Lyndon Furst's
A Different Perspective
"Whither the Grand Old Party"
POSTED 5/14/08
Whither the Grand Old Party
The political pundits are all in a dither these days over the future of the Republican Party. It seems that brand of politics has been in somewhat of a decline for the last two or three years. It started with the election of 2006 when the Democrats captured a majority of both houses of Congress. It accelerated with the election of 2008 when the Democrats not only increased their numbers in Congress but also won the presidency. All this was bad enough news but the tipping point came recently when longtime Republican senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania left his party and joined the Democrats. Does this signal the end of the party of Lincoln? Will Republicans go the way of the Whigs who self-destructed in the mid-19th century?
The short history of the Whig political party might be instructive in predicting the future of the GOP. They functioned primarily as opposition to the majority Democrats and had a difficult time getting their ideology straight. They seemed intent on pulling themselves apart in debate over some of the issues of the day and had a difficult time maintaining consensus on those issues. Eventually they were eclipsed by the emergence of the Republicans who had a narrow agenda based on the rising middle class supported by easy access to cheap land and opposition to slavery. Republicans won the contentious election of 1860 and, because of Abraham Lincoln’s magnificent leadership in holding the union together, became the solidly majority party.
On the American political scene Republicans and Democrats have jockeyed back and forth, trading control of the government several times in the ensuing century and a half. Political commentators have written the GOP off as a dominant force in American government on other occasions. I remember when Barry Goldwater led Republicans to a landslide defeat in 1964. There were many who questioned the future of the party at that time and some predicted it would soon come to an end. Not many years later Richard Nixon won the presidency and shortly thereafter Ronald Reagan brought in a Republican victory which lasted for 12 years. The GOP dominated Congress for another 12 years beginning in 1994. So, I have seen the Republican party wax and wane over the years and, from my perspective, it is far too soon to write them off as a political force in America.
Republican leaders claim that their party stands for small government, low taxes, and sound fiscal management. Unfortunately, in the past 75 years whenever they’ve been in power they have increased the size and cost of government and increased the size of the national debt. They also claim to be the party of national security and claim the high ground on moral issues. They have trouble on both of those issues. As regards national security, they believe that being at war with everyone is the only way to show strength. The two major moral issues on which they have taken strong stands are abortion and gay marriage. Most Americans see the gay marriage matter is a peripheral issue and while they oppose abortion they also oppose government intrusion into the decision a woman must make regarding having an abortion. Other major moral issues seem to be ignored by the Republicans. One can be an ax murderer as long as they are anti-abortion, in the Republican mind.
Unfortunately for the Republican Party, the harsh fractious tones of Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and Dick Cheney seemed to be dominant right now. More reasoned thought of moderate members of the party seem to have been pushed into the background. But I expect that this will eventually change and within the party softer voices will rise to give solid leadership for the nation. Eventually they will see that their knee-jerk opposition to every proposal by the Democrats is not effective. Republicans will then develop their own positive agenda for America. Democrats will sooner or later overreach and when they do the Republicans will move in and give leadership to our nation once more. However, I expect that will not be for a long time yet, although the Grand Old Party will not soon disappear from the scene.