Global warming believers, “elitist” colleges and their professors, new energy proponents, West Coast liberals, East Coast liberals, Chicago “thugs”, greedy union members and their families, healthy eating promoters, pacifists, proponents of a healthcare mandate (a Conservative origination), progressive taxation advocates, gay rights activists, civil rights groups, welfare recipients, the liberal media, liberal Hollywood, mosque-goers, immigrant rights organizations, atheists and agnostics, Occupiers, pro-choicers. Am I missing anyone?
The list of the Right’s enemies seems to go on and on. After excluding all of these demographics, exactly how much of America is allowed to join what seems to be the most exclusive party in America?
It not is the case that every Republican is anti-gay, anti-science, racist, misogynistic, or condescending toward the poor. In fact, I tend to believe that most Republican voters, at least from my experience, are at their core Republicans due to their fiscally conservative values. They favor limited government, free enterprise, and low tax rates. The main issue in this general election was supposed to be the economy….right?
What is at issue, however, is the deafening silence emanating from the Republican Party when hateful, sometimes bigoted rhetoric and practices are undertaken by the many fringe cultural groups that the Republican establishment allies itself with.
We’ve seen it with the alliance of hateful groups like the National Organization of Marriage and “pro-marriage” amendments to state constitutions, the shameful ousting of Richard Grenell, an utter lack of condemnation of Rush Limbaugh’s misogynistic dribble, a relentless and sometimes violent war waged on Planned Parenthood, a complete disregard paid to Latinos and immigrants’ rights, and the demonization of groups like CAIR, ACORN, the NAACP, the ACLU, and the amorphous Occupy movement.
I can only attribute this silence to the wilting of the Republican brand over eight failed years under the Bush Administration and its astounding indifference to the looming perils threatening the United States that we have all now suffered from.
In disenfranchising so many fiscally-minded conservatives with massive unfunded wars, deficits, and mismanagement of the financial industry, partnerships had to be formed with otherwise fringe social groups to capture the thriving energy of social conservatives that had been lost by establishment, fiscal conservatives.
This type of exclusion is not a part of Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s character or legacy. A moderate at-heart, his discomfort in trying to identify with the now-majority Republican base and laughable flip-flopping and wordsmithing on issues related to contraception coverage, health care mandates, and abortion rights is blatant to most, and apparent to all.
Make no mistake about it, Mitt Romney is an otherwise ideal establishment candidate; he is an entrepreneur at heart with proven credentials in the private sector, a successful and popular former governor, a loving family man, and a pragmatic problem solver whose primary visage is oriented toward fiscal responsibility and lower tax rates.
However, the Republican establishment is pragmatic itself and is keenly aware of the tight corner it has painted itself into with its recent approach toward divisive rhetoric, policies, and alliances. They acknowledge that the vast majority of the Republican base’s energy is now derived from hot-button social issues like gay rights, immigration, Islam, and abortion, and now know that without doubling down on a cultural strategy to inflame the passions of its base they will not be able to declare victory over a largely populist incumbent president. This is why you have seen such a bitter taste in the mouths of Republicans when they utter the name “Mitt Romney.”
Divisiveness is, and always will be, a losing tactic. The Democratic Party learned this after the civil rights movement in the 1960’s, but Republicans have increasingly doubled down on it. America is a nation of perpetual change, change routed in inclusivity, equality, and acceptance of all walks of life. This November may finally awaken to Republicans of their failed strategy of divide and conquer.