The GOP Failure: Part One!

“Righteousness exalts a nation; But sin is a reproach to any people.” Proverbs 14:34

Well, the dust has settled in the Presidential Election 2008? And, not everyone is happy with the results. President Elect Obama could prove to be a surprise in spite of his stereotyping by the also-ran GOP and its’ stagnant candidates. Perhaps Obama will be a cross between President Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King with the best of each one residing within. One can only hope! Some of the early assessments have revealed a pragmatic individual with great discipline. These are not bad qualities, and not usually found in any true liberal. President Elect Obama is also considered to be highly intelligent, as is his wife. Both of these individuals are Law School graduates but neither was born with the proverbial silver spoon in their mouth with everything handed to them. Their lessons in life were hard, but remembered. As aforementioned, he (they) may surprise everyone and actually do a very good job considering the financial mess they inherited from the GOP et al. “First of all, then, I urge you to offer petitions, prayers, intercessions, and expressions of thanks for all people, for kings, and for everyone who has authority, so that we might lead a quiet and peaceful life with all holiness and dignity.” 1 Timothy 2:1-2

Just where did the GOP fail? On several fronts the answers can be found to this question, the first being a broad and blatant deviation from the proven agenda of President Ronald W. Reagan. President Reagan basically reformatted the GOP into proven workable governance. His rule and correct political guidance if followed by succeeding GOP candidates would have insured GOP domination for generations to come. However, it was not too long afterward that President Reagan’s teachings and work was undone by his own chosen successor, George Bush forty-one. Bush forty-one did the unthinkable as per the Reagan formula for continued success; he raised taxes after promising not to do so! And he then lost the next election cycle to a Democrat candidate. However, the GOP continued to make serious mistakes in their politics and ideals for rulership as per the Newt Gingrich Congressional revolution of 1994, the “Contract with America.”

Under the leadership of Gingrich the campaign was run on ideas and values such as tax cuts, a bigger military, tough on crime and welfare. This campaign gained the GOP fifty-four seats to take control of Congress, ending forty years of Democratic rule. However, according to the Cook Political Report, this really wasn’t quite as influential as the Republicans like to say it is. But these noble aspirations only went so far under the leadership of Newt Gingrich, why? It is said great men have feet of clay and Gingrich is no exception. “Gingrich, who ran for Congress in 1978 on the slogan, “Let Our Family Represent Your Family.” (He was reportedly cheating on his first wife at the time). In 1995, an alleged mistress from that period, Anne Manning, told Vanity Fair’s Gail Sheehy: “We had oral sex. He prefers that modus operandi because then he can say, ‘I never slept with her.’” Gingrich obtained his first divorce in 1981, after forcing his wife, who had helped put him through graduate school, to haggle over the terms while in the hospital, as she recovered from uterine cancer surgery” (washingtonmonthly.com, 2006). “He that commits adultery with a woman is void of understanding: He that does it would destroy his own soul. Wounds and dishonor shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.” Proverbs 6:32-33.

Well the media can always be blamed for the GOP’s failure, can’t they? Another reality check on the recent election came from well respected Fox News reporter Shepherd Smith. “Fox News anchor Shepard Smith, host of the highest-rated evening newscast on cable television, calls suggestions of a bias toward Barack Obama by the mainstream media “preposterous.” His sentiment was aired out during a roundtable discussion on his network’s “Strategy Room” program. During the discussion, comedian Nick DiPaolo said, “The mainstream media being so in the tank for Obama ….” “Oh, please. That’s preposterous,” interrupted Smith. “The mainstream media reflected what was happening in this nation. It did not drive it. The blogs didn’t drive this movement. The media did not drive this movement. Barack Obama did not lose this election. It was his to lose. It was not John McCain’s to win.

“The Republicans had no shot unless the Democrats gave it to them, and they didn’t. And to blame the media is a copout and ridiculous. We are always here to be blamed for people like you who enjoy that activity. We always will be. When the Democrats lost last time, it was our fault. When the Republicans lost this time, it’s our fault. It’s not. The nation was changing. Barack Obama did not lose, therefore John McCain did, and that’s it.” DiPaolo responded, “The major media has been liberal since its inception. It’s years and years of pounding.” “How did George Bush win twice?” asked Smith. “I don’t know,” answered DiPaolo. “[Ex-Bush strategist] Karl Rove is a genius, I guess” (wnd.com, 2008). The media cannot be blamed for this election defeat.

So; where did the GOP go wrong? Actually; where did they go right? The GOP takes the moral high ground but yet they have several office holders during the past eight years (and beyond) that proved to be moral reprobates, and the last two candidates, McCain and Palin are no exceptions to the continued immorality that pervades the quasi moralistic GOP! Don’t exposit morals when members of your party are amoral! And incidentally, where were the Evangelicals this election cycle? Usually they support and endorse the GOP candidates (sometimes reluctantly) but, this time they were noticeably quiet. Perhaps they are fatigued by the immorality within the GOP? I’ll have more to say on this next time.