Republicans are in a funk. Contrary to expectations, they lost
the Presidency, nor did they expand their caucus in the House of
Representatives. Republicans had only ten Senate seats to defend against
twenty-three for the Democrats, but three Republican Senators stepped down or
lost their election battles, and the Democrats expanded their majority.
As far as the federal government is concerned, the
Republicans fumbled “big time.”
To dispute moaning of party operatives and the groaning of
registered Republican voters, the Republican Party is anything but dead. George
Orwell may have written about “Shooting an Elephant”, but more likely the
Democratic Party will shoot itself in the foot should they continue in their
drift leftward. While National Republicans
have to retool their outreach, not compromise their principles.
Notwithstanding these failures, the Republican Party will
not be joining the graveyard of American political history strewn with deceased
political parties. Their demise crumbled under far worse circumstances than the
GOP currently faces. While the Republicans failed to take the federal
government, their strong and stunning show in states and statehouses across the
country will foster a persuasive salience of their essential values and win
back support in elections to come.
In the early years of the Republic, the Federalists held on
for twenty years before collapsing, yet the opposing Democratic-Republicans
adopted the central and centralizing tenets of their party platform.
The Whig Party coalesced around one tenet: “We hate Andrew
Jackson.” Incidentally, their caucus supported the “American System” of
federally subsidized internal improvements. In many respects, they were the “Big
Government” party of the day, and they fumbled into oblivion.
Populists, Greenbacks, and even the Progressive Party (under
former Republican Teddy Roosevelt),all met their demise in attempting to steer
the country in a more radical direction. The majority of these coalitions
rested on expanding the role of government in
labor relations, the economy, or in every other walk of life. Like the
demise of the Whigs, today’s Republicans can look over the legacy of previous
parties and breathe a sigh of relief: “Big Government” advocates usually do not
last long.
The Republicans are not beset with the inherent and internal
conflicts which paralyzed then put down the Populists or the Progressives. The
Republican Party was born in 1854, with John C. Fremont, the leader of the “Bear
Flag” Revolt” which wrested California from Mexican hands before President
James K. Polk declared war over the Rio Grande. GOP views transformed from
federalized Lincolnism to Taft-Eisenhower concern about the military-industrial
complex. Limited government as a core value emerged and remained.
When the federal government falls into the hands of one
party, the other party can look for prominence and dominance in the several
states. We are “The United States of America”, not “The United Country of
America.” While vibrant GOP dynamics are limited on the national front, the
Republicans can boast of sweeping victories throughout the states.
Following the 2012 election, The Republican Party now controls
thirty governorships, including the recent
arrival of Patrick McCrory in North Carolina. Republicans now hold a
supermajority in fifteen states, including swing states Ohio and Pennsylvania. Alabama
and Arkansas, once dominated by the Democrats, now have Republicans with a
strong two-thirds advantage, a massive repudiation for the liberal party. After
a recall that cost them the state senate, Republican now control Wisconsin once
again. For the first time since the 1920’s, the Republican can shape effective
domestic policy across the country.
These GOP states will establish and bolster the party’s
future. Within a few years’ time, the country will evaluate the soundness of
Republican/conservative policies of less spending, limited government, and
lower taxes compared to the Blue State capitals, which are hooked on deficit
spending, tax increases, and benefits expansion. Liberal states like
California, Massachusetts, and Illinois have Democratic supermajorities. For
the first time, California received no House Seats. Massachusetts lost another
house seat. Illinois is turning into a debt-ridden miniature of Greece. Chicago
mayor Rahm Emmanuel failed to field the pension problems because of the
powerful public sector unions. Voters are packing up and moving from blue to
red states.
Under Governor Mitch Daniels, Indiana boasted of budget
surpluses while Washington was wallowing in the Great Recession. Privatization of the roadways saved Hoosier
tax dollars. The new GOP supermajority (under fiscal hawk Governor-elect Mike
Pence) is proposing “right to work” legislation and expanding the state school voucher
program. Wisconsin is championing lower taxes and expanded mining rights, which
means more business, more jobs, and more tax revenue. Pennsylvania’s GOP
supermajority will opt out of the ObamaCare Medicaid expansion, along with red-state
Texas and Florida, defying the dubious ruling of the Supreme Court.
Conservatives may feel blue in Blue States. Still. California
Democrats already retracted a measure to triple the car tax. Colorado Democrats
may shelve another same-sex marriage bill. Liberal majorities are pursuing the
agendas with caution. Conservatives’ short-term pain may become long-term gain
as Republican states provide a record of success, and discredit the Democrats’
tax-and-spend extravagance for the next decade. The Republican will survive and
thrive with ideas that work, attracting more voters and restoring GOP dominance.
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