Rebuilding The GOP

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05 Oct 2008 07:29 pm

Marc does his best to predict the Republican Party post-Bush:

In Britain, the Tories have essentially reinvented themselves by secularizing and modernizing, and de-aging. The buzzwords now are youth, pragmatism, experimentation and efficiency. They're moving out of rural areas and into big cities. They're urban populists. What's the big idea? Well, there isn't one, really. They'll discover one, eventually. Thatcher who? They've been aided by the intense dissatisfaction with the regime in power, something that American Republicans won't be able to take advantage of until it arises...One thought I'll throw up for debate: if American Republicans think they can emulate the Tories and rebuild the party without the full participation of social conservatives, they're wrong.

But I can dream, can't I? The question is: what will social conservatism mean? Marriage equality is here to stay where it exists and has been banned almost everywhere else it can be. Abortion matters - but abortion reduction is obviously the next battle, and on that, many Democrats and Republicans can agree. The drug war? I'm not sure the next generation is going to keep pot illegal the way it is now. It's insane. From then on, most of us agree: encouraging responsible use of freedom is not a partisan issue. Despair at modernity will not win majorities. And religious fundamentalism is as fickle a political force as it is dangerous.

The one hope for Christianism is a deep recession and the need for scapegoats. And we all know who'd fit the bill.

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