The Republican Party is at a huge turning point. With the Bush wing of conservative Evangelicals largely disparaged by the Left, along with a large majority of Main Street America, the party is ripe for a realignment. McCain represented (or possibly still represents) the direction the party needs to move in. Unfortunately, one of McCain’s dismal campaign failures was his inability to fully embrace this New Republican.
The maverick image John McCain always held was due to his intense differences with the old guard Republicans. More moderate socially, McCain was quite ready to go against party lines when his conscience dictated. This is the McCain that was chosen by the Republican base to lead the party back to the White House. In many ways, the choice of McCain, in the primaries, was a direct refutation of the Bush base.
However, this McCain quickly disappeared during the presidential campaign, as strategists worried about the loss of the traditional Evangelical base. Rather than sticking to his moderate New Republican roots, McCain chose to straddle the fence in order to appease the old base. This demonstrated a huge concern that a moderate Republican would fail without pulling from the extreme right. McCain shifted his own ‘beliefs’ and even made a questionable choice in Vice President- all to grow support in this group.
This choice looks like it will cost the Republicans the election. The signals were all too clear for a drastic shift in the Republican base. The majority of Republicans seemingly saw this, by putting McCain on the head of the ticket. Independents and some clear headed Democrats (Lieberman) saw this. The Left even saw this as the Bush base became an ever brighter target for their attacks.
The fact of the matter is, particularly after Bush, the old guard Republicans is an outdated part of the party. The Republicans need to change their image and return to the fundamental ideologies of the party. This blog will aim to put forward a new vision of the Republican Party. One, that going forward, needs to be strong and committed to its ideals. Whether McCain wins or loses in the next week, a fundamental change is needed.
The maverick image John McCain always held was due to his intense differences with the old guard Republicans. More moderate socially, McCain was quite ready to go against party lines when his conscience dictated. This is the McCain that was chosen by the Republican base to lead the party back to the White House. In many ways, the choice of McCain, in the primaries, was a direct refutation of the Bush base.
However, this McCain quickly disappeared during the presidential campaign, as strategists worried about the loss of the traditional Evangelical base. Rather than sticking to his moderate New Republican roots, McCain chose to straddle the fence in order to appease the old base. This demonstrated a huge concern that a moderate Republican would fail without pulling from the extreme right. McCain shifted his own ‘beliefs’ and even made a questionable choice in Vice President- all to grow support in this group.
This choice looks like it will cost the Republicans the election. The signals were all too clear for a drastic shift in the Republican base. The majority of Republicans seemingly saw this, by putting McCain on the head of the ticket. Independents and some clear headed Democrats (Lieberman) saw this. The Left even saw this as the Bush base became an ever brighter target for their attacks.
The fact of the matter is, particularly after Bush, the old guard Republicans is an outdated part of the party. The Republicans need to change their image and return to the fundamental ideologies of the party. This blog will aim to put forward a new vision of the Republican Party. One, that going forward, needs to be strong and committed to its ideals. Whether McCain wins or loses in the next week, a fundamental change is needed.
I have to say that I agree with just about everything you wrote here. For years I had considered myself a proud republican, eager to support the party's conservative goals of a smaller federal government, lower taxes, policies against wealth redistribution, and the institution of a stronger national defense. However, over the past several years, I have become increasingly disillusioned with the party and their frustratingly stubborn emphasis on Christianity-induced social conservatism - a philosophy I consider to be both backwards and oppressive. As a young voter, I think I represent an ever-increasing group of voters who are, quite frankly, not interested in people's arbitrary interpretation of a book of old, Jewish fairy tales.
ReplyDeleteThe republican party has become far too interested in appealing to people who derive their values directly from various teachings of the Bible. While I respect these people's right to believe in whatever they want to believe in, I detest politicians who try to integrate their blind faith into politics (In particular, those who propose legislative changes bases solely on their personal religious beliefs). When social conservatives actually propose an amendment to the constitution that would ban gay marriage, what they are actually doing is asking the greatest country in the world to amend it's book of laws to conform to their religion (to conform that is, to their book of ancient fairy tales) - this is not only extremely arrogant and offensive, it's also dangerous.
Republicans need to recognize that social conservatism is a philosophy of the past. It alienates young and non-religious voters (like myself - people who I believe will continue to have a greater and greater impact on elections as time goes by) who would otherwise be proud to support the conservative agenda of fiscal conservatism and fight the social class war rhetoric proliferated by liberals.