When in doubt, turn right...

 

Conservatives in the United States are still smarting after Barack Obama's victory earlier this month. Now the conventional wisdom among Republican political strategists is that the GOP got off track. A right-wing narrative is already taking shape: The problem with the Republican Party, they insist, is that it's not conservative enough. By nominating the "maverick" Arizona Senator John McCain (who, let's face it, was not much of a maverick in this last election, despite some noble shows of political independence earlier in his career), the Republican Party veered too far away from its conservative roots. 

Moreover, these "true conservatives" claim President George W. Bush betrayed a number of Republican principles with his reckless Neoconservative policies, both at home and abroad. (Note: For the record, I'm still not convinced the Right has abandoned Dubya for good -- I'll bet a hundred bucks they try to salvage his damaged reputation sometime in the not-too-distant future...).

The far right wing of the Republican Party is on the warpath. The zealots showed their true colors when they pretty much disowned (after viciously attacking) more reasonable conservatives such as Kathleen Parker and Christopher Buckley -- thoughtful pundits who had the temerity to raise doubts about the McCain/Palin Campaign and the nastiness of the extreme right. (The message from the far right has been simple: Thoughtful, moderate conservatives can't attack McCain; only we can attack him -- for not being right-wing enough...) 

Parker's recent insistence that the GOP is being dragged down by religious radicals has unleashed a wave of wrath even more intense and than when she questioned the wisdom of McCain picking Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate. 

As Parker has noted in interviews, she has received thousands and thousands of vicious emails. Clearly, the far right does not tolerate dissent within its ranks very well. A number of thoughtful conservatives, in fact, have been very troubled by the rhetoric and style of the more extremist elements of the GOP.

There is already a battle shaping up in the GOP between the those who want to steer it even further to the Right and those who want to aim more for the center and tone down the angry, abrasive and confrontational style of the Far Right. 

Don't expect a resolution to this conflict anytime soon. The difference between liberals and conservatives is that when liberals are in doubt, they move to the center; when conservatives are in doubt, they often go right -- far right. And while the political pragmatist might likely say, "After this last election, the GOP should jettison some of its extreme right-wing baggage," anyone with a knowledge of American history could counter by saying, "The mood of the country will shift again and the far right will once again have its day. Give it time." 

(Illustration: Jack Davis, "The GOP Elephant")

Comments

[Adam B]

I'd Cover the bet about dubya