How the Republicans can revitalize their party
By Dan Dick | Distribution Manager
Like many around the country, I was elated when Barack Obama was sworn in as our nation’s 44th president. However, unlike many supporters of our president, who laugh at the current state of the Republican Party, wildly grappling to regain it’s bearings, I look upon the same sight with a great deal of apprehension. Are we witnessing the collapse of the Republican Party, and if that is the case, what will become of our democracy?
If the Republican Party collapses, it will leave a power vacuum in American politics that will leave Democrats in relative power for years to come. After the Great Depression, resentment towards Republicans was so great, from between 1932 and 1980, the Republican Party controlled Congress for a whopping four out of 48 years!
Before you all break into song and dance, recall the oligarchic power the Republicans held during the Bush administration and how off course the ship of state veered. Even if the Democrats can put us on the right heading, the same “group think” that plagued the Republicans could eventually infect the Democrats. Without a strong opponent to compete with, how will we hold the Democrats accountable for their actions?
As a moderate, belonging to neither party, I feel I can offer suggestions to the G.O.P. in the hopes that they revitalize their image and regain their former credibility.
The first and arguably most important suggestion would be to shift away from faith-based politics. It is difficult to fathom how the party which lionizes Ronald Reagan, who increased military spending and curtailed many social welfare programs, can still consider itself consistent with the teachings of Jesus Christ. I must have been asleep for the 12 years of Catholic school I attended because I thought that Jesus preached about pacifism, charity and tolerance.
In fact, Jesus is downright un-American when you look at his politics. Would he support an economy that separates people by wealth and thrives on consumerism? Would he allow us to fulfill our Constitutional right to question, criticize, or even denounce him or his father? The tenets of Christ and the realities of our American way of life are not always completely compatible.
I am not denouncing Christians or religion in general, but this nation’s laws allow people to follow any ethical or religious code they desire, as long as their behavior is held to a minimum standard. If you find some practices or beliefs disdainful or wrong, don’t engage in them. I can support someone’s right to engage in some activity without partaking of the same activity.
If there is a shift away from faith-based politics, the door to new membership and possibilities is blown open. At their present position, as David Brooks wrote in his March 9 article for The New York Times,“the G.O.P. leadership have adopted a posture that allows the Democrats to make all the proposals while all the Republicans can say is ‘no’.”
There are homosexuals, immigrants, Muslims and even Democrats who would gladly follow the Republican Party platform of strong defense, economic growth and even traditional values if the Republicans did not ostracize them for how they were born, where they were born or what they choose to believe spiritually.
By including these groups, the G.O.P. have shed it’s image as the party of old white men, significantly reducing a chief advantage the Democrats have as the party of diversity. Bobby Jindal, Michael Steele and Sarah Palin fail to present a more diverse Republican Party because they all share the same radical, religious ideology. If the goal is to gain the majority of voters, then the party will have to be willing to anger the radicals to gain more moderates.
In times of economic turmoil, the culture war is a luxury Republicans can ill afford. By supporting policy changes that would allow for potentially lucrative industries to flourish, the Republicans can reclaim their image as economic masters. The legalization of marijuana and prostitution, along with the needed regulation of each industry, would be instrumental in creating jobs and could drastically improve the economy.
In addition, the recent violence along the Mexican border, as well as crime throughout the United States, could be significantly reduced.
Jeffrey A. Miron, a senior lecturer in economics at Harvard, wrote on CNN.com, “Prohibition creates violence because it drives the drug market underground. This means buyers and sellers cannot resolve their disputes with lawsuits, arbitration or advertising, so they resort to violence instead.”
Miron also wrote, “Violence is routine when prostitution is banned but not when it’s permitted. Violence results from policies that create black markets, not from the characteristics of the good or activity in question.”
The Republican Party is faced with a critical decision; it can either continue social crusade for the advancement of it’s evangelical minority, or it can adapt to the changing times. Just as America has adapted to new ideas and practices, so too must the Republicans if they wish to influence the near future.
