Will Red be Dead?

The Provocation: Fractured Republican Party Could Go the Way of the Whigs.

Steven Provost at The Provocation delivers a brilliant explanation of why the Reagan Coalition is endangering both the Republican Party and the political viability of anything to the right of the ideological centerline. You should read the whole post, but Provost unlocks the nugget here:

The Falwell faction that Reagan grafted into the party is no longer content to simply support the economic conservatives who welcomed them three decades ago. They want to lead, and they’ve settle for nothing less.

Exhibit A: The Tea Party, which began by emphasizing the common ground between the economic and social factions – a desire for lower taxes (TEA being a supposed acronym for “taxed enough already”).  Shortly after its emergence, it was co-opted by the fundamentalist Christian faction, led by people such as Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry. In essence, they sacrificed the common ground that had formed the very basis of the alliance on the altar of ideological purity.

Ideological purity has its place – the dinner table, the place of worship, and one’s personal behavior – but that place is not in mainstream American politics. It invites divisiveness, deadlock, and ossification, all while inhibiting progress on the challenging issues that face the nation.

The GOP has become a party of ideology. Time to fix that, and I suspect what will be a brutal wake-up call in November will give us the chance to do just that.

Related articles

• GOP identity crisis worsened Romney’s primary struggle (nbcpolitics.msnbc.msn.com)
• Today’s Must Read: Fractured Republican Party Could Go the Way of the Whigs (tribuneofthepeople.com)
• Ron Paul is trying to save GOP from themselves (rt.com)
• The Republican Party Becomes the Whig Party (gunnyg.wordpress.com)