I read this on National Journal.com
Powell Says Shrinking GOP Should Return To The Center
Tuesday, May 5, 2009by Chris Strohm
The Republican Party is in big trouble and needs to find a way to move back to the middle of the country, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday.
* Isn't moving too close to the center, and left of center in terms of spending, what got the GOP in the mess in the first place?
Powell said the GOP is "getting smaller and smaller" and "that's not good for the nation." He also said he hopes that emerging GOP leaders, such as House Minority Whip Cantor, will not keep repeating mantras of the far right.
"The Republican Party is in deep trouble," Powell told corporate security executives at a conference in Washington sponsored by Fortify Software Inc. The party must realize that the country has changed, he said. "Americans do want to pay taxes for services," he said. "Americans are looking for more government in their life, not less."
*General Powell is a very intelligent man and I am sure he really believes the above statements. However, I take issue with the idea that people want more goverment. I think it is a matter of a lot of people saying to the GOP, "We gave you a chance and you screwed up. We are going to let the other side give it a try." I really feel that when those who want more government in their lives are going tochange their tune when it starts to impact them neagatively on a personal level. When proponents for "universal health care," or whatever they want to call it, have to wait an extended period of time for an operation or for chemotherapy, they will lament the lack of immediate treatment.
Powell, secretary of State during the first term of former President George W. Bush, made waves last year when he came out for the Democratic presidential candidate, then-Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois. Powell described the 2008 GOP candidate, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, as "a beloved friend" but said he told him last summer that the party had developed a reputation for being mean-spirited and driven more by social conservatism than the economic problems that Americans faced.
Powell also criticized other GOP leaders, for bowing too much to the right.
* The GOP mean-spirited? It is the other side of the aisle that says when, for example, you are against gay marriage, you are a homophobe. When you oppose affirmative action, you are a racist. When you believe that the freedom of speech comes with some limits, you are a fascist. The list goes on and on. I have a hard time buying that argument.
The bottom line in all of this is that if the GOP had stayed true to its core CONSERVATIVE principles of smaller national government and fiscal responsibility, it would not be in such dire straits right now. The problem is, they do not have anyone right now who is able and/or willing to become the leader in returning the GOP to its roots.
That is my two cents. What do you think?
to campbell, on your 12th birthday
5 months ago
Never considered myself partisan, but I guess you could say I'm a de facto Republican, because I've never thought the Democrat (for any office I've voted for) to be the better candidate. Of course, I have a fairly short career of voting.
ReplyDeleteBut I thought the whole point of parties was to have them actually stand for things. Not to follow the polls and mimic the "middle" 70% of the public opinion. If that's all Powell wants the party to do, I don't see what purpose it serves or why it would be "not good for the nation" if the party shrinks or dies altogether.
I, for one, think there is still a place for a party built on conservative values, and that the GOP could have leaders (see Ron Paul) that are true conservatives, if it ever chose to listen to them. I am really not sure how the Republican party so lost it's way.
As for the people of America wanting more government, I hope you are right, Chris, that they will quickly change their minds. I'm afraid they have learned "they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury," and therefore I see us on a slippery slope. But you and I know the largess comes with a yoke, and it's all a sham. All the more reason we need candidates and parties of principle and character, standing for the Constitution and not bending to every whim of the majority.
I agree with your statement, that if the party is no longer viable, it should be allowed to go the way of other parties, like the Whigs, and have a better, stronger, political party replace it.
ReplyDeleteI am afraid also that when the people who "vote themselves largess from the public treasury" wake up and notice the yoke is too much to bear, it will be too late. I hope they start to realize what is going on sooner so it can be stopped.
I am glad we agree that there is still a place for a party built on conservative values. I think that those conservative principles should form the foundation of the GOP if it is to remain viable.
The problem is who would the spokesman of the GOP be? Mitt Romney is a fiscal conservative with pro-choice views. John McCain is too old and too liberal for my tastes on some issues. I really like Sarah Palin but I don't know if the party big-wigs will go for her. I don't know enough about Bobby Jindal, but I like what I see so far. Ron Paul just rubs me the wrong way. I don't know why. He just does? So who is the left? I think that is the problem the GOP has to answer.
What do you think?