GOP 2.0
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Recommended listening: Today's first hour of Midmorning featured Jackie Calmes, chief political reporter for the Wall Street Journal. Her article on the Republican Party shifting its "brand" from the party of business appeared in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. She was joined by James Guth, professor of political science at Furman University.
The show picks up on the themes outlined by James Dobson a few days ago, suggesting conservative, evangelical Republicans may bolt from the Party and nominate another candidate, should Rudy Giuliani walk out of St. Paul next summer with a nomination.
Among the factoids I found worth chewing on is the assertion (for which I have no evidence that says it's wrong) that most independent voters lean Republican. Is this true in Minnesota? And, if so, how is it that the third party candidates, the convention wisdom suggests, keep drawing enough votes away from DFL candidates to get Republicans elected?
What remains undefined, at least to me, is the coverage of Dobson's remarks and its focus primarily on abortion. It seems to me that there is at least as much dissatisfaction in Republican circles with Republican candidates who are not "fiscally responsible," as there is dissatisfaction over abortion. And, beyond that, how to quantify the split? Are people bolting the party for a single issue -- and is it always the same issue? If it's not, how does that "bloc" coalesce into a single new party?
But the broader issue is a good one: standing by one's values even if there's absolutely no pragmatic political reason to do so. At least in this election cycle. A woman who called in the middle of the show to talk about why she's not a Republican anymore (i.e. immigration policy, lack of strong defense for the country, and fiscal mismanagement, she says) was enough to send chills down the party's spine, and highlights just how willing many Republicans are to destroy the party in the short term in order to save it.
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