What Color is the Sky in Your World, Huck?
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is a smart guy. I mean that. He had a fairly good record as governor of Arkansas.
But, that said, when it comes to the future of the GOP, he doesn’t know what he is talking about.
Recently he has stated that the Republican Party should not “moderate.” If they do, they will be as vital as the Whigs.
“Throw the social conservatives the pro-life, pro-family people overboard and the Republican party will be as irrelevant as the Whigs,” he said in reference to the American political party that largely disbanded in the mid 1800s.
I find it interesting that everytime someone talks about the party being more accepting of moderates, social conservatives start thinking that we are asking them to leave the party. No one is saying that. If they want to run social conservatives in areas that are socially conservative, then let them. But you can’t run a pro-life, anti-gay marriage, anti-stem cell research person in areas like the Northeast, Upper Midwest and the West. It just won’t work.
The following paragraph is a killer:
“They’ll basically be a party of gray-haired old men sitting around the country club puffing cigars, sipping brandy and wondering whatever happened to the country. That will be the end of the party.”
Funny, but the party is pretty much already looking like a bunch of grey haired men. They are just sitting in a church instead of in a country club.
I think more and more, others are starting to see that such a hard-line social conservatism isn’t going to fly anymore. Relying on it to the extent that we have has only damaged the party.
5 Responses to “What Color is the Sky in Your World, Huck?”
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“I think more and more, others are starting to see that such a hard-line social conservatism isn’t going to fly anymore.”
The problem with the GOP isn't social conservatism. 70% of blacks in California voted for traditional marriage.
A Pew research poll out last week showed that support for legal abortion was at a 15 year low and that only 46% of Americans supported legal abortion with 44% opposed and the rest undecided.
The problem with the GOP has been a lack of good communication, political corruption (which the Democrats have their share of as well), and fiscal liberalism.
No their real problem is that their free trade, free market, Cheap Labor policies have hoovered the wealth of America into the hands of a tiny percentage the population and have left the rest of us poorer than we were before they came to power with Reagan.
Dennis, I've got to imagine when you were in a kid, you sat in the back of the family car and kept saying, “Are we there yet?”
It's been less than 4 months into the Dem administration. 4 months into Clinton and everyone was thinking national healthcare was a foregone conclusion.
Look at it this way, in less than 4 months you've succeeded in getting the dialogue of the socons turned to your issue. Do you really expect them to also fall over and join the Log Cabin crowd the same day?
I agree with Mr. Schmidt, the communication must be found. America is largely a sucker for it. After all, who did they elect President……a guy who delivers a good speech, but otherwise his most notable legislative accomplishment is having voted “present” more than anybody else.
Reagan and Clinton were the only 2 termers in modern era. What sets them apart?….their ability to communicate seems to stand out.
Conversly, what doesn't stand out amongst the one-termers? Ford, Carter, Bush senior.
I think 3 ingredients are necessary to flip the other party out..
1. One or a few negatives that can really get stuck to the incumbent………Limbaugh et al are largely spinning the wheels at this point, but fear not, the Dems will provide something that gives that traction at some point. Negatives do work and you won't win without some acceptance of the necessary role this stuff has always played in moving the swing voter.
2. The recognition that come from behind strategies are necessarily forged out of change in plays, not more of the same…….yours is an essential role and you've already got Hucklebee at least acknowledging your presence……..that wasn't the case not too long ago.
3. A voice that communicates and resonates with the correct blend of one and two. Think of what might have happened if McCain could have kept on articulating the way he did in his nomination speech….and September 15th happened on December 15th.
If you rewind back a few years, the Dems needed exactly this same formula…….management of Iraq (not Iraq per se) gave then their number one (I hate to break it to you, Dennis, it was not conservative values). Howard Dean, while lacking the communication skill to provide a number 3 for the Dems, did do a fair to middlin job on effectuating the number 2……..and then, drumroll, the ability of Senator Hopenchange, to perform magic with teleprompted speeches.
There has not been enough time passed yet to astutely determine whether the Republicans need an articulate number 3 that will play off of number one more than number two or vice versa. Unfortunately, the way electoral majorities are fashioned nowadays, the out party needs some number one………I don't want to dissuade you from your role, but merely counsel you on the patience needed for all 3 keys to come together.
casualobserver,
Your argument completely ignores Bush Jr, a two termer who couldn't communicate his way out of a paper bag.