From Jim Angle at Fox News:
Sen. Arlen Specter, in leaving the party that gave birth to his political rise and supported his career in the Senate for five terms, fired a parting shot at the GOP on Tuesday that infuriated Republicans.
"As the Republican Party has moved farther and farther to the right, I have found myself increasingly at odds with the Republican philosophy and more in line with the philosophy of the Democratic Party," he said at a news conference.
But Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele noted that Specter had no problem seeking help from conservatives Rick Santorum and George W. Bush in his last re-election bid.
"Is this the same Republican Party, the same rightward-tilting Republican Party that saved his hide in 2004?" Steele said. "To whom he went running and pleading for support because he couldn't make it through a Republican primary?"
Other voices on the right also objected to Specter's characterization of the party.
"I don't think there's evidence that the Republican Party has shifted heavily to the right," said GOP analyst Michael Barone.
GOP pollster Whit Ayers said, "It's hard to identify a lot of issues on which the GOP of today is actually more conservative than it was in 2000, 2002 or 2004, when it won national elections."
And while economic issues dominate today's political debates, some Republicans don't even see a rightward shift on social issues.
"I don't really see any evidence that Republicans are for example coming forward and emphasizing conservative positions on cultural issues," Barone said.
Ayres has launched a Web site, www.resurgentrepublic.com, in an effort to revive the GOP. And he argues its current problems are the result not of an ideological shift but a response to controversies.
"In 2006, independents voted for Democrats rather than Republicans largely out of frustration with Iraq," Ayres said.
And some note that John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee last year, was hardly a die-hard conservative ideologue.
Ayres says the country as a whole is center-right and that the GOP actually has the support of a broad segment of voters.
"The public would rather have smaller government and lower taxes than larger government and higher taxes," Ayres said. "The public is also center-right on national security issues."
His polls even show a majority of Americans think Guantanamo Bay helped make America safer, while many Democrats argue it undermined our values. So the center of gravity in the GOP, he argues, is much closer to the majority of the country than Democratic party ideas are.
4 comments:
The GOP's problems stem from lack of leadership rather than ideas. It seems like it is roaming about aimlessly trying to find a voice and a coherent message. The majority of the party may still stand for the traditional beliefs of conservatism, but that counts for nothing when the headlines are generated by their less than conservative members. It can't battle the "party of No" image because there is no one as of yet that can deliver any ideas with a loud enough voice.
It's amazing - now that I've done my history homework, how the GOP keeps remembering Reagan fondly without taking note of the similarities between these political times and those of the 80s. Obama is popular and the country is shifting; if not ideologically, then surely in perception as to the path of the country toward something better. My advice: circle the wagons, purge the hidden democrats, find a leader with an articulate voice, and let Obama's policies run their course. If they fail, then be ready to present your way out; if they do not, be prepared to say so, or risk embracing the "no" label for the next few decades. Look to Romney.
Yes, it seems Obama has studied Reagan and just as Reagan was a lot more popular than many of his views and policies, Obama would seem to find himself in the same rather enviable position.
I say "rather enviable" because personal popularity is a delicate net and much of it is built on trust. Lose the trust and tears begin to show in the net.
In politics, you can't beat someone with no one.
The Democrat Party found its voice with Obama.
The Republican Party will find its voice with someone.
Are you suggesting it will be Romney?
I think Romney can leverage his business expertise and put forth a convincing argument about fiscal resposibility whether the economy recovers or not. If recovery does not meet expectations, then he becomes the leader of a renewed push for conservative economic ideas; if recovery moves along he can use the concerns that already cloud overspending and propose a leaner response for the future. His positions on issues ranging from abortion to gun control can be attacked as wavering, but in my mind, he can at least claim the mantle of a moderate. The key for any lifesaving strategy will have to include the courting of independents. No GOP star has a better shot of reaching them than Romney.
VERY perceptive analysis.
I totally agree with you.
He is well positioned, indeed.
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