The political climate today: Republicans versus Democrats

June 9, 5:48 PMJacksonville Republican ExaminerPatrick McMahon

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Looking at the Republican Party today, one immediately realizes that the political party has certainly fallen from grace over the past few election cycles. Democrats, across the country and at all levels, have wiped the floor with both Republican incumbents and new challengers. This is a far cry from the party of power from 1994-2006. During that time Republicans controlled Congress, with the exception of the Senate for a brief period, and had a two term president. Despite these advantages, the GOP squandered any goodwill that they had and are now clearly the minority party in Washington and statehouses across America.

One is curious as to how such a downfall happened. The answer is clear, the Democratic Party has widened their base and the Republican Party has narrowed theirs. In 2006 and 2008, Democrats ran candidates all over the country that were tailor-made for that particular region or state. In the south, for instance, they ran candidates for the House that were conservative Democrats who supported gun rights and tax cuts. This allowed for the Democrats to take over both houses of Congress and ultimately the White House. The key to winning an election is not just energizing your base; it is winning over the independent and middle of the road voter. I firmly believe in most competitive districts and states that both sides start off with roughly 40% of the voters supporting either side. The fight is for the 20% in the middle who have yet to make up their mind about who they will support. The Democrats have done this well and have certainly reaped the benefits of their strategy. The congressional Democrats have a wide variety of backgrounds, but unite on many common principles which have allowed them to enact policies that their liberal and moderate factions can get behind. That and they have an enormously popular president, who is still in the infancy of his presidency. Voters have yet to judge President Obama for his policies, which they eventually will. It still remains to be seen whether voters approve of the Democratic government or whether they will seek to moderate it in 2010.

While the Democrats have certainly triumphed, election wise, the Republicans have not. With the loss of many of their moderates, the GOP has become an increasingly conservative party, instead of a more moderate center-right party. When former Vice President Cheney and commentator Rush Limbaugh claim that moderate former Secretary of State Colin Powell is not a real Republican, then there is clearly a problem. In order to win, the party needs to expand outside of the south and mountain west and reach other parts of the country. That and some diversity with race, gender, and age in terms of the party’s leadership will go a long way. Starting in the 1970’s and ending in the mid 1990’s, the Republican Party underwent a renaissance of sorts and had broad bases of support. There were conservative Republicans and liberal Republicans, who differed on some things clearly, but united behind a common set of principles and ideas which ultimately came to define the party. Now, many of those same principles have been sacrificed in order to win elections and have helped the Democrats ascend into power. That and apparently Mr. Cheney and Mr. Limbaugh have forgotten President Reagan’s 11^th Commandment, “Thou shall not speak ill of a fellow Republican.”