The Reagan Coalition is Dead

I like a good intraparty battle. I’m not opposed to the occasional primary or even a floor fight over a plank in the platform. Actually, I think it’s good for the party to have the battle. Especially the Iowa caucuses. Good stuff.

But, I’m already weary of the current squabbles in the Iowa GOP. I can’t get engaged if it isn’t a battle of right versus left. This is merely a personal squabble about who is in charge.

The right versus left war that has always raged in our party is a result of our big tent. That is no joke, folks. Remember that Reagan coalition of only three decades ago? Middle class union Democrats voted for Reagan in big numbers because the Democrat Party left them on economic issues. All socio-economic levels voted for Reagan because of the social issues, especially abortion, and because Reagan was not going to be a twit like Billy Carter’s brother on foreign affairs.

Conservatives lost the battle inside the party over social issues AND fiscal issues. That caused the losses at the Statehouse and in Congress. The Reagan coalition does not exist anymore.

The current fight is over who will lead. There are good people on the right and left that know what they want as far as policy goes. It is the squishy middle that have no ideological rudder whatsoever causing the rift. They can be given everything they want and they still are not happy unless they are in charge.

The pouting by moderates inside the GOP is embarrassing. “I’ve been kicked out of the party,” or “It’s all about the social issues.” When did we have the meeting to decide who we were going to kick out?

The fact is, the big government, special interest, moderate Republicans have killed the party. They scream it’s all about the economic issues, but then they torch us on those issues, as well. Joy Corning hasn’t been “kicked out” of the GOP. She’s upset because we didn’t vote for her to be in charge. Corning and those like her have taken their ball and gone home.

While Joy et al spread ill will in public, I will be talking with my family, friends and neighbors about the need to defeat terror, lower taxes, shrink government, protect the family, become energy independent, fight voter fraud, and a whole host of other good Republican issues. This current drama is not at all about the issues. It is an elitist popularity contest I want no part of.

Moderates v. Conservatives: Nothing new here...

Since the Republican State Convention, the media has invented a cataclysmic fight between moderates and conservatives of our party. Folks, there is nothing new here. There is and always will be the struggles within our party. And by the way, Democrats have the same struggles. Many portray this as being a bad thing when, in all actuality, it is a very healthy thing for our party and is the intent of a party system.

From our Precinct Caucuses to our National Convention, we are shaping our party platform. You would think after reading the articles moderates aren’t allowed in the debate. We all know that isn’t true. Moderates and conservatives can show up at and have some influence on the platform. Heck, if they want to they can even organize a moderate coalition and work to elect moderate individuals to our party positions and institute moderate ideals in our platform. The problem for them is, by definition, moderates don’t believe strongly in the cause. Without passion for a cause, it is very hard to organize and build coalitions. What would they organize for?

• Less but not all abortions?
• More funding for welfare programs but not complete funding?
• Civil unions but not gay marriage?
• Some gun control laws but not too many?
• English as the official language except in government and society?

The list could go on and on but as you can see, it would be really hard to build a passionate coalition. The only way moderates build a passionate coalition is when they pick a fight with conservatives. Examples would be this year’s State Convention, Woodbury County in 2006, numerous Republican primaries, most notably in recent memory would be Nussle v. Vander Plaats or Ganske v. Salier.

Anyway, this is not a post to get people stirring; this is meant to shed some light on the nature of the beast. Moderates believe strongly in little and conservatives believe strongly in a lot.