Will the GOP Get the Message?

For a long time now I have been saying that the Republican Party seems to have a death wish in terms of do its best to cease being a viable national party. It seems with each passing day that the GOP party base is more controlled by far right extremists and religious fanatics, leaving less and less room for moderate - and in my view, rational - members of the Party. I, like many gay former Republicans, exited the party a number of years ago as gay bashing and infusing religion into the party platform began in earnest. This last national election all of my extended family members - many of whom were formerly Republicans - voted a Democrat ticket out of disgust for what has happened to the GOP. While Arlen Specter's change of parties to join the Democrats was most certainly motivated by some level of self interest, but what he had to say about what has happened to the GOP is all too true. The GOP is fast headed towards being a regional, religion based party. Thinking, rational people see it happening, yet the Kool-Aid drinking GOP base remain oblivious. Will Specter's departure wake them up? I doubt it. Here are some highlights from the Washington Post on Specter's change of parties:

*
How much more can the Republicans take? Demoralized, shrinking and seemingly lacking an agenda beyond the word "no," Republicans today saw their ranks further thinned with the stunning news that Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter is switching parties and will run for reelection in 2010 as a Democrat. Specter is worried about his own survival -- and particularly a primary challenge from the right. Many in the GOP might say good riddance.

*

But his defection is a reminder that the Republican Party continues to contract, especially outside the South, and that it appears increasingly less welcome to politicians and voters who do not consider themselves solidly conservative. Northeast Republicans have gone from an endangered species to a nearly extinct species. Republicans lost ground in the Rocky Mountains and the Midwest in the last two elections. That's no way to build a national party.

*

The Republicans have many demographic challenges as they plot their comeback. Obama has attracted strong support from young voters and Latinos -- two keys to the future for both parties and once part of the GOP's calculation for sustaining themselves in power. Suburban voters have moved toward the Democrats. Specter can see that problem acutely in the suburbs around his home in Philadelphia

*

Reihan Salam, co-author of "Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save America," said this week that the danger for Republicans is to believe they now represent a vast, silent majority that is waiting to reassert itself. A louder voice from a smaller cadre of supporters is not the answer, he warned. That will just prevent Republicans from, reassessing their old agenda, developing new ideas and once again learning to reach out broadly.