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Are the Republicans a National Party or Fringe Coalition? |
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Wednesday, 23 July 2008 |
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Are the Republicans a National Party or Fringe Coalition?
There have been some whispers and rumors of the 'death of the Republican party' and this almost certainly has something to do with the terrible reception of the American public with Bush's policies and the party he has come to represent. If Bush has any legacy to be proud of, its that he's still a little bit more popular than the historically unpopular congress.
At the heart of the Republican party crisis is a slightly more nuanced issue of "fringe" coalitions within the party itself. Traditionally, the Reagan coalition included a mixture of three groups primarily united for the sake of countering the Democratic party. 'He doesn't match my ideals, but he's better than so-and-so Democrat'
House Republican leader Representative John Boehner recently announced that "There will be no effort to try to nationalize the elections" - hinting that the Republican party has no unified platform it can stand behind other than "not being Democrats."
The "big three fringe groups" on the American right: The Moral Minority: Republican voters fixated on religious issues like
abortion, homosexuality, and the role of religion in education. While
elected Republicans don't actually pass the laws this group lobbies
for, the Republican politicians do pay great lip service the issues
while blaming Democrats when it goes nowhere.
Law and Order Nationalists: These are the true hawks and they're
leading the charge in the war on drugs, war on terror, and probably a
new cold-war with China if they had their way. A large part of this
group also has nativist insticts; that is they favor immigration
restrictions and trade barriers if they can create a perceived
strategic advantage.
Neo-Anti-Federalists: Much like the old anti-federalists, many in this
group can sum up the problems society faces by citing the unintended
consequences of federal government policy. This group has a strong
overlap with the smaller Libertarian party, and a smaller population of
nativists focused on issues such as the United Nations.
Needless to say, these groups have little in common when it comes to
actually crafting policy. Religiously motivated voters are neither
compelled toward global empire or libertarian ideals. Likewise, the
nationalists have little patience for the chaos of true free markets or
generally unpopular spiritually-inspired social policies. The
anti-federalists wonder daily how they ended up in this party, but they
are instantly reminded of the corruption and failures of federal
intervention in American life and how eager the Democrats are to
embrace such intervention.
Moving forward, the Republican party has indicated that it has no plans
of establishing a national platform. If McCain is defeated soundly,
will this party even be able to run national presidential campaigns in
the future?
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 23 July 2008 )
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