The Republican Party has not fared well in the last two elections particularly in 2008. The party of Ronald Reagan seems to have fallen into chaos, disarray, and out of favor with the public. In a recent survey, only 25% identified themselves as Republican. What has gone wrong?
On many occasions, conservatives have accurately described the Democrats as a coalition of special interest groups. True as that is, at least those special interest groups are working together for a common goal. The Republicans also have their collection of factions, but the factions are starting to come unglued and the emergence of a new more radical faction threatens to damage the party’s reputation and chances in the 2010 midterms and the 2012 Presidential race.
I think the answer to what is wrong is simple, extreme factionalism. While we have always had factions, they have always been about priorities and all shared a common conservative philosophy. Let’s examine the factions within the party.
The Mainstream/Base- The rank and file and base of the party. In this group, we have several subgroups:
The Establishment- The brick and mortar conservatives who have and will be Republicans for life.
Social Conservatives- Those whose priorities are focused on such things as abortion or gay marriage
Fiscal Conservatives- Those whose priorities are focused on things like reducing spending, cutting taxes, and reducing burdensome regulation on business and investment.
To the right of the Mainstream/Base we have two other major factions:
The Christian Right- Primarily composed of Evangelical Christians; this is a group whose priorities are shaped by their religious beliefs. There is a lot of overlap between this group and the social conservatives. Commonly referred to as the “Christian” Right, this group doesn’t seem to include the two oldest and largest Christian groups, the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholics. However many Orthodox and Catholics can find common ground with the Evangelicals on such issues as abortion and gay marriage.
Moving to the extreme right we find the faction that poses the greatest concern.
The Talk Radio Faction- I would define this group as a number of radio talk show hosts and like minded media, their listeners and those with similar mindsets and those just going along, and politicians who have jumped on board this bandwagon. This group is defined by their obnoxious, outrageous, and exclusive behavior. Conservatives have always been able to make their case using facts and logical points of debate. Yet this group sees no problem using embellishments, misinformation, and fear mongering. Their hatred for President Obama seems to take priority over their love of country as evidenced when they cheered when we lost the 2016 Olympic bid.
The problem is that the Talk radio faction is getting too much deference from party leaders and as a result makes us look extreme as a party. It also makes it easy for the Democrats to make the claim that Rush Limbaugh runs the party. And with party leaders falling all over themselves to grovel in apology to Rush after making an honest but unfavorable statement about him, it makes our job as conservatives harder to maintain credibility. Furthermore the Talk Radio faction has self-appointed itself to say that anyone who does not share their agenda and methods is not a true conservative and are denounced as RINO’s, liberals, or some other unflattering term.
We need leaders and candidates with conservative values, and can present and promote a conservative message using CONSERVATIVE METHODS. This means no more embellishments, or misinformation. No more cheering against America regardless of how we feel about the current administration. The Talk Radio faction must either be reigned in, or denounced and marginalized as to not appear to represents anyone other than themselves.
In summary, the Republicans can rise again, yet they must overcome this internal obstacle. Their biggest threat comes not from their political enemies, but from their alleged friends.
November 25, 2009 at 4:30 pm |
I think your analysis is pretty good. What you term as extreme right today, was mainstream republicanism years ago. I think the entire political spectrum has shifted leftward.
One could never compare a democrat like Andrew Jackson, Harry Truman, or even John F. Kennedy with today’s democrats. Liberals are not classic liberals now, but progressives in the ilk of Woodrow Wilson or Teddy Roosevelt.
The views of Hannity, Beck or Limbaugh are very similar to those of Truman, Kennedy, Eisenhower and Reagan. They used to be considered fairly mainstream.
November 3, 2009 at 9:15 pm |
As one who has a been a victim of this “extreme factionalism” I can agree with a lot of what you say. I made one unflattering comment about Rush and was run out of the party. The Republicans will rue the day they let these talk show hosts get so much influence and they and their minions run off 90% of the party that doesn’t pass their “I agree with Rush” litmus test.