you either have to support the Democrat, or drop out of the debate entirely. As a recent caller to the Limbaugh show noted, he was "a McCain supporter, a Republican, and someone who has served his country," he didn't approve of the manner in which Rush was igniting what he perceived as hysteria about where the country was heading. Mr. Limbaugh simply labelled him "Not a Republican". He didn't fit Rush's definition of what a Republican should be, and so he was simply dismissed from the conversation.

This is an issue. With a party so bereft of leadership, people who should not be allowed anywhere near the dais are having their turn to really rally their troops. Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, and Rudy Giulianni have no place in the upper echelons of a major political party. Yet here they stand, primarily because each has a loyal political base, and a certain strident identification that does not allow for anything other than Conservative loyalty and backing.

Such behaviors tend to scare me a little, and to be honest, the people with such a fervent opinion about issues that they really have no deep expertise or experience with, shows that these are not free thinkers. These are people who will believe anything said to them by a radio talk show host.

By 2006, the majority of people had had just about enough of the yelling and the finger-pointing. By then, most people had been on the minority side of at least one of the issues of the Right, and decided that this was a party of demonization, rather than rational debate. Is it any wonder that when someone comes along and offers an honest policy debate (whether he delivers it or not is another matter for another article), that people will chose this over more of the same?

Sadly, the GOP has been going back to the well once more. They are hoping it is 1994 all over again, and that they can win on the backs of poor Democratic leadership, and shouting from the sidelines. They may get there, if the economy stays down for the next 15 months. But if it doesn't, the Republican Party may disappear, and a more dangerous, more strident group may emerge in its place. The Republican Party of fiscal discipline and common sense is gone. I am sad to say I never really knew it to begin with.