|
I ask this question because of the many articles I've seen from right wing pundits theorizing that repubs sold out their conservative values and their social conservative voters. These folks seem to be convinced that a) it was largely RINOs that were voted out in the recent election (despite the defeat of the like of Santorum, Allen, Hayworth and others) and b) the erroneous conventional wisdom on the right that the dems voted in were faux conservatives.
If the repubs move further to the right (is there any room left there?) they will lose more independent voters, presumably in exchange for more social conservatives. But are there enough social conservatives to make up the difference? I don't think so.
I've said it before: the republican party is in a shitload of trouble. They've painted themselves into the south at the expense of losing key areas of the midwest and southwest as well as the rustbelt. One sign of this is the paucity of credible repub nominees for pres in 2008.
So what will they do? If they inch toward the middle will conservatives simply drop the party? If they shift their focus from the social hot button issues and onto fiscal conservatism and small government will they be able to draw back enough of the so called reagan democrats? Will their determination to carry out a scorched earth policy in the Congress add to their woes?
The repub party's recent losses in the midterms should be a wakeup call to them. Will they get that the party is in a world of trouble outside the south, or will they continue on their merry divisive road to ruination- or at least marginalization.
Finally, is it possible that the word conservative will become the new liberal?
|