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Bringing Republicans Together

© Frank Monaldo

James Madison believed that a large expansive democracy was one safe from the tyranny of the majority. A large democracy is composed of a multiplicity of competing interests. Occasionally these groups ally themselves to produce a majority, but the divergence of interests makes the majorities amorphous and temporary. The larger the majority brought together, the more fragile it will likely be. Madison's vision of the difficulty in maintaining a permanent majority was prophetic.

For many years the Democratic Party was so large and diverse (it was the home of George Wallace and George McGovern) that it was unclear what it stood for. It was composed of so many competing and conflicting constituencies that its only remaining principle was to dispense government largess for whatever votes could be garnered.

Since Republicans, with President Bill Clinton's unwilling assistance, gained control of the House of Representatives, they have suffered the same political fractures that used to bedevil the Democrats. Democrats have clung together ignoring their differences, making the recapture of the House its priority. They realize that no Democratic priorities will receive attention until they regain the congressional leadership.

Republicans can be divided into three groups: the social conservatives, the country-club Republicans, and the economic libertarians. Though the groups overlap, the bulk of Republicans fall into one of these categories.

Of these groups, the country-club Republicans are the least ideologically driven. These Republicans come from the comfortable upper middle class and are primarily concerned with maintaining the status quo. They have managed to be successful within the current moderate welfare state and have no strong incentive to change. They are as concerned with the politically fashionable as with clothing fashions. These sheep will follow as long as it does not appear too declasse to do so. Invitations to the best parties will keep these Republicans in the fold.

The most ideologically committed of the Republican groups are the social conservatives. The social conservatives are concerned with enlisting the government in helping to maintain public virtue. For this group, abortion and to a lesser extent school prayer and school vouchers are the dominant issues. Given the moral imperative felt by this pro-life contingent, this group is the most uncompromising (or perhaps most principled). To some pro-lifers, an uncompromising anti-abortion position is more important than the election of a candidate with which they are otherwise sympathetic.

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