Posted on 11/11/2006 2:42:16 PM PST by Reagan Man
As I write this column, three days after the midterm elections, the Democrats have taken over the House of Representatives and, with the concession of Sen. George Allen (R.-Va.), have captured the Senate as well.
Make no mistake about it—this is Republican loss and not a conservative loss.
Republicans lost because the Bush Administration and the Republican leadership too often cavalierly abandoned the populist conservative message and policies of President Ronald Reagan.
For far too long the American people have come to view the conservative movement and the Republican Party as one and the same. Indeed, they are not.
Conservatives need to re-establish their identity and independence from Republicanism. The Bush Administration has been hijacked by neo-conservatives who believe in “big government conservatism.” The very phase is an oxymoron—designed to give cover for big government intervention in both the domestic and foreign policy arenas.
The neo-conservatives support open borders, expansion of the education bureaucracy and promoting democracy in the Mideast through military intervention.
Republicans paid a heavy price at the ballot box for their failure over the last few years to live up to the ideals and standards which the American people believed they represented when they took the House of Representatives from the Democrats a decade ago and when Bush won the presidency in 2000.
This election turned out to be just what many conservatives had feared—a referendum on the performance of the Bush White House and the Republican Congress, rather than a contest between the two competing party’s visions for America.
Republicans lost touch with almost every element of their base.
Economic conservatives could not understand it when the Bush White House teamed up with Sen. Teddy Kennedy (D.-Mass.) on “big government” legislation such as the No Child Left Behind Act and the Medicare prescription drug bill. And they could not understand why “conservative” leaders such as former Rep. Tom DeLay (R.-Tex.) carried the water for the President on behalf of this massive expansion of government.
Conservatives were perhaps most dismayed with the administration’s failure to secure our borders and to deal with illegal immigration. And many conservatives such as Bill Buckley, Brent Scowcroft and Pat Buchanan were skeptical early on about the war with Iraq which they viewed as unnecessary and not a part of the War on Terror.
To further complicate matters, Republicans—who were elected by promising the highest standards of integrity—were involved in one scandal after another involving members of Congress, Republicans lobbyists and some members of the Bush Administration.
Exit polls indicated that the American electorate had become more than skeptical regarding the war in Iraq, concerned about the war on terrorism and the scandals in Washington.
One final nail in the coffin of the GOP was the failure “at all levels of government” in responding to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. (One note: In my opinion this emphatically excludes the leadership by Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi in efforts exhibited in rebuilding his state.)
In short—the mid term elections can be summed as crisis of confidence in the GOP controlled Congress and the Bush White House.
Sadly, it seems that the “Party of Reagan” has been hijacked by the neo-cons, the big government crowd and the pragmatists.
The debate for the heart and soul of the Republican Party and the conservative movement has begun. Let’s hope we are up to the job.
The question is this: Do we want do the stay the course or do we want to want to return to the “Party of Reagan?”
[***Mr. Rotterman is a senior fellow at the John Locke Foundation and a GOP consultant.***]
I, for one, never thought they were.
Opposition to social conservatism, or rather successful association of incumbent Republicans with it, was a key reason for GOP losses in the North East, not necessarily anywhere else. However, GOP wooing of blue-collar Reagan Democrats with promises of social conservatism is starting to badly hurt the party among libertarian conservatives. When at the same the Democrats have begun to diffuse the 'culture war' issues by running social conservatives in these districts, I see bad times ahead for the Republicans.
IMHO, the Republicans should embrace old-fashioned Main Street conservatism with emphasis on moderate, small enterprise free-market economics, positive family values conservatism and a realist foreign policy.
....
An American Life (his autobiography) | 8/7/03 |
Ronald Reagan
"When I began entering into the give and take of legislative bargaining in Sacramento, a lot of the most radical conservatives who had supported me during the election didn't like it.
"Compromise" was a dirty word to them and they wouldn't face the fact that we couldn't get all of what we wanted today. They wanted all or nothing and they wanted it all at once. If you don't get it all, some said, don't take anything.
"I'd learned while negotiating union contracts that you seldom got everything you asked for. And I agreed with FDR, who said in 1933: 'I have no expectations of making a hit every time I come to bat. What I seek is the highest possible batting average.'
"If you got seventy-five or eighty percent of what you were asking for, I say, you take it and fight for the rest later, and that's what I told these radical conservatives who never got used to it.
Terrific news, thought he was a goner! I'll cross my fingers that she be singing happy news when she does :-)
They tried hard.
I voted for him. You "centrists" were voting for Pat Brown and Jimmy Carter.
Yeah, cuz Reagan led us to two resounding defeats and two resounding wins. Bush led us to three wins.
I'll take Bush over Reagan anyday. And in terms of the Senate, Bush's 2006 performance is still a million times better than Reagan's 1986 performance.
Take heart. Based on historical precedent, the Perpetually Angry Faction of conservatives will be using Bush's name to attack the current sitting Republican and demanding that we get back to the days of Bush Conservatism LOL
Just wait for it... I predict November 11, 2030 there will be a FR thread entitled, "Republicans Forgot Bush's Message" ;-)
Happy Pelosi.
I doubt I'll be around to see it.
I'm not a centrist, darling, am a conservative. With brains. That can add numbers together. And knows that 20% on our own is not as big as 51% percent, the magic number needed to impact public policy.
We share power with the center in moderate or blue states or we don't impact public policy at all.
End of America.
not hard enough according some.
On wednesday I was told if you run as a conservative you can't win elections in this country. I guess it didn't work for reagan in 1980 and 1984, the contract with american in 1994, or 2000 when we were told GWB was a reagan conservative.
You Gerald Ford types were constantly attacking Ronald Reagan for being "too extreme".
No - I mean they tried hard to out liberal liberals.
Spoken like a good liberal. Touche! LOL
LOLOLOLOLOLOL Best laugh I've had all week. Thanks! You liberals are soooooooooooooo funny! LMBO
Just like Bush has been trashed for the last six yrs. It doesn't matter who we put up there, they will be trashed. However, after a setback like this election, it would be nice if our side didn't turn on them like a pack of vultures.
bush and reagan ran for the senate in their 6th year in office?
You are spot on with this point; we lost the elections ourselves. Newt can blame Rummy and Bush, but I recall on several occasions Newt was on MSM bashing Bush and Rummy. When conservatives turn on their own, we lose. Newt had an opportunity to show he is still a leader, and in my opinion he failed. He is a great idea man, but he is NOT the right messenger. McCain, Hagel, and others are equally as guilty. McCain can forget the presidency, he will never get the base. I don't know who will come up and take the mantle of leadership for the republicans. Bush looks so rejected in all his latest appearances; he needs to get back on message soon. Frist needs to kick Chafee off the committee that is holding up Bolton and we need to get him confirmed next week. This will help, and I hope it happens. Bush and all republicans need to start fighting back and stopping the message of old media that this country rejected the Iraq policy.
n.b. James Baker was heavily involved in the decision to withdraw from Beirut, as was SECDEF Weinberger et al.
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