Editorial: Self-Destructive Conservatism

[Optical.Catalyst]

Self-Destructive Conservatism

By Charlie Cook

One can look at the American electorate like a football field. Most voters are fairly centrist, sitting between the 35-yard lines. Democrats are on the left end of the field; Republicans on the right. The theoretical center for each party is roughly the 25-yard line on its side. The Republican Party dropped from parity in terms of party identification four years ago and now is about 8 percentage points below the Democratic Party. The GOP has narrowed its base and moved to the right. The defections from the GOP have been among its least conservative members. Thus, the center of the Republican Party has moved to the right, between the 15- and 20-yard lines.

At a time when Republicans should be starting to think about how they can expand their party to reclaim those who abandoned it, the party is instead lurching ever more to the right, exacerbating its problems. Many people who watched the recent debate between contenders for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee came away thinking that the only memorable moments were when each candidate expressed love and devotion for Ronald Reagan and when all but one bragged about how many guns they own. Not to belittle the importance of Reagan's iconic status or the Second Amendment, but when the only takeaways are about the importance of a political figure who last won an election a quarter-century ago and how big a person's arsenal is, these guys are not hot prospects to chair the GOP's Welcome Wagon, much less to lead the party out of its wilderness.

With the Federal Reserve Board having dropped interest rates to practically zero, only two other major instruments to fight recession remain: government spending and tax cuts. Democrats tend to think that spending is the way to go and typically aren't wild about most tax cuts. Conversely, Republicans believe that tax cuts are the preferable route and disdain new spending. President-elect Obama is putting together a package that incorporates both, hoping to build bipartisan support and professing his fear that doing too little is more dangerous than doing too much. The fact that neither congressional Democrats nor congressional Republicans are in love with his package suggests that Obama may have found a good balance.

But if Republican lawmakers have to look over their shoulders and worry that backing a balanced stimulus plan would trigger serious primary challenges, they could be intimidated into jeopardizing measures needed to get the country out of the recession, into further isolating their party by making it more extremist, or both.

Full article at:
http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?filepath=/dailyfed/0109/012009op.htm

[lapfog_1]

1. Sarah Palin will rescue them!!!

OK, do I need to add this :sarcasm:


Really?

[MasonJar]

2. GOpers always put re-election over principle. It's their mantra.

[Enthusiast]

3. Many Republicans still espouse

lower taxes on the wealthy as the answer to all our ills. And many still suggest more deregulation is the path to a vigorous economy. They are so out of touch. They have listened to their own propaganda for so long they believe it.

[libodem]

4. Well, I think it DID self-destruct

and it wasn't because a bunch of rich Democratic fat-cats sat around in a think tank drinking expensive Scotch and smoking Cuban cigars, hatching plots. I think it was natural karma coming around with what you sew, so shall you reap. Those Richard Mellon Scaif types and their effing Arkansas Projects of destruction got a big surprise from the Order of the Universe. They wanted to bring down the Democratic Party, destroy it, and had all of the radio talk-jocks spew it over the broadcast air waves day after day. Well it bit them in the ass!