Peggy Noonan was the primary Speech Writer and Special Assistant to Ronald Reagan. She is a political conservative. She writes a regular opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal and several other periodicals.
This is from her recent article in the Wall Street Journal. She is writing about the GOP's recent loss of a House seat in Mississippi. The seat was in the South in a red district that voted heavily (62%) for George Bush in 2004. The loss was the 3rd consecutive stunning special election upset for the GOP. Many believe this will be a harbinger of things to come this fall.
'This was a real wakeup call for us,' someone named Robert M. Duncan, who is chairman of the Republican National Committee, told the New York Times. This was after Mississippi. 'We can't let the Democrats take our issues.' And those issues would be? 'We can't let them pretend to be conservatives,' he continued. Why not? Republicans pretend to be conservative every day.Ouch. She calls out Republicans for no longer being Conservative. You don't hear that from leaders of the Republican party very often. I also like how she referred to chairman of the Republican National Committee as 'someone'. She clearly has no respect for him.
She continues...
What happens to the Republicans in 2008 will likely be dictated by what didn't happen in 2005, and '06, and '07. The moment when the party could have broken, on principle, with the administration – over the thinking behind and the carrying out of the war, over immigration, spending and the size of government – has passed. What two years ago would have been honorable and wise will now look craven. They're stuck.Once again, she is dead on. President Bush led them to a cliff and they all jumped. They turned their backs on Conservatism. It's nice to see a Republican like Peggy Noonan speak out against what has become of her party. Maybe she and others like her can take the party back to where it used to be before it was decimated by President Bush and Tom Delay.
But wait, there's more...
Mr. Bush has squandered the hard-built paternity of 40 years. But so has the party, and so have its leaders. If they had pushed away for serious reasons, they could have separated the party's fortunes from the president's. This would have left a painfully broken party, but they wouldn't be left with a ruined "brand," as they all say, speaking the language of marketing. And they speak that language because they are marketers, not thinkers. Not serious about policy. Not serious about ideas. And not serious about leadership, only followership.Once again, dead on. The party has relied on marketing gimmicks, wedge issues, and fear to win elections. They have no plan to lead.
Their energy policy is centered around drilling in Alaska -- "more oil" doesn't strike me as a long-term solution to our energy problems. Their foreign policy showcases their opposition to negotiations with adversaries even though it has worked successfully for past GOP presidents. They refuse to even admit that their might be an environmental problem.
But hey, they are the party to go to if you have issues with lapel pins. At least they stand for lapel pins.
