My high school teacher from years and years ago, a
Republican all his life, expressed his dismay at what has happened to his party
in an email to friends, and I have his permission to share it. Roger has
studied the American political scene for more than sixty years now, more than
25% of the lifetime of the Union itself.
His observations are truly first hand and astute....
The party wasn't
always like that. From 1861-1913 they lost to only one Democrat. Their major successful policies during that
period included, the winning of the Civil War, the ending of slavery, the
supremacy of the union, meaning the central federal government, the opening up
of western lands to pioneers, both domestic and immigrant (Homestead Act), the
opening up of the west by encouraging entrepreneurs to build the infrastructure
of the transcontinental railway, the land grants to states to establish free
state colleges (Morrill Act), the control of greedy capitalists who sought to
take at others expense (Trust Busting), they laid the ground and finally passed
the Suffrage Act of 1919 giving women the right to vote, they encouraged
Prohibition as a way to lessen the
effects of wife beating. (not all their
efforts succeeded). Almost all of these
measures, including the last two, were opposed
by the Democrats. This was a formula of beliefs which worked for
Republicans. Why has the party of today
strayed from these successful principles which spawned their own party?
These are questions
about their own party which they must answer. It was a party which combined
what was good for America with care and compassion with the people they ruled.
Why is it so different today? Part of it
is that their vision is blurred as they do not fully understand the origins
of their own party. Part of it is
because policies initiated in the late 1960's moved them away from their
roots. Pres. Nixon's "Southern
strategy" worked all too well. For 108 years the SOLID SOUTH held for the Democratic party. Since then the South has voted overwhelmingly
Republican. What an incredible reversal! It has transformed the Republican
party on racial and states' rights policies. It's earlier openness to the needs
of a diverse nation has become crabbed and resentful.
Given the ever
evolving aspect of America it will become more and more diverse ethnically. We
are a nation based on the concept that we are united as a democratic society,
not as a nation based on one ethnicity.
We are therefore not a carbon copy of how Europe views itself. Europe sees itself as countries of a single
cultural identity, in spite of their rather unsuccessful attempts to integrate
other cultures into their societies. To
illustrate, I ask: "when will England have a Pakistani ethnic become PM,
when will the French have an Algerian ethnic become their leader, and when will
Germany have a Turkish ethnic become their Chancellor? Don't hold your breath.
Unless and until
the Republican party...the party of my own proud heritage...realize who they
are and embraces in its heart ALL Americans, I foresee them becoming like the
old Whig party which shunned the issues of the day and allowed the great
Republican party to succeed it.
When Abraham
Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt can be found again in Republican circles, they
may once again become relevant today. Until that happens those great Republican
presidents are better reflected in the Democratic party.
