Demint and the Debunked Ideas of the Republican Party

Since 2004, Republicans have gone from 55 Senate seats to at a maximum 43 seats, and from a 29-seat edge in the House to a 30 seat deficit. And in case you were hiding in a cave for the last two weeks the Democrats also won the White House. For four years the Republicans had control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency, and in those four years the Republicans mismanaged two wars, grew the size of government, increased the deficit, let lobbyist and special interest write legislation that benefited only those special interest, gave tax cuts to the wealthiest 1% of Americans, gave away civil rights, sanctioned torture, ignored habeas corpus, and set a tone of conflict, a tone of with us or against us, a tone of righteous or evil, which permeated the entire culture and pit neighbor against neighbor, brother against sister, and husband against wife. The media played into this conflict, shocking I know, I mean who would of thought that the media would cover and exacerbate conflict, absurd. But then political tides started to turn, Obama's message of the "United States of America" started to gain traction, and the American people remembered that they preferred to love thy neighbor.

What I don't understand is what were the Republicans thinking. Sure it was American citizens who elected them, but as the deficit grew, and wealth gap widened, and America continued to loose global prestige, did these elected officials really think their constituencies wouldn't notice the harm that was being done both here at home as well as abroad. It's as if the Republicans thought that their constituencies wouldn't care, or perhaps they assumed their constituencies where too dumb to notice. Well the verdict is out, and the American people aren't stupid, (at least the majority), and they do care. As my mother always said to me growing up, "make a mistake and learn from it." The Republicans have made more then a few mistakes, but the lessons that these individuals are taking away from back to back pummelings at the polls seem to vary greatly. Some younger, and ironically wiser, Republicans are calling for a reshaping of the Republican party, while older, status quo Republicans still long for the divisive and short sited policies of the past.

One of those leading the charge for the old guard is the Republican Senator from South Carolina Jim Demint. On Friday, November 14th, Demint criticized John McCain and laid out what he felt the priorities for the Republican party should be. He said in his criticism, "McCain, who is proponent of campaign finance reform that weakened party organizations and basically put George Soros in the driver's seat," DeMint said. "His proposal for amnesty for illegals. His support of global warming, cap-and-trade programs that will put another burden on our economy. And of course, his embrace of the bailout right before the election was probably the nail in our coffin this last election. And he has been an opponent of drilling in ANWR, at a time when energy is so important. It really didn't fit the label, but he was our package."

Is Demint serious, I mean I know that South Carolina is a solidly red state, but there has to be at least a few individuals pondering a primary challenge after these remarks. Let's go point by point. First, campaign finance reform has limited the huge sums of money that corporations and special interest executives can give to candidates. In other words, these reforms have made elected officials more accountable to the voters and less accountable to special interest. But Demint still longs for the days when lobbyist could pay for a "business" vacation and pad his campaign war chest. Second, their is McCain/Bush's proposal to allow some illegal citizens a path to citizenship while allowing others to gain temporary work permits. This was never amnesty, and it's a sham to continue calling it amnesty. Furthermore, if illegal immigrants were allowed to work legally here, and had to pay social security, their contribution would essentially cover the baby boomer's retirement. Third, global warming and cap-and-trade program putting a further burden on our economy...what a load of horse dung. What the American economy cannot afford to do is to stay dependent on hydrocarbons to supple our energy needs. Hydrocarbons are finite resources, and as they run out they become more expensive, (remember $4 gasoline this summer), and as energy becomes more expensive the price of everything rises. Remaining dependent on hydrocarbons will create unpredictable markets, as opposed to sustainable energy which will yield predictable markets, (not to mention creating millions of badly needed jobs). Moreover, if America wants to keep any shred of its sovereignty we cannot remain dependent on foreign energy sources. Oh yeah, and global warming is causing the climate to change, which will make parts of the world uninhabitable, lead to disease and famine, create millions if not billions of refugees, basically leading to the apocalypse. But why should Demint care, he will likely be dead before everyone under 40 has to deal with the catastrophic consequences of his ignorance. Fourth, the bailout, conservative and liberal economist agreed that action had to be taken, sure the American people were pissed, and they have every right to be, but inaction would have led to much graver circumstances then we are currently facing, McCain is at least literate enough to read writing on the wall when he sees it, even if he thought the "fundamentals of our economy were strong." And finally, drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. There are million of acres available for hydrocarbon exploration in the lower 48, but yes, lets give into the Oil lobby and drill baby drill. Who needs wildlife, who cares about clean water, and what's the big fuss about pollution, clean air is overrated.

In short, Demint seems to represent all of the debunked ideas of the Republican party. He has made it clear that he is in the hands of special interest and plans on staying there. What the Republican party cannot do is follow the outdated ways of Demint. America has plainly spoken out against special interest, firmly believes that action needs to be taken to address global warming, and does not believe the Republican party has their interest at heart.

Other, more sensible Republicans are offering a different approach rather then the status quo. Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said at a RGA news conference, "We as Republicans can’t shy away from speaking the word 'environment,' and we shouldn’t shy away from speaking the words 'climate change,'" Huntsman told reporters. "When you’ve got a body of science that already is rendering certain judgments about what is happening in our world, for us to shy away, say it doesn’t matter as an issue, I think is foolhardy, it’s shortsighted and it’s bound to do us damage in the longer term."

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty rightly commented on the shifting demographics in America and their attitude toward the Republican party when he said, “We cannot be a majority governing party when we essentially cannot compete in the northeast; we are losing our ability to compete in the Great Lakes states, we cannot compete on the West Coast. Similarly, we cannot compete and prevail as a majority governing party when we have a significant deficit as we do with woman, where we have a large deficit with Hispanics, where we have a large deficit with African-American voters, where we have a large deficit with people of modest incomes.”

Pawlenty and Huntsman, like McCain, can read the writing on the wall, and that writing is indicating that the Republican party cannot afford to follow the failed Demint ideas of the past, but instead has to adopt a new strategy that is more inclusive and addresses the issues of present as well as the future.