Ultraconservatives Declare War on Republican Moderates
Related subjects: J.E. Robertson, Opinion, U.S. Elections, U.S. Politics, U.S. news, Vote 2010 Comments (1)
Extreme conservative ideologues, who have openly called for the “purification” of the party, have now declared war on moderates in their own party, whom they call Republicans in name only (RINO). At a rally organized by Rep. Michelle Bachmann —who famously declared her paranoid belief that American children were about to be kidnapped and sent to concentration camps for socialist reeducation—, supporters declared “hunting season” on Republican moderates.
Incredibly, the party’s leader in the House, John Boehner, condoned this extremist language, by appearing with and reiterating the claims of the fringe politicians. Boehner’s endorsement of Bachmann’s agenda of radicalization now looks like a warning to moderates that they are no longer welcome in the party. The Bachmann-Boehner event may mark the moment when the Republican party openly declared its rejection of the idea of inclusion.
Newt Gingrich has warned that intensifying radicalization will reduce the party’s mainstream appeal and expand the centrist base for Pres. Obama and the Democratic majority. The 3-way race in New York’s 23rd Congressional district seems to emphasize Gingrich’s point, and Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, has now shown himself to be the one voice of reason in the national administration of the Republican party, reminding the rogues of New York 23rd fame that there’s nothing democratic about outsiders telling local voters what they need.
The Republican party is ideologically divided and has been shedding moderates for more than a decade. (Sen. Jim Jeffords left the party at the beginning of George W. Bush’s first term, due to his concern about mounting extremist positions and intolerance of dissent.) Its demographic research shows this, but party leaders have inexplicably sought to narrow their appeal instead of trying to win back those moderates.
We have to start asking seriously whether or not the current leadership of the Republican party is suited to anything resembling genuine public outreach of expanding the party’s appeal, let alone the hard work of governing. P.J. O’Rourke, the conservative pundit and author, said today that the Republicans “just don’t have a clue”, adding that “they lost it a long time ago”.
While ideological purist conservatives claim the upstate New York race is a clear sign of their need to eliminate competition from any and all moderate voices in the party, and speak wistfully if the conservative Utopia they envision for the United States, it will matter a great deal more than their professed certainty whether voters view them as out of step, out of touch or even openly contemptuous of the problems, the hopes and the personal and community concerns of ordinary Americans. Ruling out all cooperation with any but the most severe conservative ideologues will not prove otherwise.
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It should be noted at the start that I am a registered Republican voter. There – I’ve said it. However, this does not weigh heavily in determining which bills, referendums, or candidates I endorse at the ballot-box – the reason being that common sense must necessarily bear some importance in upholding one’s constitutional responsibilities as a voter.
For any organism an inability to grow and change is tantamount to death – an observation the leading radical Conservatives would do well to remember.
As a child I asked my grandfather what the difference between the two political parties was, and the answer he gave (while being skewed for a six-year-old’s perceptions) is still cogent and apropos. “Republicans are all about hanging on to what they value, while Democrats are all about instituting necessary change.”
In this world-model the two parties are not antagonists but complementary components of a working synergy. To maintain that either perspective is uniquely correct by fiat is absurd: one could just as easily drive a car with either brakes or accelerator, but not both together.
Quite aside from the reliance on bigotry, propaganda, overblown rhetoric and patent distortion, the arch-Conservative GOP stance is one which has lost its grasp of one important fact; namely, the world is in a state of unprecedented flux.
As the author noted the survivors will no doubt be the ones who best engender a rational and constructive cooperation.