Party Down: The Decline and Fall of the GOP
Benjamin Wallace-Wells writes in the Washington Monthly of the decline and fall of the GOP. His argument is refreshingly similar to my own sense that the GOP's quotidian use of power has diverged too far from its fundamental ideology. The cycle has turned full circle and we Democrats now stand on the threshold of realignment as fundamental as that of 1980. You may be skeptical that the GOP is headed for a fall, but as Ben points out, it is often at the peak of their power that American parties self-destruct as the ideas which drove them become untenable and irrelevant and disfavored by voters. Such a time has certainly come for the GOP. The small government, low-tax mantra no longer appeals to the American electorate. The voters prefer the moderate policies of the Democratic party in domestic economic affairs by a wide margin.The Bush Administration has many interesting parallels with the Carter Administration, which Ben explores in some depth, but the key one is a widespread loss of confidence within the party for the foriegn policy approach of the Administration due to a humiliating defeat abroad. There are also telling contrasts. In domestic policy, Carter struggled against the boondoggle spending and identity politics of his party which where the mothers milk of Democratic politics of the day, while Bush gladly enables his party's subrogation of the national interest to the special interests of corporationd and the wealthy and the puritanical demands of the religious right. It remains to be seen whether Bush can avoid Carter's fate by carefully glutting his base with the red meat they crave. Either way, however, the steam has gone out of movement conservatism and a realignment within the party seems already under way as Republican moderates quietly strike their tents and pitch them on the Democrat's patch this election cycle. Effectively exploiting this crisis in the GOP to regain control of governmental power in America over the long term is the challenge for the Democratic party over the next several years.
posted by Michael Bryan @ 10/10/2004 10:53:00 PM
2 Comments:
First the Democratic Party has to come up with its own cohesive message ... it's not enough to be anti-GOP. And I'm not so sure about the timing of Republican demise ... it may take several decades for the influence of the Right to sufficiently wane as to make any real difference in our everyday political experience. I recommend reading The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America (John Micklethwait, Adrian Woodridge) to get a good idea of how pervasive conservatism in America really is.
No doubt you are right that the fall will be more gradual than precipitous, and the full expression of the transformation will likely take a generation, as did movement conservatism's ascendency. However, there is a price to be paid for Iraq, 9/11, and the huge deficits we're running. The current leadership of the GOP will be the one's to pay it. Those who follow will not dare to be so reckless.
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