Republicanism in decline [Normally Mild-Mannered Tony Snow Hits GOP "Packed with Cowards]

Townhall.com ^ | Tony Snow

[governsleastgovernsbest]

By Tony Snow

Dec 3, 2005

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- When Democrats gibber about Republicans' writhing in a culture of corruption, they're on to something -- but not what they think. The Republican Party in Washington is in trouble not because it's overrun by crooks, but because it's packed with cowards -- and has degenerated into a caricature of the party that swept to power 11 years ago promising to take on the federal bureaucracy and liberate the creative genius of American society.

The collapse stems from the simplest and most natural of causes, the survival instinct. Within months of seizing power in 1995, Republicans began backing away from Big Ideas, from tort reform to the necessary overhaul of the Social Security system. They started consulting pollsters to assay "correct" issues and positions. They played it safe -- or so they thought.

Over time, imagination-grabbing ideas melted away. Gone was the Reaganite breadth of vision, and in its place stood the musty idol of Incumbency. Republicans drew the wrong morals from the decline and fall of Newt Gingrich. They thought his boldness got him in trouble, and chose to crib plays from the Bill Clinton playbook -- tacking left, at least oratorically, so as to appease, rather than confront, their critics.

Hence, George W. Bush's "compassionate conservatism" -- a slogan that exceeded skeptics' worst expectations. That phrase, aimed at reassuring suburban white moms and queasy left-wing Republicans, became a white flag on the core issue of government size and might. Bush insiders even began boasting about "big government" conservatism -- oblivious to the fact that big government does not conserve or preserve; it crushes and digests, devouring institutions that challenge its supremacy.

Leaders in the Party of Lincoln stopped talking about people, and started talking about programs and expenditures. They justified head-snapping shifts in policy by claiming the need to take issues "off the table." The multi-trillion dollar Medicare "reform" is a case in point. It was designed less to save a system than to deny Democrats a talking point. Yet, the only things Republicans really took off the table were their moral authority and the loyalty of their partisans.

This helps explain one of the great ironies of the age. We live in what ought to be an era of Republican triumphalism. The president's one reliable bit of domestic-policy conservatism, his tax-cut agenda, has succeeded brilliantly. The most recent Commerce Department figures peg the third quarter economic growth rate at a sizzling 4.3 percent -- despite the ravages of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the oil shocks that followed.

Republicans have won the battle over whether centralized bureaucracies can eradicate poverty, or perform social services more efficiently than private or volunteer operations. Throughout the country, the same patterns appear: Where elected officials govern with a light touch and without imposing onerous tax and regulatory burdens, prosperity flourishes -- and people flock to the scene. "progressive" states, on the other hand, are becoming empty husks, with more rigid class distinctions than in any other section of the country.

The GOP also wins big on values. Virtually every time the ACLU files a lawsuit, Democrats lose supporters. Despite these advantages, however, the GOP founders. Its Washington potentates simply refuse to embrace the party's ideals or successes (including the war). They have forgotten the most important rule of political survival: If you want to remain an incumbent for long, you don't jettison your principles. You act on them.

When House Speaker Denny Hastert broke arms to secure votes for a pork-packed highway bill, calling the legislation a "jobs bill," it was an embarrassment. When the president signed a campaign-finance bill he called unconstitutional, he seemed to lack not only conviction, but vision.

Fortunately, irate constituents roused some conservatives from their dogmatic slumbers. Young Republicans rebelled against the apostasy of their elders, especially in the matter of the federal budget, and state parties seized the initiative on everything from spending limitations to school choice.

Capitol Hill Republicans now admit their Democratic colleagues don't want peace -- they want the Alamo. So the GOP is fighting back. Hastert approved calling the bluff of anti-victory Democrats last week by demanding a floor vote on the idea of vamoosing Iraq immediately. He scored another triumph this week by restoring the good name of the National Christmas Tree.

Who knows, he may even figure out the Paradox of Incumbency. Politicians who run just to protect incumbency may save their seats, but only by destroying their party's heart and soul. If you really want to build lasting power in politics, you need to forget about mere incumbency -- and remember the principles that got you elected in the first place.

[rdb3]

I think a lot of this has to do with power, and a minority mentality that has been ingrained in the GOP for years.

Look at the Senate, for example. Fifty-five RATS is four more than they need when the Vice President is of the other party, and the RATS keep their members in fairly strict discipline. Not so for the GOP. With Snowe, Spector, Chafee, Collins, Dole, and sometimes McCain, 55 seats does not mean a majority when it comes down to the votes for the Republicans.

The House has been far more consistent, though sometimes disappointing, than the Senate. The Dems know how to exercise power because they had a lock on power for years and years.

Many GOP members of Congress fall for the MSM trap and the Beltway lifestyle, which more often than not is a distinction without a difference.

Every GOP member of Congress should face primaries, for they are going to need pressure placed upon them constantly. New Pubbie-elects will need pressure from a primary put on their heads, too, when they're up for re-election.

And I'll end with this: Yeah, nearly 100% is against pork-barrel spending and for small government, except when it comes down to their own districts. This is where the people come into play.

[Brilliant]

I am voting against all of the GOP incumbents in the primaries. I'll vote for the GOP nominee in the election.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Reading through the comments, I see avid, near-unanimous support for what Tony Snow wrote.

GOP LEADERS: THIS IS THE VOICE OF YOUR BASE SPEAKING. IGNORE IT AT YOUR PERIL.

[Peach]

I guess you weren't on the thread where a woman who has a husband in Iraq, is a strong Bush supporter, made a comment that her husband is seeing a decline in morale because the president isn't defending the lies on the left or the mission in Iraq.

I guess you weren't on a lot of threads where similar comments were made by those of us who thought there was no good reason for the president to remain silent in the face of unrelenting lies by leftists, and we were slammed for being critical of the president. It was enough to make a lot of us who think lettings lies stand to seep into the public consciousness isn't a good thing.

[TomGuy]

Why the shock and surprise?

Isn't the GOP motto: Pulling defeat out of the jaws of victory.

[pointsal]

Big Tent Boobs have got control of the machinery and purse strings.

[jos65]

Rock on Tony!!!!

I hope this Long overdue article has legs.

[sgtbono2002]

Tony has been reading my mind and my posts.

Republicans arent cowards , but unfortunately they have elected cowards. How can the people we elected forget why we elected them? Obviously they are reading Democrat polls.

No Republican wants to see their President called a liar, and we expect the people we elected to stand behind our man.Not slither away from drunks like Kennedy,Traitors like Kerry ,idiots like Pelosi, and senile old bastids like Murtha.

[zzen01]

Name names...

[ExTexasRedhead]

Hello, RNC and White House--let the truth be heard before it's too late!

[LivFREEordie]

ping - taking the liberty of suggesting a ping to your Tony Snow Show list. This is Tony at his BEST!!

[Mind-numbed Robot]

Just as I've said for years, even to my local Republican Party leaders: "For what does it profit a party to win the election but lose its soul?"

Here is the problem:

They started consulting pollsters to assay "correct" issues and positions. They played it safe -- or so they thought.

The political consultants know the tricks to getting elected and they want to round off any rough edges and eliminate as many objections as possible. They have no interest in philosophy or values, that is not their job. (Dick Morris is an excellent example.) Their job is to get their candidate elected.

It is the candidates job to direct the consultants rather than to give in and let them direct him. To get elected, they let the tail wag the dog, and it stays that way. It is human nature but it is not leadership..

[WhiteGuy]

Republicans who can't stomach conservative values or the stated goals of the Republican platform should get the hell out of the party.

Yes, well, I doubt that they will be leaving any time soon because they are ones who are in charge. It anything, they are running off the more conservative members.

Since they lack the moral decency to do that, they should be thrown out by leaders with the stomach to act in accord with Party goals.

Sorry, the "leaders," from the top down, have no intention of reducing the size and scope of government, they never have.

Unfortunately, we've been had.

[Spiff]

It is the candidates job to direct the consultants rather than to give in and let them direct him. To get elected, they let the tail wag the dog, and it stays that way. It is human nature but it is not leadership..

Exactly. You hit the nail on the head. The Republican candidates, campaigns, and party leaders should be using the pollsters and consultants to tell them how well their principled messages are working. Instead the use the pollsters and consultants to tell them how to vote, what to say, etc. It is, as you say, the tail wagging the dog.

[sure_fine]

I am sending his thoughts to every republican senator/rep I can find and email for, we should flood their offices with it

[beyond the sea]

Within months of seizing power in 1995, Republicans began backing away from Big Ideas, from tort reform to the necessary overhaul of the Social Security system. They started consulting pollsters to assay "correct" issues and positions. They played it safe -- or so they thought. ---- Over time, imagination-grabbing ideas melted away. Gone was the Reaganite breadth of vision, and in its place stood the musty idol of Incumbency.

It's all over. It's either balless wonders as Republicans in government or low-life socialist liars on the Democrat side.

No matter, they are all self-serving rats (on both sides), the majority of them deserving to be hung......... after the proper trial of course.

The Founding Fathers themselves, if alive, would love to string up these self-serving COWARDS in congress who, for example, are ignoring Able Danger, turning on the troops, and blushed like babies when CFR was passed. How about the abysmal eminent domain???

***

This country is near death. The politicians are nutless!!!

Please see it as it is!

It's time for some kind of a revolution!

[WorkingClassFilth]

The fat lady hasn't sung yet. Keep putting conservatives in the pipeline and we'll find one or two make the big leagues yet. There are several in Washington now, but they are being held back (Remember the class of '94?). The fact that our issues are on the front burner and the left on the extreme defense says a lot for time and effort. It ain't over yet...

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Great move.

[hinckley buzzard]

Capitol Hill Republicans now admit their Democratic colleagues don't want peace -- they want the Alamo. So the GOP is fighting back.

And it only took them ten years to figure this out. Not too bad...for gibbering idiots. Now if the Administration can figure it out too, this nation may have a shot at survival.