by Thomas Craig

"The GOP is DEAD!"  We've heard it before.  It was said after Clinton was elected, after Watergate, etc.  This time seems to be different though.  The GOP is far from being dead and the notion that it is dead is merely the fabricated delusions of left-wing pundits.  What is fueling the left's excitement over this is the great divide between Republicans.  We all still consider ourselves Republicans; however, there are two schools of thought now; the old school and the new school.  The old school contains most of the fools who abused their power over the last eight years, acted more like Democrats than Republicans, and felt that it was more important to focus on "What Would Jesus Do?" instead of how we could get the Country back on track.  I'm not saying that moral issues don't have a place amongst our Party and anyone who is a Republican is someone who admires how the Republican principles encourage family and religion.  The problem I have is that when we want a Leader to commits themselves to religious issues, we go to Church or Temple.  We elect our politicians so that they can fight for our freedoms and opportunities.  I don't need to hear members of Congress tell me that their greatest concern is same-sex marriage when we have an Executive Branch with the powers of a King and a Congress who is so corrupt and ignorant of the Constitution that the Founding Fathers must be spinning in their graves.  The new school of Republicans are borderline Libertarians in reality.  We want less government, less spending, and more individual liberties.  We aren't complete Libertarians due to some key issues with foreign policy being the key difference.  The problem is that the old school is no different regardless of their claims of being so and the new school doesn't trust the old school.  The answer is a new Leader.  Michael Steele has tried to bridge the divide but unfortunately it is looking more and more like he has failed.  When the GOP nominates their candidate for President in 2012, it is that moment when we will see if the Party will be united again.  If the candidate is someone who is clearly from the old school (i.e.- Gingrich, Sanford, Palin, etc), the divide will grow and the GOP will surely lose the election.  The only possible exception to this might be Mitt Romney.  Romney is respected by all Republicans for his financial intelligence and we all recognize the need for that type of experience in these tough economic times.  There are great Leaders who are rising and I have no doubt that we will pull ourselves together once again.  This will take work and compromise within the Party.  The unification of the GOP is possible and very well likely, but it should never be taken as a certainty.

Leave a Reply