I had fun reading in the New York Times about how various people in the Republican Party are pointing their fingers at each other regarding why they seem to have so little public support. There are certainly a wide variety of reasons for people to be disenchanted with the GOP. I think I best heard this type of situation with the party summed up something like this:
A party gets into power based on a set of goals or ideals. After staying in power for a while the only ideal left is to stay in power.
That appears to be the case here. Party leaders only want to keep the party in power while constituent groups are tired of being associated with the party while feeling like the party is no longer looking after their interests.
Although there are many causes, I think that the public lack of support is an exaggerated response to the Foley scandal. My personal views of the party are completely unaffected by this news, but I would not be surprised to learn that for many people that was the final straw. The Democrats would jump on that issue if it was all they had to work with, but there’s so much more for them to address. For those who are unhappy with Iraq, the economy, immigration, or anything else, it might be enough for people to say “not this too – I’m leaving.”
Whatever the results on November 7th, I hope the Republican Party wakes up and starts to focus so that when 2008 rolls around nobody can be sure of which way the election will go. That, in my opinion, is the best recipe for solid political dialog. That would be a welcome change from the meaningless political rhetoric we have been subjected to lately.
A party can also get into power when the other party does so poorly at governing that voters can’t trust them with their votes. While the spectre of Nancy Pelosi as Speaker is scary, lots of people (especially those not strongly affiliated with either party) have good reason to wonder, “How could it be any worse than what we have now?”
If the Democrats rise to power in 15 days, it won’t be because they have a cogent set of goals and ideals that resonate with voters, but because the GOP has simply flushed itself down the toilet.
Reach, the saddest part of your statement is that it is true. If the Democrats rise to power without a cogent set of goals that should make a very strong statement to Republicans that having a solid message is not enough if the message no longer resonates with reality. That is what is leaving voteers feeling like they are in a no-win situation at the polls.