While the Catholic Church Worldwide was busy in
As the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) convened in the nation’s Capital for its 40th Annual Confab, many observers noted a fairly active episode of trench warfare; nothing less than a battle for the soul of the Party. And who is the opponent of record? Believe it or not, the Republican National Committee (RNC) has staked itself out as the entity standing as the antithesis of CPAC.
In a freshly minted report commissioned by the RNC the narrative is framed such that it tears the CPAC/GOP-Tea Party a proverbial “new one.” One characterization in the LA Times asserts that the report “Reads like an anti-GOP critique from the “lame stream media.” The report maintains the GOP, as currently constituted is:
·
Too rigidly ideological
·
Too enthralled with greedy corporations
·
Too disconnected from nonwhite and young voters
·
In desperate need of new ideas
The
report was authored by a collection of folks straight out of the Bush faction of the Republican Party. Prominent
among them were Ari Fleischer, George W. Bush’s White House spokesman, Sally Bradshaw, a veteran advisor to former Florida
Governor Jeb Bush, and RNC
Committeeman Henry Barbour, nephew of Haley Barbour, the former Mississippi
Governor and RNC Chairman, who
worked on the Presidential campaign of Vice President George H. W. Bush in 1988. Completing the five-member group of authors are two additional RNC members, whose race and ethnicity make them atypical Republicans – Glenn McCall, an African
American from South Carolina, and
Zori Fonalledas, a Latina from Puerto Rico.
In
gathering input for the report, the 5-member
panel solicited input from 50,000
rank-and-file party members. Information
gathered from focus groups (composed of Republicans)
indicate that a great many Americans
perceive Republicans as:
·
Narrow-minded
·
Out of touch
·
Homophobic
·
Stuffy old white men
·
Interested only in the welfare of rich people
·
A turn-off to young voters
·
Disinterested in attracting minorities to the Party
In addition to these
findings, the report also suggests a number of philosophical adjustments that “true conservatives” view as anathema. For example, the report argues, “We have to blow the whistle at corporate
malfeasance and attack corporate welfare.
We should speak out when CEO’s receive tens of millions of dollars in
retirement packages but middle-class workers have not has a meaningful raise in
years.”
That rhetoric could easily be mistaken for a statement from the Democratic Party, oft described by
conservatives as “class warfare.”
It can be argued, however,
that an even more highly charged position taken by the report is the
endorsement of comprehensive immigration reform. In DC,
CPAC heard right-wing commentator Ann Coulter blasted the report,
insisting that immigration reform equates to amnesty, and amounts to political suicide for the GOP.
She claimed, “If amnesty goes
through, America becomes California
In its heated reaction, CPAC provided a vivid example of the
fevered, insular mindset that the RNC committee sees as a huge problem for
the party.
“The Republican Party needs to stop talking to itself,” the report
opines. The writers went on to say, “We have become expert in how to provide
ideological reinforcement to like-minded people, but devastatingly we have lost
the ability to be persuasive with, or welcoming to, those who do not agree with
us on every issue.”
Ironically, while the RNC is saying let us open the doors to
new people and new ideas, a litany of
CPAC speakers was composed almost
entirely of insular ideologues, gay-bashers, gun fetishists,
religious fundamentalists, birth
control foes, and devotees of wacky conspiracy theories. CPAC
headliners such as Sara Palin, Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, Allen West,
Donald Trump, and the National Rifle Association’s Wayne LaPierre do not represent a new
direction for the GOP. They represent exactly what the RNC is warning against; “CPAC: A Trip Back to the Future.” Have no doubt; there is a battle afoot for
the soul of the GOP.
I’m done; holla back!
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