THE MORNING CALL: SEN. ARLEN SPECTER’S SWITCH
Charles Snelling writes about the future of the Republican Party in the wake of Sen. Arlen Specter’s switch to the Democratic Party this week. He argues that Specter’s switch represents a loss to the Republican Party not just because their ability to balance Democratic policy initiatives has weakened, but that, more importantly, Specter helped the Republican Party keep a share of moderate voters.
The right wing of our party rejoices that Specter is gone. What they don’t seem to realize is that they are pushing the Republican Party into permanent minority status. I’m a big tent Republican. I’m an economic conservative and a social moderate. But I know that to make the Republican Party successful, I have to welcome people who are more moderate than I and people who are more conservative than I. I know that I have to find common ground with people who want to be Republicans, sharing our love of certain basic principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, while overlooking differences of opinion on matters like choice and lifestyles. The hallmark of political failure is political extremism, which alienates the middle ground.
He notes that the governor of Vermont, a Republican, was able to keep his position more than any other Republican in that state because of his moderate stance.
Question to the Blogosphere: Do you think that conservatism is dying in the United States? What is the future of the Republican Party? There are many groups within the country who feel alienated by the Republican Party’s proported social positions who would otherwise be members of the Republican Party for their economic positions–how is the Republican Party working to address these people’s concerns? What needs to happen for the Republican Party to rebuild itself? Recently John McCain’s daughter has been an active voice as a young, moderate Republican–do you think she and other young Republicans like her can bridge the gap and strengthen the two-party system in the US again? Is this an opportunity for the Republican party to reinvent itself or do you think their vulnerability will cause them to have even more extreme positions as a reaction to their vulnerability? What is the future of Conservatism?
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As a socially moderate, fiscally conservative Republican I am more than happy to answer this question. The GOP’s future is currently bleak if we continue on this path of marginalizing the large moderate base of Republicans by continuing to focus on divisive social issues. Discussion about adhering to the GOP platform which is packed with extreme ‘moral’ policy is driving voters away. I am a loyal Republican who frankly is hanging on by a thread. I belong to groups like the Republican Majority for Choice and the Real Republican Majority because they are working to restore the Party’s big tent philosophy. We have to drop the “abortion litmus test” for our candidates; we must accept social moderates and conservatives; and we must make sure that all types of Republicans have an equal voice in this Party. If the GOP is unable to do this and continues to pander into the hands of social extremists who don’t value the fiscal conservatives such as myself, we will never regain the majority status again and more Republicans will jump ship.