NEWS ANALYSIS: Republican Party divide increasingly a matter of region [View all]

[DonViejo]

NEWS ANALYSIS

Republican Party divide increasingly a matter of region

As Washington's budget battles show, a divide in the GOP between its Southern base and the rest of country is widening.

By Paul West, Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — The budget battles rocking the capital have exposed a deepening fault line within an already fractured Republican Party: the divide between the GOP's solid Southern base and the rest of the country.

That regional split became evident when members of the House of Representatives cast votes last week on a budget deal designed to avoid massive tax hikes and spending cuts: Almost 90% of Southern Republicans voted against the "fiscal-cliff" compromise. At the same time, a majority of Republican representatives from outside the South supported the deal, which was approved in large part because of overwhelming Democratic support.

The GOP's geographic schisms burst anew after House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) canceled an expected vote on a $60-billion disaster relief package for victims of Superstorm Sandy.

Rep. Peter T. King (R- N.Y.) accused his party of "cavalier disregard" toward New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, a potential 2016 GOP presidential contender, lashed out at what he called the "toxic internal politics" of his party's House majority, noting that Republicans had speedily approved support for storm relief in "Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, Alabama …"

Boehner moved quickly to smooth things over, but the upheaval was a reminder that divisions within the party could play an influential role as the new Congress begins to tackle Washington's top agenda items, including an attempt in coming weeks to avoid a national debt default and President Obama's promised effort to overhaul the nation's immigration system.

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latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gop-analysis-20130106,0,787706.story