PDA

View Full Version : Hagal: Republican Party "In State of Uncertainty"



Nbadan
09-04-2004, 08:02 AM
I've maintained for awhile that the NeoCons in the Republican party are the single greatest threat to the continuation of the grand old party ever. Nevermind that the Neocons aren't true fiscal conservatives. Their policy of 'pre-emenent war' runs completely counter to the long-time Republican party phylosophy of non-interventionism...


Concerns Include Changing Electorate, Lack of Heir Apparent

NEW YORK, Sept. 3 -- Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), a man known for frank talk, offered a blunt description of the state of his party, which broke camp here Friday after nominating President Bush for a second term. "The Republican Party," he said, "has come loose of its moorings."

Hagel was not referring to Bush's leadership or his prospects for reelection but instead to the impact of a presidency that has seen the party embrace the largest deficits in U.S. history and a foreign policy that has put the United States at odds with many of its closest allies and heightened suspicion of institutions such as the United Nations.

Hagel expects recrimination and worse if Bush loses to John F. Kerry, but he predicts that, win or lose, the GOP faces a period of introspection and debate over its future. "I think you've got a party that is in a state of uncertainty," he said.

While many Republicans attending the convention dismissed Hagel's prediction as unduly pessimistic, there is likely to be a series of intraparty debates, starting after the election, over the size and role of government, the U.S. role in the world, and how Republicans can expand their coalition.

more…

Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60480-2004Sep3.html)

If the Republican party does not redefine itself soon, history will do it for them, and history may not be as kind.