As I have alluded to a number of times before, I used to be an active Republican. As did most of my family going back for many years. That ended, however, a number of years back as the GOP both in Virginia and nationally lurched from being a party of moderate conservatives believing in fiscal conservatism and small government to a party of theocracy that sought to inflict a poisonous version of Christianity on all citizens. Many of the moderates in the Party that I once called home likewise have walked away from the GOP since their views on "social issues" as the extremists in the GOP call them became too unacceptable to the Kool-Aid drinkers who increasingly came to make up the party base. As someone who strongly believes in the separation of church and state there came to be no place for me in the as someone who is gay, I was no longer even welcome by the wingnuts and was widely disparaged as people in the party came to know that I had "come out." The final nail in the coffin is the fact that every anti-gay measure in Virginia over the last decade has been championed by the Republicans. The trend of driving away moderates or those who are not anti-abortion and anti-gay continues to this day. The Lynchburg New & Advance - the home town paper of Jerry Falwell's Liberty University - has a surprising editorial that looks at this phenomenon and suggest that unless this situation changes, the GOP can expect more election defeats. Here are some highlights:*
For the fifth time in as many years, there is a new state chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia. . . . At just the point in time when state Republicans ought to be coalescing behind their presumptive gubernatorial nominee, former Attorney General Bob McDonnell, ahead of the November election, instead they’ve embarked on yet another battle in their ongoing civil war.
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At the heart of the divide in the Republican Party, both nationally and in Virginia, is the question of who is a true Republican. Is the party a big-tent party, welcoming people of divergent views on most topics but who fundamentally believe in small, efficient, unobtrusive government or is it a litmus-test party that strictly enforces ideological discipline? Guns, gay marriage, abortion … they’re all hot-button topics that invigorate a portion of the GOP base but turn off an increasingly large portion of the electorate.
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At one point in time not too long ago, the leaders of the party were people who believed that small, efficient government is better than large, bloated government; that taxes are necessary for government to provide citizens with the services for which it’s contractually obligated; that government should be loathe to interfere in the private lives of individuals; that government has a legitimate regulatory and oversight role in the economy.
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Today, far too many people who identify themselves as Republicans deride those who disagree with the party’s right as RINOs, “Republicans In Name Only.” . . . He’s just one in a long line of traditional conservatives who’ve run afoul of so-called “movement” conservatives, who believe it’s their way or the highway. And in the meantime, Republicans have taken drubbings in one election after another.
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Today, the Democrats have wised up and at least publicly don’t trash moderates. Republicans could learn a lesson or two from them, in that respect. When the Republicans will learn that lesson is anyone’s guess. If it’s not soon, then the bloodletting will only continue.
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Will the GOP learn this much needed lesson? I doubt it. The far right element within the party is utterly detached from the reality of a changing society. Anyone who doesn't support God, guns and gay bashing isn't likely to be welcome any time soon.
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