Following the election the cliché phrase rolling off of the tongue of virtually every anchor and pundit was “soul searching”. Everyone says the Republican Party is doing a lot of soul searching to find exactly where the fall in the changing demographic of the United States of America. It’s very possible a civil war is brewing in the GOP and whoever wins of two voices within the right with decide if the Republican Party can remain a national party.
Basically we have the more rational moderates of the Republican Party who realize their outdated ideology on social and fiscal issues is losing them votes rather than gaining them. Then we have the radical right that have been in charge in the most recent years, obstructing all compromise and sabotaging the party completely when it comes to appealing to any group besides male whites.
There have been some reasonable conservative voices to rise out of the post-election fray. One example would be Republican Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal who responded to the leaked conference call where former presidential candidate Mitt Romney said essentially that President Obama won reelection by bribing his base with great “financial gifts”. Governor Jindal came out not only disavowing the statements of his party’s failed candidate, but when as far to say that the Republican Party needs to stop being the party of “stupid”, in reference to the bizarre and off-putting beliefs that lead to so many Democratic victories during the election because the Republican option didn’t seem like an option at all.
On the other side of the argument there are the “true believers” of the right, who believe nothing is wrong with the party and nothing has to change. They believe the loss of the election is entirely due to the American People being lied to about the Republican Party, and/or that a “traditional” America is slipping away. These are the people that made the big decisions during the recent years in the GOP, and if that doesn’t change the Republican Party will no longer be competitive in the increasingly minority majority USA.
It’s tough to say if the radical right won’t simply retain their strangle hold on the Republican Party or if sensible moderates will be able to reclaim the GOP and not have their tickets doomed for failure because of restrictions of belief put in place by the powerful fringe of the party. What I would hope for is that the same moderate Republicans who thought the dangerous fringe of the party was an energizing force that helped them win the 2010 Elections will realize it is the far right of the party that could potential lead to their doom in the long run.
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