A little worry goes a long way. Why are so many people worried about the demised of the Republican Party? - I'm certainly not worried. Sure, the Republicans have had their share of losses in 2006 and 2008, but we've also seen this in the past as well. Each party seems to dominate for a few years, then that gets old, so the voters "switch" back to the other side. I don't think the GOP is facing a realistic risk of becoming a party unable to compete for the presidency - they just need a good candidate. And that clearly wasn't the case in 2008. John McCain wasn't exactly an "ideal Republican." Alot of people settled on him because he was the best there was, even though he wasn't the best. But you get the idea. I think alot about what happened in 2008 has to do with the media and how much they played up Obama to be the savior we all needed. They bashed Bush and the Republican Party and many voters fell into this trap. That doesn't mean the GOP is dying. We all know a majority of the country were sick and tired of Bush and just wanted "change." Obama promised that change so many people who may ordinarily would vote for a republican voted for Obama. Again, they were lured in by the mystique Obama brought. Again, we see that all the time. For long periods of time one party will "rule", then the other one takes over. Here is an article that discusses the fact that the GOP is not dying, rather they just need a little reform to gain a stronghold again. Some of the reforms the article talks about is how states need regain their rights. Yes, we are the UNITED STATES, but each state should have power of what goes on in their own region, as long as federal power remains supreme. Another interesting point this article brings up is that in order for the GOP to regain power, perhaps they should reconsider their stance on gay rights. As the article puts it, "They’re here, they can vote, so get over it." After all, aren't the Republicans all for allowing less government intrusion (yet they want a govt. ban on gay marriage?) in our daily lives? The overall point of this article is that the GOP needs to change their ways, and quick. The Democrats have a good change of staying in power unless some reform measures are taken. I do agree with this to some degree. The GOP shouldn't have to change it's entire platform, but perhaps they could change their ways in order to regain some support that's went over to the other side. As our text mentions, a strategic party should allocate resources where its efforts could make the difference between winning and losing. If the GOP changed their tune on gay rights, that's a part of the population that could be swung over.
Basically, I believe that the GOP could use some reform in order to gain a strong hold again, but they are not going anywhere. Who else would take over? With all the talk about the economic crisis, I think most people are a little more concerned about our economic health rather than the issues between the parties at the moment.
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I agree with a lot of the things you had to say throughout this post. It is so true that so many people voted based on the media and what they were portraying. It is so hard these days to get an unbiased opinion on so many issues these days that it is nearly impossible to vote based on knowledge. The media no doubt won the election for Obama, and because the Republican party did not have that star power candidate that the media can latch onto and promote they had a hard time with anyone who did not watch fox news. In order for the Republican party to be successful in the coming years it will be vital that they sit on the right side of issues in the future. With so many uncertainties in the future of the world it will be interesting to see how President Obama does, and with each of his failures will be a Republican to capitalize on them.
ReplyDeleteThere were certainly elements of the GOP that were less than enamored with the McCain nomination. His subsequent campaign was fairly bipolar, as he couldn't quite figure out who he needed to be on a daily basis. Clearly, he was not an ideal Republican candidate. But if the GOP needs significant policy reform, as most would agree, then the model of a traditional Republican candidate will be necessarily transformed.
ReplyDeleteIF you accept that the party needs to transform in order to become competitive; then what happens if this transormation never takes place? would this be a scenario in which the party becomes obsolete in presidential elections?
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