Gary Bauer writing at Campaign for Working Families had this to say about the implications of the party establishment foisting another of their choices on the party.
I spent some time last week speaking with a reporter from the Washington Post who was doing an analysis of the GOP’s future. I warned of the growing chasm between social conservatives and the Republican Party, saying:
“Values voters have been treated as the stepchildren of the family, while the party has wanted to get on with so-called more electorally popular ideas. The Republican base will not tolerate another candidate foisted upon us as a guy who can win.”
In the past 48 hours, I’ve have taken a lot of heat from folks in the party establishment. Even some on our side have said, “Of course, values voters will accept another McCain or Romney again.” But since November 2012, I have heard from a lot of you who feel differently.
Let me clarify my thoughts just in case you have read about this controversy. I’m not saying an establishment candidate won’t be nominated again. The GOP establishment certainly has the money. Conservatives may well run half a dozen candidates, splitting our vote and making it easier for a “centrist” to prevail.
What I was saying is that if the GOP fails to embrace a Reaganesque conservative, a certain percentage of evangelicals will simply stay home, making it harder for that nominee to win the White House. That may be hard to believe. Why would anyone want four years of Hillary after eight years of Obama?
But the average voter doesn’t think that way. They look at the candidates and if they don’t see big differences, they may not vote.
The GOP has a problem with Republican voters. A recent Marist poll asked voters whether they approved of the job Democrats and Republicans in Congress were doing. Not surprisingly, 67% of Democrats approved of how Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi were behaving. But only 45% of identified Republicans approved of the job congressional Republicans were doing.*
Democrats are happy with the hard-left direction of their party, while Republicans are divided over the performance of their party’s leaders.
If the party wants to win, it needs to find a candidate who embraces the entire conservative message. It needs a candidate who unites and excites economic, social and foreign policy conservatives. We are looking for someone who will advance our values, not just manage our decline. I suspect that is what many are looking for in this year’s crop of Senate candidates too.
* Our view: The dissatisfaction with the Republican leadership overall is not primarily composed of those who believe the leadership is out of touch with big business’s desires. The dissatisfaction is from those who believe leadership is weak in defense of Republican values and not up to the task of defeating Democrats. Evangelicals walking away and not voting is a potential problem. But having to hold one’s nose and vote is more of a problem as the band wagon effect is subdued. R Mall
