The problems that the Republican Party is having today began in 2008 when the party abandoned its traditional manifesto and leadership principles. What made them do this was their hatred of President Obama. Evidence of their hatred of the president and their desire to take him down by all means necessary was demonstrated when Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader then, said soon after the president was elected in 2008 that, “My priority is to make this president a one term president.” Rush Limbaugh then followed up with similar sentiments when he said, “I want this president to fail.”
Although the GOP’s relentless crusade to make President Obama a one term president did not materialize, it did not discourage them as their Machiavellian schemes continued into the president’s second term. If there was a consequence to their anti-Obama crusade it was that they neglected to perform their constitutional duties to make the country better for all Americans. Four words summarize the neglect and the unprincipled things that the GOP has done since 2008 – lack of good leadership.
It was the lack of good leadership in the GOP that allowed the radical Tea Party movement to find a home in the Republican Party. Because of their overzealous effort to take down President Obama, the Republican Party was willing to embrace any entity that hated the president. Consequently, they silently consented with anyone in their ranks who demonized, propagandized, and sought to delegitimize the president.
By allowing the Tea Party faction to hijack their party, the GOP in effect lost their ability to lead and control the Tea Party members like Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul. The consequence was that being radicalized by their Tea Party members, the GOP lost the ability to maintain their traditional conservative positions. They demonstrated this by shutting down the government, writing a letter to Iran Ayatollahs to sabotage the nuclear deal, conducting several unjustified investigations, threatening to impeach the president, and trying to derail the Affordable Health Care Act (ObamaCare) all because of their anti-Obama crusade.
The Tea Party is not the only entity that has taken advantage of the poor GOP leadership. Donald Trump the front-runner in the 2016 GOP presidential campaign has hijacked the Republican Party too. What this means is that he is running a campaign that has put them in an uncomfortable situation. The GOP leadership and the rest of the GOP presidential candidates seem to have no clue on how to deal with the bombastic and egotistic Donald Trump.
It is too late now for the GOP to do anything about Donald Trump. They should have marginalized him when he promoted the Birther Conspiracy theory against president Obama. Now that Trump holds the trump cards (no pun intended) he has threatened that if the GOP treats him unfairly he will run as an independent candidate. This would certainly be a disaster for the GOP as if he were to do so in the 2016 presidential election, he would siphon off Republican votes and make it easier for the Democrats to win the White House. If he fails to get his party’s nomination to contest the presidential election, he will in all likelihood run as an independent. He has tasted the fruits of glory and his ego is not going to deny him his presidential ambitions.
If the GOP has any lesson to learn from their failed leadership, it is that if you embark on a devious mission like the anti-Obama crusade you set yourself up for failure. Wrong deeds results in wrong outcomes and oftentimes the failure to achieve the desired results makes the target end up being stronger. Their failure to take down President Obama has strengthened him and his legacy.
Mel Shim is the author of Whom God Has Blessed, Let No Man Curse (Infinity Press, 2013) and A New Perspective on Race-related Problems in Corporate American Companies (Outlook Press, 2013). http://www.jermelshim.com