Why I hate Republicans

There have been various news stories and commentary lately about how the Republican party is in trouble, is in decline, faces extinction in this coming election, needs to re-brand itself, and so on and so forth. Now, I can't argue with several of those premises -- the Republican party is in trouble and does need a re-branding. But many people seem to think that because the party is in such dire straits that ideological conservatism is also in decline. This argument I have quarrel with.

It should be no secret that my first -- and, actually, only -- political loyalty lies with conservatism. The only reason I've associated with the Republican party during my political life is because I view it as -- at least currently -- the best vehicle to implement conservative policies. It is because of this that I've been so disappointed and, in some recent cases, disgusted with the current party leadership (I use the term loosely) and, indeed, the current administration.

Ever since the historic election in 1994 that brought Republicans out of the wilderness and into power, there has been a steady drift away from conservative principles that has left us with the hapless, rudderless party that we currently, uh, tolerate. The Republican party has drifted just far enough to the left to turn off the conservative base but not far enough to attract moderate/liberal voters, leaving it in a political no-man's land of unimpressed voters. Many seem to think that in order to re-brand the party, Republicans need to drift even farther to the left and monopolize the center. This solution would be disastrous and actually could be the death of the party.

Thus, I have my own solutions that I would like to offer the Republicans to make themselves politically relevant again, not that they're listening to me.

First and foremost, we need leaders who 1. believe in conservative principles and 2. can articulate them. We currently have neither. President Bush is conservative on certain issues, but he is not a conservative. And with the issues on which he is conservative, he can be maddeningly inarticulate in explaining them to the American people. Moreover, there is currently no strong conservative voice in congress for Republicans to rally behind.

This rudderless group of politicians in Congress has churned out some mind-blowingly awful policies, but it is not the fault of conservatism that said policies were so spectacularly terrible. To the contrary, it was the drift away from conservatism that led to such asininity as Medicare expansion, No Child Left Behind, the immigration bill, campaign finance reform, etc. Republicans would do well to return to their roots and reclaim conservative principles in order to restore faith in the Republican "brand."

Principles like smaller, more responsible government. Republicans have, as of late, appeared far too eager to accept the premise that the federal government has responsibilities not delineated in the Constitution. Despite accepting this premise, they somehow manage to appear as stingier and meaner than their Democrat counterparts. This is a losing proposition.

Republicans need to explain to the American people the differences between what is and is not the responsibility of the federal government, and they need to do so not in terms of taking things away from the people, but in terms of giving them more freedom -- and, in turn, more of their own money.

And for those things for which the federal government is responsible, Republicans should advocate them in a common sense manner. Remember last summer when Republicans were proposing sending every American family $100 to combat high gas prices? That was absolutely ridiculous. How about the famed Bridge to Nowhere? That was another gem. But it's sadly indicative of the terrible ideas coming out of the current Republican party. If they hope to retain any sort of credibility, they're going to have to do better than that.

Also, this may just be a personal preference, but can we get off the Jesus thing? We get it. Your faith informs your political philosophy. That's great. But there's a point where it becomes abrasive, off-putting and exclusionary -- I'm talking to you Mike Huckabee. I've got no problem, obviously, with religious people being politicians. In fact, I prefer it. However, faith, particularly Evangelical Christian faith, has become so entrenched and associated with the Republican party that it has almost become a caricature. I understand that abortion and other "values" issues are important, but when those issues get more attention than they should, we end up with candidates that are good on values but awful on everything else. Again, I'm talking to you Mike Huckabee.

While I'm on the subject of frustrating candidates, what's the deal with the corruption? Mark Foley, Randy Cunningham, David Vitter, Larry Craig, Tom DeLay, Ted Stevens, etc. Where do we find these people? Is it so much to ask that we find candidates that aren't corrupt or sexual deviants? Honestly.

I could go on and on about specific policies Republicans should adopt, but specific policies are not as important as conservative principles. Once those principles are adopted, the good policies will follow. We can't go wrong with smaller government, free markets, common sense domestic policy and trustworthy candidates. Sure, Republicans are in trouble right now, but it's not because of conservative philosophy. It is, in fact, due to the abandonment of conservative philosophy. Once they wise up and return to their roots, the media can start writing stories about how the Democrats are facing extinction.