You're all invited to my Party Extreme Makeover Party! The Republican Party Extreme Makeover Party, that is. Sure, it's a mouthful, but it's time that we, the Republicans, all get together and take a good, long, hard look at our own party. It's time to make some major readjustments. Elections are when Americans voice their opinions, and, as our party's former Presidential candidate said when he conceded defeat, Americans wanted a change. We, the Republicans, failed them. Let's take a look at where we went wrong and how we can fix it.
Let's get this party started!
First, I'm going to make sure we're all on the same page here. What is the Republican Party? We are a collection of like-minded individuals who value personal initiative and responsibility, and to that end, oppose government interference in our lives. This includes excessive taxation, bureaucratization, and centralization. These particular characteristics of our government represent an unconscionable affront upon our liberties. The Republicans are, or rather were the party of liberty. We are- were- a party that was not afraid to recognize and hold in high regard traditional concepts and institutions. We are, or were, the party of morality and strict ethics. I think we all agree that we've lost sight of our original missions and ideas. In a word, we've fallen.
Where'd we go wrong? How did the Grand Old Party, the Party of Lincoln, become sickly and corrupted? I believe that one of our own identifies the problem succinctly: Governor Mike Huckabee notes that, the last time we rose to power in 1994, the Republicans "set out to change Washington. Instead, Washington changed us." We thought we were going to change government, but being in power corrupted us, and we tragically lost sight of our values.
The stereotype among liberals, and no doubt many Americans now, is that Republicans are greedy and only concerned for corporate interests. That's simply not true- this is not what the original platform of Republican Party stood for. But, like I've noted, that's exactly what happened to many in our ranks. They fell, so to speak, from grace.
After the American people enthusiastically ushered the Republicans into Congress in '94, we kept Clinton in check. Clinton is often revered as a great President- it's a shame how history has taken our credit from us, and given it to him! But that doesn't matter. What matters is that we positively changed America. Personally, I'd rather go unrecognized while benefitting America than be praised while harming this country.
Things changed once again in 2000. That was an auspicious year. We took the Whitehouse, and controlled the entire government. We thought that the time for change, our opportunity to fix America's problems, had arrived. Despite the fact that liberals often paint that election as a theft, George W. Bush won it fair and square, according to the centuries-old rules of the Electoral College. G.W. Bush, the son of George H.W. Bush, the Vice President under that Republican icon Ronald Reagan, was supposed to be a "compassionate conservative." He hardly lived up to this claim during his eight years in the Presidency.
G.W. Bush, while he had some good ideas, was too far right. He was stubborn, even referring to himself as "the Decider." He pranced around more like an autocrat than a democrat. To put it simply, he was not a good President. Not everything was his fault, of course. He didn't cause the catastrophes of 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina. These events challenged Bush and Congress, but they failed the test. There's a saying that goes, "you can't control the circumstances, only the way you react to them." Unfortunately, Bush did not react constructively to these, and many other, crises.
So, starting in 2000, and reaffirmed in 2004, the Republicans held absolute power in Washington. And absolute power corrupts. We're only human, and so, we succumbed. Ethics dropped; scandals abounded: Abramoff, Libby, Foley, Blackwater, and others. We started a war we shouldn't have. And then, the American people started getting mad at us. Really mad. So much so, that they crushingly chose to break our majority in Congress in 2006. That was the beginning of the end. It was starting point of the road that led us here: totally cast out of government, distrusted by Americans.
So, it is time to rebuild and get back in touch with our values. That, I believe, will invariably lead to bridging the new chasm between our fallen Party and the disaffected people.
What do we do now? Firstly, we want to break ourselves from the Bush Presidency. More importantly, where do we want to go? We have to tread the middle road again! We've veered far too right. Sarah Palin believes she is the future of this Party. I hope not.
We need good leaders like Barack Obama. We need our intellectuals and moderates back. John McCain scared them away with his extremist and extremely negative campaign.
This is turning into one depressing party (and I mean that for both meanings of the word). The Republicans need new vigor and to return to their old principles. Stop pandering to the oil companies and the rich. Embrace environmentalism. Practice financial thriftiness (Where'd that ridiculous $700 billion bailout come from? Is Bush a Democrat or something?). Shrink the government, lower taxes, and stop policing the world around. We need to back away from the precipice of extremism. If we fall in, there’ll be no pulling us back out. I believe a person like Sarah Palin would push us over that edge. Stay away from her.
For now, we’ll have to sit on the sidelines as the Democrats have a hand at our government. But, here’s a warning to them: they’re no different from us at all. If they’re not careful, they’ll become corrupted too, and further damage this country. I hope that President Obama doesn’t turn into the Democratic version of Bush. Imagine the terrible irony of “eight more years of the same” from Barack Obama!
Well, for those of you who stayed at my party this long, thanks for coming. I hope that at future parties we can talk about more happy things. And yes, I'm still using "party" in both senses of the word.
Wow, cosmic. This was really well written. I'm not a Republican, so I don't know if my opinion holds much sway, but I agree with a lot of what you've said here about the party. It is not the same party it was before the Religious Right and Rove got to it.
And I agree with your assessment of McCain's campaign. Back before he won the nomination, I thought that if he were elected, it wouldn't be terrible. I wasn't going to vote for him, but I sure thought it would be better than Bush. But then his campaign, and by all appearances, HE changed. He became a knee jerker and I got very worried about the future with someone so unstable at the helm. Then, in his concession speech, he sounded like his old self again. Where was that guy for the past six months?
I agree, your party needs a makeover, but it needs some soul searching, too. Beauty is only skin deep, after all.
"Never go with a hippy to a second location."
~Jack Donaghy
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
I agree that our party needs to be fixed. I feel that we need to become more conservative not less. Our party was at it strongest was when Americans wanted to work and only wanted a chance not a hand out. We need to be the party that will lower taxes even on those that make the most and businesses that supply the jobs for this country. Let’s not forget where we come from.
Bush in your mind failed the test that fell on him that dark day of 9/11 I see it the other way since that day we have not been successfully attacked on our soil. Do you fear going to school? When you walk down the street do don a bullet proof vest? Do you have a curfew that is enforced by the police? I say Bush passed that test but you are right he has failed many other tests.
I also blame us for the housing market crises because we had 4 years where we could have gotten rid of the sub prime mortgage that we are still forcing banks to make, but instead we bring it up when we can not do anything about it we fail America on that one. We should have done more.
I am also for smaller government lower taxes and less policing of world. I do not want to "embrace environmentalism" I believe that we should be good stewards but I do not want to go that far left. I will not join the tree hugging hippies. I am also for offshore drilling while researching other sources of energy.
I am for ID checks when going to vote. I believe that we need sound economic principals to help make the best choices for the future. I would also like to see us try to get back to the gold standard why we left it I will never understand.
Our main problem is that we have far too many views (a problem that Obama now has to learn AKA that you can not please all the people all the time). I think that we need to move completely away from welfare. We should not force people to help other they should do it because they believe it is right.
Also lets not be the party of intelligences let be the party of common sense. Be the party of doing what is right. Lets be the party of ideas not of party lines. I do not want more lies and half truths to get more votes. I want to be the party of honesty and loyalty.
"Something given has no value"~Robert Heinlein
"Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is." Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richards Almanack, 1749
I used to think Bush "passed" the 9/11 test. After that day, I'd think to myself, "You Democrats better be glad you didn't win the election." It is absolutely true that we haven't been attacked (in America) since 9/11, despite numerous plots. However, I've heard one historian describe 9/11 as an isolated incident. A freak accident- the terrorists got lucky. Even if we didn't retaliate against them, they'd never be able to pull it off again. And, at what price are we winning the War on Terror? What about our tarnished world image, the troop casualties, wasted money, and civil liberties? Ultimately, though, I don't think we can judge Bush and the War on Terror so soon, and I admit I may have condemned him prematurely. History will tell if he was right about global terrorism.
Embracing environmentalism doesn't mean turning into mushroom smoking tree huggers with poor hygiene. We can take care of the planet even as we drill for oil in ANWR and offshore. To me, "embracing" environmentalism mostly means to stop being afraid of it- perhaps as your reaction demonstrates?
In the long run, maybe it was good the Republicans lost so badly. It gives us time to redirect ourselves, take some time off to refresh. Just so long as the Democrats don't ruin things in the meantime.
History will be the better judge of Bush then we can be. If we start to walk the road of environmentalism we need to be careful that is a dangerous slope as I stated we need to be good stewards anything more will cross into the far left in my opinion. Also 9/11 was only the start our reaction stop future plans. Judging from the most recent tape send out by the terrorist we can see that they have no love for Obama. I can see them starting up old plans and I hope we do not let our guard down.
I hope that the Democrats do not screw up so bad that we can not fix it, but ever mistake they make only brings America back or to our party. I hope that we have it fixed by that time.
What is your opinion on welfare? I would like to see us try and let the private sector handle supporting that. I know this is a touchy topic but what about abortion where would you like our position to be on it? I would like us to be against it except in extreme circumstances like incest, rape, or when the mothers life is in danger. If you really want to fix the party you need to answer some simply questions and be able to stand by them no matter what other people think of you. Also I do not care how the world views us they can hate us or love us it make no difference to me. Where do you stand on legal immigration? My view is that if they want to come here legally or wish to be legal then let them but I do not want them have an open door. Thank you for take an interest in our party.
"Something given has no value"~Robert Heinlein
"Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is." Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richards Almanack, 1749
We're becoming a welfare state, and I oppose it. However, in the process, Republicans need to be careful about sending the right message: we hate welfare not because we hate those who need it (the poor). We hate it because ultimately it harms the poor. In that sense, Republicans are actually a more beneficial party to the poor than the welfare supporting Democrats.
It's strange how abortion, a subject that has nothing to do with government, is the center piece of the social issues debate. I do oppose it, and believe Republicans should continue to oppose it as they have in the past. However, I also do not believe in the federalist approach to abortion (that is, let the states decide) because abortion is a legitimate reason for the federal government to impose restrictions upon all the states (the same way they do with all other murders).
Personally, I am for immigration, be it legal or illegal. I don't want an open door; that would be chaos. But there needs to be path ways to citizenship for these people (English tests, proof of employment, education, community service, etc). However, on this particular issue, I am more liberal, so perhaps I'm not the right person to advise the Republican Party.
I am a conservative. I used to consider myself a Republican and I will probably still vote Republican more often then not because they are not quite so horrible as the Democrats but I will never again believe the hype that comes from a political party because it is pure bullshit. The only time I will ever believe a politician is when they promise to raise my taxes, increase the size of government or curtail my freedom. Otherwise everything they say is a lie. I am a political athiest and I don't believe any of it.
You are right that absolute power corrupts. Democrats hold it now and I expect them to do an even worse job then the Republicans did. Their biggest objection to almost every big spending bill in the last 6 years was that they wanted to spend EVEN MORE. Obama has been way oversold and it will be impossible for him to meet the Mesiah like expectations. Enthusiasm is going to evolve into disillusionment, anger and then hatred.
It seems to me that you and everybody else who has addressed the issue of rebuilding the Republican Party is mainly talking about a marketing campaign. You are wanting to change the message so that more people will be attracted to vote for the Republicans.
There was nothing wrong with the old message. People liked Republican principles and that is why they elected Republicans and gave them political power. The problem was not the message but the fact that Republicans betrayed the people who elected them. They ran for office on one set of principles and governed from an entirely different set of principles. We were promised fiscal conservatism and we got the largest expansion of government in history. We were promised and end to Clinton style nation building and a humble but strong foreign policy and we got nation building in Iraq and poked a stick in the eye of the entire world. We were promised an unobtrusive government and a belief in State's Rights and we got Terri Schiavo. We were promised a rollback of socialism and we got Medicare Prescription Drugs. We were promised school choice and we got an expansion of Federal involvement and control of schools.
The answer is not a marketing campaign but rather ACTIONS that demonstrate that Republicans understand why they were thrown out of office. It should start with a purge. I'm not sure if people should actually be thrown out of the Party but the scumbags who were the chairmans of the committees that gave us No Child Left Behind, Medicare Prescription Drugs, the bloated Energy Bill, the bloated Highway Bill, the bloated Farm Bill and the current bloated Bank Bailout should be stripped of their committee positions and relegated to the back bench. They were corrupt when we held the majority and there is every reason to believe that they are still corrupt now that we are the minority and that they willt be corrupt if we ever give them back power. The people who caused the fiasco need to go!
Next, we need to reform the GOP Primary process. At the Presidential level, we need to stop letting Blues States like Iowa and New Hampshire that are not going to give us their electoral college votes choose our candidates for us. The early primaries should be in bright Red states so that we get candidates that the base actually like rather than McCain who was despised. If we nominate somebody the base likes and trusts they can run to the center during the general election and try to appeal to the independents rather than having to spend all their time and political capital trying to appeal for the votes that should be automatic and that should be a sure thing. Sarah Palin was about shoring up the base who generally hated McCain. She did a good job in that role but she cost us the center. She would not have been necessary if we had a candidate chosen in the primaries that the base actually liked. That is why conservative candidates win and centrists lose. Centrists like McCain and Dole are forced to run right rather than to the center in the general election. McCains message near the end of the campaign on the baliout was absolutely incomprehensible because he was trying to say stuff to the right and the center at the same time and the same message was not going to work for both. It left him sounding like a blithering idiot (which he is).
At the Congressional Level, we need to make rules for the primaries so that the GOP does not keep sabotaging good Republican challengers when they are running against despicable Republican incumbants. Primaries should be about purging the worst (corrupt, incompetent, and unprincipled) from our ranks and replacing them with better people rather than perpetuating awful incumbants.
When I see Republicans take ACTION to prove that everything that comes out of their mouth is anything but bullshit and a lie, then perhaps I'll quit being a politcal athiest. Believe me, I have no expectation that the necessary actions will occur and I sure am not holding my breath. There was a time when I gave the Republican Party money. Not anymore and probably never again.
This was an insightful analysis. I agree that the old Republican ideas are just fine; it's the current Republicans in office who messed them up. I quoted Huckabee earlier, and I'll quote him again: Republicans set out to change Washington, and Washington changed us. We need new, truer Republicans.
Interesting points about the primary system. It really is unfair for Republicans to have their first few primaries in blue states. Also, I agree that it is better for a candidate to go conservative during the primaries and then start appealing to a broader electorate during the general election. It is very difficult to do the other way around, and it affected McCain.
After such a sound defeat, don't you think it is possible for the Party to be shocked back to its original values, and produce genuinely conservative future leaders?
I think the shock of defeat will be enough to convince Republicans that they need to do a better job of PRETENDING like they are genuine conservatives.
Unless there are REAL steps to remove from leadership positions the people who through their actions over the last 8 years proved that they are in fact not conservatives, then if the American people ever give them back leadership they will find out that they were once again deceived by a clever marketing campaign.
There is an old saying about insanity and doing the same thing over and over and expecting different outcomes.
ACTIONS is what will convince me because the words that eminate from a politician or a political party are not worth the powder to blow them to hell.