| The West Virginia Republican Party has some serious issues. In an election cycle when the GOP brand is turning toxic, they're struggling mightily.
They're faced with a difficult question: when the face of your party for 8 years is leaving office with a 29% approval rating, when there is a constant drip-drip-drip of scandals coming out of Washington, and when there is such a lackluster field of Republican Presidential candidates, where do you turn?
Which Republican party?
For years the Republican party has been an uneasy alliance of values voters and corporate business interests.
Alas, for Republicans, many in business are no long comfortable with this alliance. During George Bush's tenure as President he's eroded traditional Republican support among corporate and business leaders:
(1) They feel the Republican party has become too beholden to values voters. Too much emphasis has been placed on social issues that are of no interest to businesses or, in some cases, antagonistic to business interests.
(2) They feel the Republican party has ignored the issues that are important to business interests.
As the Wall Street Journal reported this week, the "GOP Is Losing Grip On Core Business Vote"
Some business leaders are drifting away from the party because of the war in Iraq, the growing federal debt and a conservative social agenda they don't share. In manufacturing sectors such as the auto industry, some Republicans want direct government help with soaring health-care costs, which Republicans in Washington have been reluctant to provide. And some business people want more government action on global warming, arguing that a bolder plan is not only inevitable, but could spur new industries.
A fundamental flaw of putting conservatives in charge of running the government is they are fundamentally incompetent at running government--they simply do not believe government is capable of providing good to people.
The West Virginia Response
Facing the internal schism between values voters and business interests, the West Virginia GOP has made its decision: it's going with business interests.
W.Va. GOP Chairman Doug McKinney
From the W.V. GOP website (emphasis in the original):
Much comment has been made in the press of my recent comments concerning the direction of the Party - some questioning but some very favorable. Thanks Wheeling Intelligencer and Charleston Daily Mail.
The focus of the 2008 election in West Virginia will be the economy and our Party will practice what we preach by streamlining our organization. More money for programs and less for personnel.
We're Republicans for a Reason - Strong National Security, Lower Taxes, Less Government Regulation and More Personal Responsibility. This will continue to be the focus of the WVGOP.
More from the Wheeling Intelligencer article.
State Republicans have talked enough about moral issues, and will "unleash capitalism" in 2008, said West Virginia Republican Party Chairman Douglas McKinney.
[snip]
"'Unleashing capitalism' will be our party platform next year," McKinney said. "Our philosophy will be, 'It's the economy, Stupid.'
"We've spent too much time in recent years on gun control and abortion. The Democrats are picking up on that now, and this will be something that separates us."
Nothing about traditional family values. Nothing about abortion, sanctity of marriage, or moral values. It's all "the economy" all the time.
The Price to Pay
Are evangelicals going to sit idly by and watch everything they've fought for going by the wayside? Are they going to let their political power slip away easily? Of course not. They're going to fight for the soul of the Republican party, even if it means losing an election.
Rev. James Dobson penned an op-ed in yesterday's New York Times summarizing a recent meeting of evangelical leaders. TMP Media summarizes the event and the op-ed:
Recently it was reported that around 50 pro-family leaders gathered behind closed doors to discuss what to do if a pro-choice politician -- read: Rudy -- won the GOP nomination. The reports were a bit vague as to what happened, suggesting that the group said they would "consider" nominating a third-party challenger.
Now, however, one of those leaders, Focus on the Family head James Dobson, has published an Op ed piece in The New York Times clarifying exactly what happened: The group voted almost unanimously not just to "consider" backing such a challenger, but to definitely do so. In other words, Dobson made it official, saying that if a pro-choicer wins the GOP nomination, these leaders will be going third party. Dobson wrote:
After two hours of deliberation, we voted on a resolution that can be summarized as follows: If neither of the two major political parties nominates an individual who pledges himself or herself to the sanctity of human life, we will join others in voting for a minor-party candidate. Those agreeing with the proposition were invited to stand. The result was almost unanimous.
That's pretty definitive. The group also discussed the possibility of creating a third party themselves, though there was no consensus on that question. Still, according to Dobson, they will almost unanimously endorse a third-party challenger. This could obviously have a major impact on the race by splitting the GOP vote.
Back in West Virginia
Here is West Virginia Doug McKinney claims: "Being Pro-Life and against gun control are innate parts of the Republican persona." That's odd, his most prominent candidate in 2008, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (WV-02), has been a member of the pro-choice caucus. How does he square that circle?
It's clear the West Virginia Republican party has made a choice between values voters and business interests. W.Va. GOP Chairman Doug McKinney has tossed evangelicals out the window. |
