Column: Republicans relying too much on nostalgia
Published Sept. 28, 2007
So, U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, is trying to overturn his guilty plea. Perhaps he thinks that a successful reversal of his plea will not only save his political career, but will also change his sexuality. I'm not quite sure if this is the case, but Craig's actions are those of a deluded man, desperately trying to turn back the clock on his demise.
Nostalgia is a big part of the Republican platform and has been ever since Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign. Leading Republicans prattle on ceaselessly about traditional values, pining for a glorious, moral past that never really existed. While the GOP has failed to achieve its stated goal of forcing society back into the 19th century, it seems to have achieved this internally. Today's Republican party is nothing more than a collection of bitter, old, white men and their calcified ideas.
On almost every issue, the Republican Party has gone against what the general populace wants and against demographics. It is no secret that the Latino and Asian-American populations are gaining electoral clout in states such as Florida and California, respectively. Karl Rove, then the GOP's top strategist, realized this in 2004 and used a series of (politically) brilliant direct-mailings to influence the Hispanic population of Florida to vote for George Bush.
Despite Rove's appreciation of the importance of minority voters, the Republican Party gave in to a wave of xenophobia this summer, with many of its elected officials voting to kill the immigration bill. Not content with simply alienating illegal immigrants, the more reactionary Republicans, such as U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., went after those immigrants who are here legally:
"It means, No. 1, cut from the past," he said. "If you come here as an immigrant, great. If you come here legally, welcome. It means you cut your ties with the past, familial and especially political ties with the country from which you came. We have to stop all legal immigration except for people coming into this country as family members, immediate family members and/or refugees."
If Tancredo had his way, then all immigrants, legal and illegal, would not even do so much as call family back home.
Although Tancredo has a more extreme example of the Republican stance on immigration, this sort of rhetoric, coupled with the bungling of Iraq, is losing the minority vote for the GOP.
If this weren't bad enough, hard-line Republicans recently tried to strike down expanded funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Regardless of your political leanings, any politico worth his salt will tell you that this is idiotic. Does the GOP really want to be seen as the party that denied little Timmy his polio medicine?
If Republican congressmen are trying to play the "fiscal conservative" card, then they've picked the wrong time and the wrong battle.
Perhaps they should have tried to be fiscally conservative instead of running up the national debt to record levels.
It seems as though the Republican Party can't stop falling into blunders and scandals, and this has hurt them severely: Independents and young voters are fleeing the party in vast numbers.
The Republican party is plagued by scandal and under-funding and has to face not only numerous open seats due to retirement, but also strong challenges from Democrats in formerly "red" states such as Virginia. The GOP is out of touch with the general public and out of touch with the America of tomorrow.
It has returned to its traditional values: representing its rich, white, corporate constituency and playing second fiddle to the emerging Democratic majority.
avtty5@mizzou.edu