So says a Washington Post poll.
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Month: November, 2009
There have been some questions lately about Republicans United viewpoints on various issues. Â I’ve posted a new page entitled “Where We Stand” in the hopes of answering some of them:
http://republicansunited.us/where-we-stand/
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Travis Johnson |
November 27, 2009 |
3:24 pm | History, Republican Party, Uncategorized |
28 Comments
Since just after the American Revolution, when political parties had really unimaginative names like Federalist and anti-Federalist, America has had a two-party system which consisted of conservatives on one side and liberals on the other. Rather than monolithic bodies, theses Parties have consisted largely of coalitions who share similar views on a single issue: the role of the central government in the daily lives of the individual and their communities.
In recent years, the Democratic Party has encompassed the coalitions on the center-left side of the political spectrum. It’s consisted of everyone from the centrist Blue Dog Democrats to the far left MoveOn.org-ers. Republicans have been the home of the center-right. The Center-Right coalition has been made up of a number of notable Republicans, from Colin Powell to George HW Bush to Pat Buchanan and Ann Coulter.
The two Party Coalitions have provided a balance to each other, always there to provide a counterpoint to the excesses of the other. A similar phenomenon has existed within each Party, as well. The more moderate coalitions have always been there to save the Party from the excesses of the more extreme ones. Usually when the nation has turned its collective nose up at the ideas of one faction, other factions step in to fill that void. The balances of power between the parties and within the parties have been essential in multiple ways:
- Ensuring that the parties are able to effectively govern when in power. Legislation which has been forced through multiple hands and viewpoints, is surely going to reflect the needs and desires of a broader range of Americans.
- Ensuring enough flexibility that candidates can potentially be elected in any region. While a far right wing Republican may not have a chance to win an election in New York City, moderates like Rudy Giuliani or Michael Bloomberg (who has since left the party) can be elected overwhelmingly. Conversely, Nancy Pelosi probably wouldn’t win in rural Pennsylvania, but she’s been reelected numerous times from San Francisco.
Over the past decade, a disturbing shift has happened. After two major losses in a row, the Republican Party, rather than take a more moderate shift, is doubling down on the more extremely conservative direction of the last decade. As was discussed on this blog last week, there is a movement afoot to create a litmus test by which one can be considered a Republican. They think a Republican Party with a more ideologically pure direction will be a stronger party.
This, not to put too fine a point on it, is dumb. What these Republicans are advocating is like nothing that has ever existed outside the fringe of American politics. They are advocating a party that resembles the Libertarians or the Green Party, or the type of narrowly defined Parties that exist in most other democracies. They want a Canadian, or Mexican, or European-style political system.
Purity and litmus tests are nothing short of unilateral disarmament for the Republican Party. Rather than being a Center-Right Coalition, we will be a Right-Wing Party. We will be ceding the wide-open middle ground to the Democrats.
Indeed, there are factions within the Democratic Party who are demanding boycotts against elected officials who haven’t followed the more extreme left agenda. But, they’re a fraction of the voices I’ve heard on the right who want to purge the GOP of its impure members.
If Republicans are ever to return to power, we must first end all this ridiculous talks about ideological purity and litmus tests and begin the work of healing the rifts between the various factions of the GOP.
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From New Geography:
George W. Bush unveiled plans this week for his presidential library at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and according to architects’ renditions, it will have a front yard that is designed to look like a prairie. Judging by the imagery surrounding W., one would think that his forefathers fought at the Alamo.
But as most astute political observes know, Bush’s family tree is really rooted in Kennebunkport and Prescott Bush. It was from this legacy that his Dad built a coalition in 1988 that delivered wins in mainstream states like New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, and Illinois. These could be called George H. W. Bush states.
Of course, in the 1990s and early 2000s, these states turned blue, and the younger Bush lost them all, mostly by wide margins, even though New Jersey was closer than expected in 2004 when memories of 9/11 were still fresh. These days, however, it could be possible that Republicans are seeing a resurgence in these H. W. states.
Chris Christie knocked off machine-powered Gov. Jon Corzine in New Jersey. Moderate Reps. Mike Castle and Mark Kirk are promising to make open-seat Senate races in Delaware and Illinois competitive. And former Rep. Rob Simmons is neck-and-neck with Sen. Chris Dodd in Connecticut.
What do these Republican candidates have in common? Three things: First, they’re all Wall Street Journal Republican – pro-business and socially tolerant – in states that are pro-business and socially tolerant. Most Republicans in these states agreed with Peggy Noonan’s observation that picking Sarah Palin for vice president was “political bullshit,” “gimmicky,” and signaled that the race was “over.”
Second, they’re running against runaway government spending, which was a winning message for in the 1980s and early ’90s. “Unemployed, white-collar voters don’t think they’ll get their jobs back at the same pay, and this is a huge group that is politically unaffiliated,” says Connecticut GOP chairman Chris Healey. “They want action, not bailouts to those who don’t deserve it and not the Detroit model.”
Third, these candidates are running against (or ran against, in Christie’s case) either Democratic candidates traditionally fueled by political machines (Dodd, Corzine, Alexi Giannoulis) or political brand names whose shelf-life may have expired (Dodd, Corzine, Beau Biden). In this sense, Republicans are simply picking the right year to run.
Another H.W. state where Republicans are optimistic is New Hampshire, although demographics here may have shifted so far that it’s gone for good for Republicans. The same is true in California, where even the most successful Republican will have a tough time winning on the Left Coast. In Pennsylvania, Republicans seem to have completely lost the suburban bloc of their coalition.
Could the Republican resurgence be sustainable in New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, and Illinois? Probably not on the presidential level. But if Republicans keep nominating candidates that fit the district, and if they can discredit the tea party, Club-for-Shrinkage crusaders, they may be able to reclaim a beachhead.
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Here are a few related posts on Thanksgiving:
National Review’s Jonah Goldberg (who I rarely agree with) writes a touching post on Thanksgiving…from Paris;
Will Wilkinson decides to reply rather forcefully to Goldberg’s use of the term “mystic nationalism;”
To which Frenchman Pascal Emmanuel-Gobry fires back.
Glad I’m not sitting at that Thanksgiving table.
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It seems that the private sector doesn’t fare well in the Obama Administration. According to J.P. Morgan, less than 10 percent of the people filling cabinet positions is the Obama Administration have private sector experience.
So, is that a good thing or bad thing? Discuss.
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Tuesday’s column by David Brooks sums up what I believe is a fundamental difference between Republicans and Democrats. In Brooks’ view, there are those who favor a vital society (Republicans) and those who favor a secure society (Democrats). He uses the current health care bill to show how a need for security could sap that vitality of American society. Read more »
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It’s almost been a year since I started Republicans United (under a different name), and I’ve been very pleased with how things have gone so far. We’ve gone from just a Facebook Group to a one-man website to a site with rotating band of stellar individuals interested only in creating a Republican Party that’s ready to meet the requirements of the 21st Century. Read more »
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The following is from our newest blogger, Philip Tracy DeLong.
So, what is the difference between a Democrat and a Republican? And here’s the testâ€â€can you explain the difference without using the words “liberal†or “conservative,†or referring to specific policies?
There are those on the left and the right that will say there is no significant difference. In a way, they may be right, if you view political from the fringe. The tendency of “running to the center†in recent national elections has blurred distinctions at times. And yet, many people will identify themselves with a major party, even if their choice may seem less thought out than professional football team that they follow. Read more »
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Some conservatives have proposed a Ten Commandments-style litmus test for those wanting to be 2010 candidates under the Republican banner.
Why? Why not! Read more »
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In all the talking, shouting and crying over the last few months about what it means to be a Republican, we’ve ignored the most important thing: governing. When we regain power (yes, when…not if), it’s important that we have a few basic governing concepts or principles which guide all of our legislative and executive efforts. I’ve identified four very basic ideas which we must keep in mind: Read more »
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Originally posted at The Big Stick
In 2005 Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam authored a piece for the Weekly Standard entitled, “The Party of Sam’s Club: Isn’t it time the Republicans did something for their voters?” Eventually the work of Douthat and Salam evolved into a book called Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream. Neither the article or the book lay out a roadmap for change but instead offer a series of possibilities. Possibilities for a Republican party that must evolve if it is to attract new voters and remain relevant. The brand of conservatism that they subscribe to would best be described as populist conservatism or as Douthat and Salam like to call it ‘Sam’s Club conservatism’. Read more »
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Originally posted at The Big Stick
New Geography, a site affiliated with the esteemed Joel Kotkin, is running a fantastic series of articles looking back at the New Deal, 75 years later. It may surprise some readers to know that I have long been a fan of the New Deal and consider it to one of the greatest achievements of American government. Read more »
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The Following is from the vaults of my own blog, NeoMugwump. This post, from 2007, has some advice for the GOP that is still very pertinent. Would that the GOP listen to it.
Andrew Sullivan links to a British Tory who is giving some good advice to his conservative cousins (read: Republicans) accross the pond, in the wake of the pounding we recieved in 2006 : Read more »
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This is a selection from an old post at The Big Stick.Â
What Republicans need to realize is that there is a HUGE network of conservationists out there, among them millions of hunters and fisherman, who closely identify with a message of conservation and are motivated to push hard for what they believe in. We are already doing the right things in supporting their causes, but we aren’t doing nearly enough to highlight that fact and also to link it to other right-of-center policies.
Unfortunately the decline in popularity of both hunting and fishing, especially hunting, has forced many of these conservation-minded outdoorsmen to become less vocal, while liberal-inclined preservationists see more and more publicity. Social stigmas attached to the pursuit of game have alienated many sportsmen and taken away their voice, but it is my sense that they are poised for a comeback.
One group that has been leading the charge while partnering with other conservation groups is the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. Their mission statement reads:
“The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership is a coalition of leading hunting, fishing and conservation organizations, labor unions and individual grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing by a.) expanding access to places to hunt and fish, b.) conserving fish and wildlife and the habitats necessary to sustain them, and c.) increasing funding for conservation and management.” – TRCP
TRCP is allied closely with groups like Ducks Unlimited, Quail Unlimited and Trout Unlimited who have jointly saved millions of acres of natural spaces for wildlife, a feat no environmental group can match. What’s even more impressive is that they have partnered with 19 major trade unions to help engage their members who are sportsmen and sportswomen in conservation efforts. Here is a list from the TRCP:
Trade Union # of Members United Steel Workers of America 800,000 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) 780,000 International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) 760,000 Communication Workers of America (CWA) 600,000 United Association of Plumbers and Pipe Fitters (UA) 300,000 International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) 267,000 Sheet Metal Workers International Association (SMWIA) 150,000 International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers 127,000 Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) 120,000 International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) 115,000 International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC) 100,000 International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers 75,000 United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) 60,000 Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) 50,000 Operative Plasterers and Cement Masons International Association (OPCMIA) 40,000 International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC) 26,000 United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers 25,000 International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators & Asbestos Workers 20,000 Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen 9,500 Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO n/a
Total
4,424,500
 As you can see, this gives them access to over 4 million blue collar workers. These are just the kinds of folks that Republicans should be pursuing because many of them are already inclined towards the Right, they just don’t know it. A strong conservationist message and a close and public partnership with conservation groups, coupled with some sensible regulation of businesses along environmental lines is a recipe for success. As I said, the GOP has already laid the foundation of a successful partnership, we just need to do a much better job of advertising it.
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The Conversation
