Wrong Already
Thursday, October 30, 2008 at 07:32PM Michael Steele, a rising star in the party and one of its most prominent African Americans, admitted it "will get hammered" next week in Congressional races.
Mr Steele may be correct on the immediate prospects of the Republican Party, but he's dead wrong on how they can bring about their resurrection.
"We could very well be looking at a situation where we don't get it back by 2016 or even 2020," said Mr Steele. "So we could be looking at 12 years out like the Tories."
"They went through a long dark winter of reassessment and realignment, but now David Cameron has got himself in a position where he looks like he is going to be the next prime minister."
Point of order here old son, David Cameron has done nothing of the sort. David Cameron looks like he is going to be the next Prime Minister because the lies, mendacity, corruption and incompetence of the Labour government has caught up with them.
He praised the Tory leader, whom he met 18 months ago, for combining toughness and a "delicate touch" and having the wisdom to listen to "the people of England and understand what is required" at a particular moment in the party's history.
"I have marvelled how the Tory leadership has been able to do that," he continued. "That is the model for the Republican Party to regenerate ourselves and move forward."
No, no, no. Let's be clear. Not only have we lived through the most damaging government in British history, we've also witnessed possibly the saddest, most inneffective opposition to any regime. Now, there was nothing the Tories could do in May 1997 to prevent a Labour victory. They had been in government for 18 years, they were long-lived and the rotten Major government had made their re-election unthinkable. It was clear then then they were out of office for at least two terms.
However, they still ought to have opposed vigorously, however hopeless that would have seemed at the time. Instead, the Tories embarked on a programme of self-flagellation, apologising for their existence, accusing themselves of being the nasty party and jettisoning any last shred of conservatism with the putsch against Ian Duncan-Smith.
In the meantime the Blair Terror went on unopposed in both Parliament and the media. The Tory response was to ape New Labour; elect a young, principle-free leader and drop any pretence of seriousness. For Dave's New Tories the environment was in, the question of whether Britons or a foreign state make our laws was verboten. The Tories, always and forever the stupid party, actually believe that this recipe has made them popular, and it's a thought which seems to have infected Michael Steele.
The Tories are not popular. They lead Labour in the polls only because the Labour government is at a natural end, as the Tories were in 1997.
But this is the important point, if the Tories had opposed New Labour with principle and ferocity - on New Labour's gross tax and spend policies, on the unbelievable debt Gordon Brown was always putting on us, against the assault on our liberties, the destruction of our pensions, on the great EU deception and on the many other ways that Labour has governed abysmally - the Tories would now stand a solid and unbreachable 25 points clear of Labour instead of a mere 10 (and wavering).
If the Democrats take the White House next week, and if President Obama avoids tipping over the apple cart, the Republicans may very well be in the wild for as long as Michael Steele predicts and there won't be a thing the Republicans can do about it.
In the end time did for the Labour Party. We're sick of them as we were sick of the Tories in 1997. Instead of tearing their hair out for the next 8 years the Republicans would be well advised instead to retreat to core principles - small government, low taxes and individual liberty (anyone remember those?) - and wait it out, let time and familiarity do for the Democrats whilst opposing decently and strongly. However well Obama does, one day the American people will be sick of him and the Democrats. If the people look for the credible alternative and see instead a bunch of sad losers without principles, they'll blow their next chance of victory.
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Reader Comments (10)
Good argument Pete
Any party should always be passionate and proud to promote it's instinctive policy beliefs, even through hard times and seek to convince rather than scratch around half heartedly aping what appears to be popular sentiment of the day.
I might have voted for Mr. Steele. He's a wonder of conservatism.
I really like Michael Steele.
Regarding waiting out the Democrats -- it's fine to retreat to core principles like small government, but I don't think that it will be easy to shrink government once expanded under Obama.
And certainly if Obama appoints - and is able to confirm under a Democrat-controlled Congress - activist, leftist judges, the fabric of the country will continue to change - veering left - long after Obama is gone.
Patty -
But there's nothing the Republicans can do about that if the Democrats control all branches.
The worst thing to do then is copy the Tories from May 1997 - navel gaze, infight, apologise for who they are, get out the hairshirts, ditch conservative principles and not oppose the government in any way because that might look bad.
It may be that from Wednesday the Democrats have it. What the Republicans have to do then is be grown up, accept it and ensure that the next time you go to the polls you have a decent, principled and consistent alternative.
Colm says -
... seek to convince rather than scratch around half heartedly aping what appears to be popular sentiment of the day
That's the Tories and that's why Labour is still not out of the game for the next election here.
Frankly I'd vote for Michael Steele if I was a Republican, and that's without even listening to him. He looks civilised and normal and - to me at least - McCain is looking ... quite odd now.
Pete: "not oppose the government in any way because that might look bad."
I totally agree.
Steele is a Conservative Republican. McCain IS odd. IMO, he is an annoying maverick! :( For all intents and purposes, McCain is a Moderate Democrat (old-school). He supports strong defense and he has an abiding belief in big government solutions.
That he is running as a Republican really indicates that America has made a lurch to the left. (although there is a strong grass roots movement - especially with high school students that I know- towards libertarianism.)
btw, where/how did you discover Michael Steele?
Patty -
I've heard of Steele (can't remember how or why) but the story was in the Daily Telegraph here - the link is the bold sentence under the title.
Looking again, it doesn't stand out much like that.
Patty
McCain is a centrist, from an old school of Republicans ( Rockefeller or other northeast types ) that is now an endangered species.
I think that the turn against Republicans has little to do with ideology. A lot of it has to do with competence. There hasn't been a lot of it around over the past eight years. And when the Republicans controlled the House/Senate/Presidency, the crooks ran free and the party that is supposed to stand for discipline went wild with earmarks and bridges to nowhere.
I think that the Democratic politicians are a worse lot of gangsters, but they've hid it to some extent, and they're not the party led by a President who cannot articulate his way out of a paper bag.
The wicked may inherit the earth, and I blame the Republicans for making a horrid lot look good by comparison.
One important advantage that US parties in opposition have compared to British ones is that even if they don't control the national government they still have power bases in various states from which they can demonstrate a competence to govern. So I don't think the Republicans will have to wait so long before becoming credible again as the Tories did.
In fact being out of power will mean that the most public face of Republicans in power becomes the highly competent governors of California, Florida, Texas and various smaller states.
Having said all that there are lessons that can be learned from David Cameron, such as that you have to start talking and thinking about issues on which your party fares badly and not just comfort zone issues.
Ross
Are you in the US or in the UK?
Wherever you are, you make an interesting point.
Though Arnold is a virtual Democrat I think.
"Are you in the US or in the UK?"
The UK.