Posted on 12/07/2008 6:36:08 AM PST by MinnesotaLibertarian
Though none of the candidates openly admit it, the Mason-Dixon Line has emerged as a key fault line in the race for the Republican National Committee chairmanship.
As the GOP wrestles with criticism that it is in danger of becoming a regional party rooted in the South, rather than one with broad appeal across the nation, the contest for chairman is shaping up in no small part as a referendum on just how much Southern flavor the party should have at the top in the wake of a sound electoral defeat in every other region of the country.
Since no one wants to alienate Southern RNC members in a race for insider support, the public debate has largely centered on the need to compete more effectively across the map. But some candidates are more pointed than others in discussing the need to escape the party's increasingly Southern image when electing a new leader at the RNC's January meeting.
"There is a perception that we are a regional party and that we are a party from the South because that's the region we're consistently winning today," said Michigan Republican Party Chair Saul Anuzis, the first declared candidate for the GOP's top political job. "I do think we need to have our version of the 50-state program that [Democratic National Committee Chair Howard] Dean had."
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
There is a reason why the GOP brand is dying in those regions. They got away from the conservative ideas that still flourish in the southern states and started watering them down with liberal ideology.
If the GOP would start following the game plan of southern states to a tee, the party would begin to strengthen and find more success.
I wouldn't worry about the image of the Republican party being a "Southern" one. In fact, I would check and see if Chaffee is still looking for a job and would be interested, since the image projected by the current Republican party is definitely NE liberal socialism. In the event that Chaffee is gainfully employed or uninterested, there is probably some registered Democrat politician from New England who would be happy to head up the RNC.
How about Howard Dean? I think he’s available...
Once he's gone, we can start anew.
I’m not confused. The problem is exactly what you’ve said; the GOP has abandoned economic conservatism and focused too much on social conservatism, both of which have caused a backlash against the party in the North. There’s the Southern populist version of conservatism, and there’s there’s the old Yankee small-government conservatism. I expect in 2012 we will see those two wings fight it out with Huckabee and Romney as their standard bearers, respectively.
BRAVO!!! Its not merely a question of yankees versus rebels, however. Its a question of western leave-us-alone libertarianism versus the let's-convert-the-nation and world to our values crowd, to say nothing of the entrepreneurial/professional classes (the latter including engineers) versus the non-college educated/some college rural voters. It takes all types to build a winning coalition, and we just haven't been doing that since 1994.
You are absolutely correct on all counts. It’s much more about the ideas than the region, but there’s definitely a disproportionate association. Two give two very notable exceptions - Sarah Palin is a Northern hockey mom, but her style of politics is very similar to that of Southern populists. On the flip side, Fred Thompson is from Tennessee, but he’s definitely more in tune with the type of conservatism that can win in the North.
>Once he’s gone, we can start anew.<
Wait a minute. When a Party pushes a COMPASSIONATE conservative (with very small c) who has no idea what the Party stands for and then pushes a solid SOCIALIST as his replacement in our face, you aren’t talking about starting anew, you are talking about renaming what’s left of the Party. I suggest that they include the word RED in your new Party name because blue certainly doesn’t fit with the way your upper management is thinking.
The RNC nor the GOP will get a RED CENT out of me until they back off of this socialist way of thinking. I do not support the New World Order and I want our national sovereignty to become stronger each year not weaker!
I think whomever chose the colors for the parties was someone in the know. The Republican Party certainly is becoming redder and redder each year. I remember when red was another word for communist, now it means Republican!
What is it with the Republican Party? Why am I hearing should we pick a black or Hispanic or a southerner or a northerner? Why can we not just look at the persons skills and talents and accomplishments and choose the best person. I thought that was one of the founding principles of this Party. I tired of the dividing of this country and am waiting to hear a Republican who stands by the principles of the Party and calls for the end of choosing people based on their race or gender.
How about some Steele in the party’s spine.
A man who could win in a southern border state gone blue is a man who knows how to be conservative and also win while not losing ground to people who like to give in so they can call themselves moderate.
Quite true-what the author does not address is that McCain lost Virginia and North Carolina both southern states.
Yes, the sky is falling. I don’t see Ohio voting for any Republican in 2012 unless some serious work is done. The Mid West feels abandoned by the GOP...it’s the truth.
You live in the South. I used to believe just as you do when I lived in Georgia, but I’m in Ohio now, and it’s not true. The conservative message will not resonate here. You think a certain way. Your neighbors probably do also. You listen to Fox and post on Free Republic-thus enforcing the notion that others think like you do...if only the true conservative emerges. It’s not true. Such mistaken beliefs will lead to further election losses.
Without conservative values, there is nothing that differentiates it from the Democrats.
You need all three legs in some kind of balance (economic, social, national defense)
Is there any doubt whatsoever that Bush/Rove were not economic conservatives !?? Temporary tax cuts with no cuts in spending is BS. He's fraudulent on the economy and he overemphasized his social conservatism to compensate, managing to alienate most of the country and half his Party in the process.
Good riddance to bad actors
Perhaps you could explain what conservative values the modern Republican party believes in? They are not fiscally conservative and have run up huge deficits. They have enlarged government with huge new programs-no child left behind and prescription drug plan. When they were in power, they did not take on the abortion issue in any meaningful way. What do they stand for? As for voting with the Dems-milllions of American did just that which is why the Republicans lost. The GOP used to have different factions in various states. George Bush I campaigned in New Jersey. Not so long ago, Republicans were competitive in many states. Now they have most of the South (minus VA and NC) and some western states. This is it.
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