Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Republicans Can Rejoice -- State Supermajorities


Republicans are in a funk. Contrary to expectations, they lost the Presidency, nor did they expand their caucus in the House of Representatives. Republicans had only ten Senate seats to defend against twenty-three for the Democrats, but three Republican Senators stepped down or lost their election battles, and the Democrats expanded their majority.

As far as the federal government is concerned, the Republicans fumbled “big time.”

To dispute moaning of party operatives and the groaning of registered Republican voters, the Republican Party is anything but dead. George Orwell may have written about “Shooting an Elephant”, but more likely the Democratic Party will shoot itself in the foot should they continue in their drift leftward.  While National Republicans have to retool their outreach, not compromise their principles.

Notwithstanding these failures, the Republican Party will not be joining the graveyard of American political history strewn with deceased political parties. Their demise crumbled under far worse circumstances than the GOP currently faces. While the Republicans failed to take the federal government, their strong and stunning show in states and statehouses across the country will foster a persuasive salience of their essential values and win back support in elections to come.

In the early years of the Republic, the Federalists held on for twenty years before collapsing, yet the opposing Democratic-Republicans adopted the central and centralizing tenets of their party platform.

The Whig Party coalesced around one tenet: “We hate Andrew Jackson.” Incidentally, their caucus supported the “American System” of federally subsidized internal improvements. In many respects, they were the “Big Government” party of the day, and they fumbled into oblivion.

Populists, Greenbacks, and even the Progressive Party (under former Republican Teddy Roosevelt),all met their demise in attempting to steer the country in a more radical direction. The majority of these coalitions rested on expanding the role of government in  labor relations, the economy, or in every other walk of life. Like the demise of the Whigs, today’s Republicans can look over the legacy of previous parties and breathe a sigh of relief: “Big Government” advocates usually do not last long.

 

The Republicans are not beset with the inherent and internal conflicts which paralyzed then put down the Populists or the Progressives. The Republican Party was born in 1854, with John C. Fremont, the leader of the “Bear Flag” Revolt” which wrested California from Mexican hands before President James K. Polk declared war over the Rio Grande. GOP views transformed from federalized Lincolnism to Taft-Eisenhower concern about the military-industrial complex. Limited government as a core value emerged and remained.

When the federal government falls into the hands of one party, the other party can look for prominence and dominance in the several states. We are “The United States of America”, not “The United Country of America.” While vibrant GOP dynamics are limited on the national front, the Republicans can boast of sweeping victories throughout the states.

Following the 2012 election, The Republican Party now controls thirty governorships, including the recent  arrival of Patrick McCrory in North Carolina. Republicans now hold a supermajority in fifteen states, including swing states Ohio and Pennsylvania. Alabama and Arkansas, once dominated by the Democrats, now have Republicans with a strong two-thirds advantage, a massive repudiation for the liberal party. After a recall that cost them the state senate, Republican now control Wisconsin once again. For the first time since the 1920’s, the Republican can shape effective domestic policy across the country.

These GOP states will establish and bolster the party’s future. Within a few years’ time, the country will evaluate the soundness of Republican/conservative policies of less spending, limited government, and lower taxes compared to the Blue State capitals, which are hooked on deficit spending, tax increases, and benefits expansion. Liberal states like California, Massachusetts, and Illinois have Democratic supermajorities. For the first time, California received no House Seats. Massachusetts lost another house seat. Illinois is turning into a debt-ridden miniature of Greece. Chicago mayor Rahm Emmanuel failed to field the pension problems because of the powerful public sector unions. Voters are packing up and moving from blue to red states.

Under Governor Mitch Daniels, Indiana boasted of budget surpluses while Washington was wallowing in the Great Recession.  Privatization of the roadways saved Hoosier tax dollars. The new GOP supermajority (under fiscal hawk Governor-elect Mike Pence) is proposing “right to work” legislation and expanding the state school voucher program. Wisconsin is championing lower taxes and expanded mining rights, which means more business, more jobs, and more tax revenue. Pennsylvania’s GOP supermajority will opt out of the ObamaCare Medicaid expansion, along with red-state Texas and Florida, defying the dubious ruling of the Supreme Court.

Conservatives may feel blue in Blue States. Still. California Democrats already retracted a measure to triple the car tax. Colorado Democrats may shelve another same-sex marriage bill. Liberal majorities are pursuing the agendas with caution. Conservatives’ short-term pain may become long-term gain as Republican states provide a record of success, and discredit the Democrats’ tax-and-spend extravagance for the next decade. The Republican will survive and thrive with ideas that work, attracting more voters and restoring GOP dominance.

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