What it means to be a Republican these days is as unclear as it was in the days before Ronald Reagan emerged in the wake of Gerald Ford's electoral loss in 1976 to rally conservatives behind a positive, coherent vision of America as a natural and exceptional leader of the free world.
As others (most notably, author Angelo Codevilla) have discerned, there is a cultural divide in the GOP today just as there is within the Democrat Party - but with a vital difference. Both parties' leaders are largely "ruling class" elitists fully at home in Washington, DC and in other urban metropolises, but rarely in the vast exurban and rural lands that comprise most of "country class" America.
For its part, the Republican leadership feels compelled to distance itself from its core supporters - conservative activists, Tea Party enthusiasts, evangelical Christians, and 2nd Amendment supporters among them - precisely because the GOP leaders share none of these enthusiasms. Rather, they wish to act as political middle managers, not leaders; caretakers, not owners. The "rabble" in the countryside just distract from their mission, which is not to roll back government but to preside over it with more care, fiscal probity and discretion than Democrats would. Not to put too fine a point on it, but how did that work out during W.'s last term?
The Democrat leaders are of course, also elitists, though of a more radical disposition, seeking as they do the advancement of Progressive social experimentation in all areas of life without recognizing any significant restraint on the government's ability to do "pretty much whatever it wants" (in the words of one Fortney "Pete" Stark).
But here is the critical difference - Democrat leaders love their base voters - unionized government workers, blacks, urban single women, trial lawyers, and government dependents at large - not because they are also elitists (although some are) but because they are valued clients of the Democrat Party who donate their time, loyalty, and money to the party in exchange for billions of dollars in Federal largess.
The GOP, in contrast, will never attract the fealty or enthusiasm of its core voters until Republican leaders decide to give their voters what they want - which is largely to be left the hell alone. Shrink government. Slash the spending that is sucking the life blood out of our economy. Reform a tax code that ruthlessly penalizes productivity and investment. Eliminate bureaucracy and burdensome regulatory rules that no one truly understands. Get the Federal government out of our way so that America can become America again.
As a practical matter, the GOP must abandon the "status-quo, don't make waves, don't rock the boat, go-along-to-get-along, politics-is-the-art-of-the-possible, compromise is always better than conflict" mode in which they find themselves. Which is why they're presently hunkered down and waiting for the Tea Parties to carry them to victory in the fall (without open support from the party brass), after which time... they'll... er... what, exactly? Quietly accede to Obama's 1st term victories by refusing to fight for a repeal of the health care law or an extension of Bush's tax cuts? You betcha. That's the plan. But at least now they'll get the nicer Capitol offices and the really good tables at lunch.
Two terms in the US Senate (12 years!)
Six terms in the US House (12 years!)
Then go home, sit out 1 Senate term & 2 House terms before the “professional politician” can return.
Similar restrictions need to be imposed and the state, county & city level!
Thank you for posting that. I could not have written that more eloquently or more succinctly than you did. I would like to highlight one passage of your posting that rings like a bell put over my head and hit with a sledgehammer:
“The GOP, in contrast, will never attract the fealty or enthusiasm of its core voters until Republican leaders decide to give their voters what they want - which is largely to be left the hell alone. “
You just hit the X ring, Andy. That’s is a beautiful and clear summation of the salient issue at hand.
This is also part of why I believe the GOP is destined to fail and fail big. NO politician goes to DC to “do nothing.” They all claim they have big dreams and aspirations for what they want to do in office. None of these morons go to DC to a) do nothing and b) undo that which never needed to be done before. Every last one of these buttinskis thinks that their meddling in my life is for my own good.
And this is why I’m fed up with the GOP. They promise to reduce government, but they never do. These idiots and hair-lipped morons NEVER, EVER reduce the bureaucracy I am forced to deal with every day. Want to impress me? Show me that just ONE form that I have to fill out in the course of a year has gone away, that I will never, ever need to deal with that piece of paper again. Want to really impress me? Eliminate a half dozen forms I fill out over the course of a year.
They can’t even stir themselves to find something concrete and eliminate ONE form, one piece of stupid mail from the government that takes my time.
For example: I’m looking at opening a gun smithing business. Want to impress me? Eliminate all ITAR requirements that gunsmiths who don’t sell guns to the military or who never export anything.
At this point, I have to little confidence in the GOP’s ability to actually eliminate any paperwork that I’d settle for even less: I’d settle for the GOP to force a concrete resolution as to who needs to pay the ITAR fees every year, and for a clear-cut policy letter on what constitutes “manufacturing” of a firearm. I’d also like a clear-cut statement of the Internal Revenue Code in such a way that anyone can understand it completely and easily upon one reading.
Want to impress me? Make compliance with the Agricultural Census optional for farmers. I hated with a passion receiving these idiotic letters every month/quarter/year with a bold “$300 fine for non-compliance” on the outside of the envelope. Who the *&(*& is the government to tell me, a private company engaged in lawful commerce to report to them how much I was producing, of what, and for how much I sold it ... under penalty of a fine? It always made me madder than heck.
The GOP has accomplished none of these types of things, much less promising or delivering on being “left alone.”