ON THE GOP TUG OF WAR

BATTLE ROYALE

In an op-ed today in the New York Times, David Brooks offers a sombre assessment facing the GOP as it does a post-mortem of last week's elections and it's leaders start jockeying for position for a comeback*:

"It’s only been a week since the defeat, but the battle lines have already been drawn in the fight over the future of conservatism.

In one camp, there are the Traditionalists, the people who believe that conservatives have lost elections because they have strayed from the true creed.

George W. Bush was a big-government type who betrayed conservatism. John McCain was a Republican moderate, and his defeat discredits the moderate wing.

To regain power, the Traditionalists argue, the G.O.P. should return to its core ideas: Cut government, cut taxes, restrict immigration. Rally behind Sarah Palin..."

"The other camp, the Reformers, argue that the old G.O.P. priorities were fine for the 1970s but need to be modernized for new conditions. The reformers tend to believe that American voters will not support a party whose main idea is slashing government. The Reformers propose new policies to address inequality and middle-class economic anxiety. They tend to take global warming seriously..."

"Moreover, the Reformers say, conservatives need to pay attention to the way the country has changed. Conservatives have to appeal more to Hispanics, independents and younger voters. They cannot continue to insult the sensibilities of the educated class and the entire East and West Coasts."

After setting up the conflict like a good story-teller, Mr. Brooks goes on to give us the punch-line:

"The debate between the camps is heating up. Only one thing is for sure: In the near term, the Traditionalists are going to win the fight for supremacy in the G.O.P.

They are going to win, first, because Congressional Republicans are predominantly Traditionalists. Republicans from the coasts and the upper Midwest are largely gone. Among the remaining members, the popular view is that Republicans have been losing because they haven’t been conservative enough.

Second, Traditionalists have the institutions. Over the past 40 years, the Conservative Old Guard has built up a movement of activist groups, donor networks, think tanks and publicity arms. The reformists, on the other hand, have no institutions.

There is not yet an effective Republican Leadership Council to nurture modernizing conservative ideas. There is no moderate Club for Growth, supporting centrist Republicans."

He goes on to give some well-reasoned arguments as to why this may be so, leaving the reader with the distinct conclusion that it'll be a long time, measured in many years, before the Reformers have any shot at changing the direction of the party.

Which is likely true assuming that things progress like they have in cycles past for both parties. 

What the analysis doesn't take into account is the possibility that the game could be changed, perhaps even accelerated using the same technologies that allowed Barack Obama to win a very unconventional victory against first the formidable Clinton machine and then the traditional GOP machine.  Some of that approach was outlined in yesterday's post.

These technologies are but a tool, but the likelihood exists that they can be used by Republicans for accelerated out-of-the-box changes too.

* Image source.