The State of the GOP

We (the GOP) are hurting for some good press. We are in such bad shape and NO ONE can seem to figure out what to do. Why is this? Why is it that only 20% of Americans will admit to being a Republican? Well, Bush was no help. Iraq was unpopular. The economy stinks. Palin was a complete flop. But I think this goes deeper. Much deeper.

There is no doubt that George Bush stained the Republican Party for years; maybe entire generations. Iraq, the economy, scandals, arrogance/hubris of the Administration, etc. But that is not all. The Bush issue is separate from the "conservative base" problem. Yes, the base is the problem. I said it. I don't care. What Republicans seem to forget is that you cannot win elections, particularly Presidential elections, with only "the base".

The selection of John McCain by voters in the primaries should have said something to party leaders. It should have indicated that the party needed and wanted a moderate and a uniter; not a paralyzing partisan divider (like Sarah Palin). When far-right hacks like Limbaugh and Coulter started talking trash on McCain, and criminal Tom Delay proudly exclaimed that he wouldn't vote for McCain on the Sean Hannity show, the end result had already been decided.

This was because McCain predictably and stupidly started pandering to "the base" (which in my estimation is only about 5% of registered Republicans). If I were John's campaign manager, I would have confronted the far-right fringe and told them publically that they are out of touch with reality; that this was a center-right country that needs a center-right leaders, not a far-right nutcase. But McCain was intimidated into choosing Palin, the ultimate nail in the proverbial coffin. McCain would have been better off choosing Joe Lieberman. Let the far-right bitch and moan...do you really think they were going to vote for Obama? No.

The truth is McCain could have won the election if he would have chosen Romney or Giuliani, and concentrated his forces in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. The red states would have gone red. How different things could be. But we drove independents and moderates to vote for Obama. I believe that many were geniunely terrified of his past liberal voting record and complete lack of experience. But his victory should be proof of how far we've fallen. Americans were not wrong to vote for Obama. Many leaders in our party made him their only choice, because they so badly alienated non-conservatives during the campaign.

How do we fix this? Patience, reflection, moderation and guts. Guts to stand up to the very small, but very powerful element of our party that is destroying us: The Far-Right. That's right, Rush. You and those of your stripe are the reason we lost the White House have literally no power in Congress whatsoever. It is the far right that drove Arlen Specter away, and it is their fault that so few Americans will admit to being registered Republicans. Because to be a member of the GOP is embarrassing right now. Can you blame people?