The Two Republican Parties
By Pete Lucas, a contributing author:
Since the beginning, the Republican party has had two distinct wings. There are what we now call “Reagan Conservatives” and then there are the Country Club Republicans.
Reagan conservatives believe in limited government, peace through strength, trickle down prosperity through the free market, and traditional social values.
Country Club Republicans are people who came from great wealth into positions of governmental power. Not all Republicans who came from wealth fit into this category, but many do.
The Bush family is a recent example of Country Club Republicanism. Although they espoused traditional conservative beliefs, in actuality they expanded government (both in size and in power), and did little or nothing to further traditional social values. George W. Bush always espoused belief, for example, in the sanctity of life. However, the ball simply didn’t get moved during his eight years.
The reason the Republicans have lost their way is that they have allowed these two factions to become confused. Liberals see us saying one thing and doing another and use that against us. Most Republicans are Reagan conservatives, but we vote for any Republican because we believe they’re all the same.
The Republican party will continue to be lost until we return to traditional Republican values, with limited government being the cornerstone. It’s time to stop being ashamed of what we believe. Republicans are not “against the little guy” or “pro business over pro individual” - we understand that in order to help people at every level, the government needs to butt out so that businesses can create jobs.
It’s time we stop cowering every time a liberal accuses us of being heartless, bigoted rednecks, or silly gun-clinging religious nuts (or what I like to call “believers in the 1st and 2nd amendments).
They are wrong, and ultimately, doing the right thing shouldn’t be swayed by baseless insults.
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Tags: Country Club Republicans, limited government, Reagan Conservatives, The Two Republican Parties
May 15th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Some really good thoughts here.
What we saw in 2008 is something called a “realigning election.” If all does not go well for Democrats, then we’ll likely see another realigning election in 2012. What will help the GOP to win that kind of election is a serious realignment within the party itself.
What sort of realignment, you ask?
The Republican party needs to get back to their true core values, not perceived values. The GOP used to stand for liberty, rights, personal responsibility, conservative spending, laissez-faire free market, pro-business policies, strong military but limited foreign military engagement; strong opposition to big government, excessive economic regulation, and corruption (of course). Some of the perceived values I see are unrealistic tax cuts, aggressive foreign policy, excessive deregulation, “traditional Christian values,” more centralized executive powers, and corporate welfare to name a few.
What I see now is a party consumed with demonizing the opposition at every turn but not bothering to demonstrate how a party of, by and for the people should conduct itself. The GOP is a party determined to impose its perceived value system on ALL Americans no matter how unAmerican these values might be. These efforts manifest themselves in the form of legislation even. Some examples of this are:
Pledge Protection Act - legislation that prevents any higher court from reviewing the constitutionality of having “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. What most people don’t know is the fact “under God” wasn’t in the original pledge for decades. It was inserted in the pledge during WWII to align ourselves with the Almighty as we fought the evil of Nazi Germany.
Marriage Protection Act - legislation that prevents any higher court from reviewing the constitutionality of limiting the institution of marriage to just between a man and a woman, limiting the rights and equality of same-sex couples, rights and equality that should be inherent with American citizenship regardless of sexual orientation.
Detainee Treatment Act - legislation that prevents any higher court from reviewing the constitutionality of denying detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay of their rights, rights guaranteed to them by the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the four Geneva Conventions signed in 1949.
If the GOP can manage to drop the sociopolitical witch hunts and the sinister acts of demonizing anyone who doesn’t fit into a perfect box of Republican ideologies, then over the next few years we may yet see another “realignment.” The people need to see positive changes in the party before that happens though. Words must be met with equal or greater actions. As the saying goes: Talk is cheap.
May 30th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Great summary of the split personality. What the previous comment misses is that everything he likes is also a value that could be dismissed by the party. Ready for that?
June 6th, 2009 at 11:56 am
Oh, really? Dismissed? How so? I listed several values, not just one. Did you mean all or just one of them? Please explain.
BJD, you have a valid argument to back that statement up, right? If so, why didn’t you post it? I could care less for snarky, unoriginal one-liners. What I respect and appreciate is intelligent, civil deliberation.
Ready for that?