The ship that is the Republican Party is adrift at sea seeking a lighthouse to lead it to port. The party hold on the Senate is not certain and their tiny majority in the House of Representatives is even more precarious. The chances of winning the presidency are by no means certain and the loss of both houses of Congress is plausible. The two remaining lights in the Republican nomination process are George W. Bush and John McCain.
Close-up the two seem very different on policy issues. Bush's priority is tax cuts, while McCain's is deficit reduction. McCain's most radical position favors a campaign finance reform which is in reality is the rationing of political speech supported by Democrats. Bush stands in the Republican tradition of full disclosure of political contributions.
Nonetheless, the Republican Party is far out to sea and whatever their ideological differences, Bush's and McCain's lamps merge into a single light from this distance. Given the possibility of Al Gore or Bill Bradley the policy distinctions between McCain and Bush become much smaller.
Unfortunately for both George Bush and George W. Bush, fates have conspired such that the father and son must compete for the Republican nomination with members of what Noemie Emery has called the de facto Patriot Party. In Emery's political spectrum, the Patriot Party is not necessarily associated with Republicans or Democrats but with the notion that "America is not merely a country; it is also a cause." The Patriot Party believes that America is distinctive, with special responsibilities for individual opportunity at home and leadership in the world. Members of this party include Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan. John McCain leads the Republican wing of the Patriot Party.
Those who claim this mantle are usually charismatic, but charisma is not sufficient. Patriot Party members are marked by courage, purpose, flair, self-confidence, and a spirit of dedication to something larger than their personal fortunes, though they can be short-tempered.
Reagan would frustrate Democrats who continued to whine that the people would support Reagan despite disagreeing with him on particular issues. What they failed to realize was that people were voting for a leader not for a set of political positions. After a decade of reduced expectations, hostage taking, and oil embargoes in the 1970s, Reagan asserted that America's best days were not over and that America could be prosperous at home while defending freedom abroad.
Issue-for-issue, George Bush is more Conservative and more in sync with Republican voters than McCain, though McCain is no Liberal. However, choosing a president or a presidential candidate is not marking off a checklist of positions. Leadership and the ability to call people to a higher purpose are also important.
Go To Page: 1 2
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Frank Monaldo's Conservative Politics topic, please visit the Discussions page.