Sixthirtyone

Issue date: 2/19/09 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: www.cc.nih.gov www.cc.nih.gov

The night of November 4, 2007 was a sobering one for the Republican Party. The anxiety of the conservative movement was clear: Senator McCain, delivering a conciliatory concession speech after a resounding defeat in the Electoral College, was forced to quiet boos from the assembled crowd at the mention of Barack Obama's name. Looking at the wide swaths of blue on the electoral map, the cause for their concern was clear. Obama had not only claimed traditional battleground states like Ohio, Florida, and Nevada by relatively comfortable margins, he won in states which 4 years earlier had been placed in the "Safe Republican" column by political pundits. The Democratic candidate even achieved narrow victories in Indiana and Virginia, states which had not given their electoral votes to a Democratic candidate since the election of Lyndon Johnson over forty years ago. The disaster for the Republican Party was complete: even as Obama claimed the presidency, the Republicans lost seven Senators and twenty representatives.

On the morning of November 5, the mission of Republican Party leadership was daunting but vital: to forge a new way forward for the party, with the ultimate goal of recovering power at the national level. One week later, at the Republican Governor's Association conference (widely considered the most promising breeding ground for future GOP leaders), two paths forward emerged.

The first, offered by Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, focused on moderate reform. The party, Pawlenty argued, had to move beyond the Reagan-era ideology of the 1980's. "[Republicans] can't be so in love with the past that we miss the future," Pawlenty argued. The second, offered by Sarah Palin, focused on a reassertion of focus on core social issues and small government. For Palin, the central task of the party would be returning to a more pure conservative ideology. The Republicans, momentarily, were unsure of the causes of their electoral defeat. Had they lost because they betrayed their conservative values, or because of their conservative values?

Three months later, the Republicans have given their answer. The economic stimulus bill passed the Senate with unanimous Republican opposition. The race for the RNC chair could have been mistaken for a Ronald Reagan tribute ceremony. Michael Steele, the new chairman, is a highly competent politician and a charismatic speaker. He held elective office in a deep blue state and is full of energy, but is also a traditional, conservative, committed to returning the party to signature issues of family values. The Republicans have made a clear strategic decision to reassert, not revise, conservatism. If the Republicans ultimate goal is to regain power, their strategy is fundamentally flawed.

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