GOP hopefuls try to redefine their party

Edmonton Journal ^ | 05/19/2007 | Sheldon Alberts

[Ultra Sonic 007]

COLUMBIA, S.C. - It is approaching midnight in a cramped and stuffy "spin room" on the campus of the University of South Carolina, where 10 Republicans who want to be the next president of the United States are scrambling to find the nearest microphone.

With harried press aides acting as human shields, the three early favourites -- Senator John McCain, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney -- push through a gauntlet of reporters and head straight for the live cameras of Fox News Channel.

"We'd better be honest with Americans about the failures of the past," says Mike Huckabee, a Baptist preacher and former governor of Arkansas.

With his crooked grin and aw-shucks demeanour, Huckabee evokes more Gomer Pyle than Ronald Reagan.

But like the nine other White House hopefuls here for an early debate among GOP candidates, Huckabee believes he's best suited to a task no less daunting than the one Reagan pulled off in 1980 -- saving the soul of the Republican party.

Six months removed from their worst electoral defeat in 15 years, and five years into a war that has claimed the lives of 3,400 American troops, U.S. Republicans are more divided than they have been since Richard Nixon was forced from office over the Watergate scandal back in 1974.

What the party is enduring is not so much an existentialist struggle as an identity crisis.

"We have to define ourselves again," says Michael Steele, a former lieutenant governor of Maryland and now chairman of GOPAC, a group dedicated to training Republican party candidates. "Right now, we are this mass of something that is ill-defined in the eyes of the American people."

The list of woes affecting Republicans is long and has left many party diehards disillusioned.

Seven years since George W. Bush became president on the promise of restoring integrity to Washington, Republicans have seen two members of Congress jailed for corruption, faced accusations of misleading the nation into war, and endured the perjury conviction of a senior White House aide.

The party of Reagan -- built on the pillars of economic conservatism, social conservatism and national security -- is today foundering on all three fronts.

Under Bush's watch, America's debt has ballooned to $8.8 trillion, angering fiscal conservatives who accuse party leaders of being seduced by the siren song of Washington spending.

"We let power cloud our judgment in terms of who we are when it came to spending and government practices," South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham said in an interview.

"Why did Americans kick us out of Congress? Because we no longer had the public interest at heart. We let Washington change us."

The GOP's reputation on national security, so strong after 9/11, took a direct hit during the hurricane Katrina debacle. But it suffered greatest, according to Graham, because "we mismanaged the war."

Even within the religious right -- which formed the bedrock of the conservative coalition during the Bush era -- there is something approaching despair over the current presidential candidates.

Giuliani leads pack

Giuliani, beloved in the party for his leadership in New York after 9/11, is leading the pack in early polls.

But as a thrice-divorced, pro-choice and pro-gay-rights candidate from the U.S. northeast, some on the Christian right have declared him unqualified to lead.

"I think the people admire Mayor Giuliani because they have seen him in the aftermath of 9/11," says California congressman Duncan Hunter, one of the second-tier presidential candidates. "Can he win the Republican primary with a position that is pro-abortion? My answer is no."

Similar doubts exist about the two other top-tier candidates.

McCain has tied his presidential hopes to an escalation of the Iraq war and has never been at ease with Christian conservatives.

Romney, too, has been branded a conservative of convenience. As governor of Massachusetts, he defended abortion rights and signed legislation banning assault weapons. As a presidential candidate, he has embraced the pro-life movement and last August joined the National Rifle Association.

"They're not conservatives," says presidential candidate Jim Gilmore, a former Virginia governor and national chairman of the Republican party. Gilmore, considered a dark horse for the GOP nomination, calls the trio of leading candidates interchangeable, derisively referring to them as "Rudy McRomney."

"If the American people believe that we are just Democrat-lite, they are not going to elect us," he says.

Gilmore's doubts about the candidates have been reflected in early polls among Republican voters.

A New York Times/CBS poll in March found fewer than half believed Republicans would hold the White House in 2008; nearly six in 10 GOP voters wanted more choice.

The leading GOP candidates are also badly trailing the top Democrats in the early "money primary."

While Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama each raised $25 million US during the first quarter of 2007, Romney was the only Republican to crack $20 million. Giuliani raised $15 million and McCain just $12.5 million.

"It's going to be very difficult for Republicans to win in 2008. There is no way around that," says Earl Black, a political scientist at Houston's Rice University and co-author of Divided America: The Ferocious Power Struggle in American Politics. "All of the short-term political patterns are running against them."

The collective angst over Republican fortunes was on full display at this week's candidates debate. Over 90 minutes of questioning, the 10 candidates spent as much time bashing their own party's recent record as they did targeting Democrats.

"They have no presidential message," says Pat Caddell, a Democratic pollster. "No one has said, 'here is the great crisis of our time.' "

Reagan's legacy recalled

Several candidates invoked the memory of Reagan, but not one candidate mentioned Bush by name.

"We've got to get our conservative bona fides back," Senator Sam Brownback, who is running as pro-life conservative, said in an interview.

Alluding to Giuliani's early strength, Brownback warned: "We will have problems if our party nominee is not consistent with the philosophy of the party."

Several of the candidates expressed concern about Iraq. But only one, Texas congressman Ron Paul, supports the full withdrawal of American troops.

"We have to give up the neo-conservative position that it's our duty to promote goodness and American greatness with force," Paul said in an interview. "By next year, believe me, the Republican party is going to have a different position on the war. Or we will lose."

The search for a "true conservative" candidate has lately propelled the potential candidacy of former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson.

Thompson, a former Reagan administration official, has drawn comparisons to the Gipper himself, because of his square jaw, his communication skills and his most recent incarnation as a Hollywood actor in programs such as Law & Order.

But some political analysts doubt Thompson is the answer to current Republican troubles. While he has strong appeal to the Republican base, particularly in the U.S. South and Great Plains, he could struggle to appeal to moderates in the Midwest and Northeast, regions key to the White House in 2008.

The underlying dilemma for Republicans is that, despite all the talk about a return to idealistic conservatism, they may be forced to make an unpalatable choice -- lose on principle or win with a compromise candidate. Call it the "Hillary factor" -- a deep-seated fear of seeing another Clinton in the White House.

"We may have a situation where the only thing that might unify Republicans who are unhappy with a Giuliani as the party's candidate," says Black, "would be the nature of the Democratic opposition."

[Ultra Sonic 007]

A Canadian's perspective on the race.

[Ultra Sonic 007]

Election-related ping-a-ling.

[mtbopfuyn]

Perhaps the “re” defining is the problem.

[EagleUSA]

Giuliani, beloved in the party for his leadership in New York after 9/11, is leading the pack in early polls....
:::
Well, just goes to prove that the “party” has gone socialist. Guliani is NOT a conservative, he is very much a liberal. And “most” Repubs are polling for him??? Or, maybe these pollsters are only interviewing LIBERAL DEMOCRATS??

The party, by logical deduction, is not conservative in the majority....(make sense)??

[Albertafriend]

Just something to keep in mind: The Edmonton Journal is Edmonton’s liberal/Liberal paper.

[Lancey Howard]

But some political analysts doubt Thompson is the answer to current Republican troubles. While he has strong appeal to the Republican base, particularly in the U.S. South and Great Plains, he could struggle to appeal to moderates in the Midwest and Northeast, regions key to the White House in 2008.

LMAO!!!
Yep, a Canadian's point of view. What a weak attempt to try to paint a downside to Thompson.

[Ultra Sonic 007]

I figured. Maybe I should have added “A Canadian’s Perspective” to the title.

[The_Eaglet]

ping

[almcbean]

Could someone please explain to me what wonderful, heroic things Guiliani did after 911, other than his job?

[phillyfanatic]

Good point. We have 3 now, perhaps if The Huck gets up to speed, 4. I am concerned that the Senate GOPers are killing themselves with this Kennedy Immigration Bill. And the House, well they need 17 seats to regain control of the House and many more to actually legislate. This is a tough road to hoe since so many nutters are willing to leave the GOP and join some worthless Third Party which only gets Hil and the Dems elected ala Perot.

[AuntB]

Good point. We have 3 now, perhaps if The Huck gets up to speed, 4. I am concerned that the Senate GOPers are killing themselves with this Kennedy Immigration Bill.

Do you mean Huckabee? If your worried about immigration, he's the last one you need. He took Tax $ and built a Mexican consulate in Little rock, plus gave in state tuition to illegals, and more!

[pawdoggie]

With his crooked grin and aw-shucks demeanour, Huckabee evokes more Gomer Pyle than Ronald Reagan.

Gosh, I bet they didn't say that about the often rube-ish acting Bill Clinton. I do wish that the candidates would stop talking about the Gipper. The more they mention him, the more the American people are reminded of how little these candidates have in common with him.

[perfect_rovian_storm]

But some political analysts doubt Thompson is the answer to current Republican troubles. While he has strong appeal to the Republican base, particularly in the U.S. South and Great Plains, he could struggle to appeal to moderates in the Midwest and Northeast, regions key to the White House in 2008.

LOL! There hasn't been a candidate since Reagan that will appeal to more moderates than Fred Thompson. Our Canadian friend should venture on down here sometime before he makes such statements. And maybe some of those 'analysts' should get their heads out of their a$$es and step outside the beltway once in a blue...

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

"Heh heh. I've been working this problem for a long time! First thing we do is wipe out those pesky Conservatives. That's almost too easy because they keep voting for Republicans like Bush, who stab them in the back more than I do. I mean, he was stupid enough to sign CFR! And can you believe that deal when he tried to nominate his secretary to the Supreme Court? What do Skull-n-Bones MBA's smoke in the morning? "

"But wait. I digress. What? You don't like that? Well f*ck you! Hehh. Hehhhh. Anyway, with my plan, there will be two classes in America. The worker class will be the Mexicans, who will do all the labor for, can you believe it, $50.00 an hour. They'll clean the bathrooms, make the beds, pick the apples. They will speak only Spanish, so we can tell them apart. Sure they get benefits! The can't live without benefits! But there's enough taxpayer money to go around. Above them is the rest of us, with me in charge. Yep!"

"Hey, who stole my palm tree? WHO STOLE MY PALM TREEEEE!!!!"

[gas0linealley]

Could someone please explain to me what wonderful, heroic things Guiliani did after 911, other than his job?

Well...I don't remember seeing him bite his lip.