Reform

David Brooks is on to something.

Political parties usually reform in the wilderness. They suffer some crushing defeat, the old guard is discredited and the pain compels turnover and change. John McCain is trying to reform the Republican Party before a presidential defeat, with the old guard still around, and with a party base that still hasn’t accepted the need to transform. The central drama of this week’s convention was the struggle by reform Republicans to break through the gravitational pull of old habits and create something new.

Say what? Reform? “We don’t need no steenkin’ REFORM!” shouts the base… “Au contraire,” replied certain elements of the Party. Brooks again:

For 36 hours, the gravitational pull of past resentments dominated the media-culture war complex. And from the convention podium the past and the future fought to a draw. On the one hand, Joe Lieberman went up there and praised Bill Clinton, giving a glimpse of what a less partisan political future might look like. On the other, there was Mitt Romney, who delivered a cynical, extreme caricature of old-line Republicanism.

The convention thus sat on a knife-edge. And then Palin walked onstage. She gave a tough vice presidential speech, with maybe a few more jabs than necessary. Still it was stupendous to see a young woman emerge from nowhere to give a smart and assertive speech.

And what was most impressive was her speech’s freshness. Her words flowed directly from her life experience, her poise and mannerisms from her town and its conversations. She left behind most of the standard tropes of Republican rhetoric (compare her text to the others) and skated over abortion and the social issues. There wasn’t even any tired, old Reagan nostalgia.

Instead, her language resonated more of supermarket aisle than the megachurch pulpit. More than the men on the tickets, she embodies the spirit of the moment: impatient, fed up, tough-minded, but ironical. Even in attack, she projected the cheerfulness of someone confident about the future.

In those 40 minutes, the forces of reform Republicanism took control, at least for a time. Republicans started talking about Palin, Bobby Jindal and a brighter future for their party.

So… what’s this reform thing all about? Brooks doesn’t delve into the subject in any great detail, but he’s scratched the surface. Basically, to my way of thinking, “reform” means breaking the ideological impasse that currently rules the roost in Washington. On the one hand, we have left-wing ideologues like Pelosi and Reid who absolutely refuse to compromise with the Right on subjects like offshore drilling and the confirmation of Dubya’s judicial nominees… to the point of refusing to allow floor votes in the House and Senate on issues where their party has even the remotest chance of failure. Republicans have tried, repeatedly and pointedly, to force the issue with the Democrats with little to no success. Why no success, you ask? Because what goes around comes around… and that’s the other hand. The Democrats are in the majority now, and what you’re seeing is pay-back for years of similar behavior on the part of the Republicans when they (we) were in power (think: Tom DeLay). The bottom line? Stalemate. And the absolute lowest congressional public approval ratings in my lifetime. The Congress is doing nothing… other than arguing at each other… while the business of America languishes, unattended.

John McCain is walking a tightrope. He’s trying to change a party that doesn’t necessarily see the need for change, and, as Brooks notes, Senator McCain is trying to change the party BEFORE an election debacle. I mean a debacle other than the most recent one… the congressional elections of 2006... whereby the GOP lost control of the House and the Senate. And who won, for the most part? Those Blue Dog Democrats… conservative Democrats, moderate Democrats. The folks that voted those guys into office are the folks John McCain and Sarah Palin are trying to win over, to the objections of the ultra-conservative base in the GOP. Or, that part of the Republican Party that refuses to compromise on issues they perceive to be moral imperatives. The problem with moral imperatives is a lot more complex than it might seem, but it basically boils down to an attitude that those of us on the Right have been disparaging in the Left for years: “You’re not just wrong, you’re EVIL.” And the corollary to that argument is “…so I won’t even talk to you.” After all, we're speaking about morality here... and that leaves absolutely NO room for dialog. There's no middle ground with morality: you're either right or you're wrong. Period, full-stop.

And how’s that working out for us as a party and as a nation? Answer: It’s NOT. To quote Walt Kelly’s Pogo: “We have met the enemy, and he is US.”

Good luck, Senator McCain. You’re gonna need it. But I’m with you, for what that’s worth.

―:☺:―

Related: Friday night is Moonbat Night here at El Casa Móvil De Pennington. And by that I mean it’s the night I tune in to those (ahem) exemplary teevee shows “Washington Week,” “Now,” and “Bill Moyers Journal.” Most of the time I just can’t make it all the way to the end of these shows, especially Mr. Moyers’. As a matter of fact, I cannot remember the last time I watched Moyers’ program in its entirety. There’s a limit as to how much Moonbat tripe I can take, after all. And Moyers lays it on thicker than anyone else I know, with the possible exception of those Krazy Kos Kidz. It’s that bad. “Now,” on the other hand, isn’t quite as bad… and sometimes features segments that are both informative and compelling. Such was the case last night with “2008: A Republican Reinvention?”, a show that featured an interview with Christine Todd Whitman, the former Republican governor of New Jersey and one-time head of the EPA under Dubya. The program synopsis:

John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate in part to appease his party's strongly conservative base. With the Republican right wing weighing so much influence even in the waning days of the Bush presidency, where does that leave prominent moderate Republicans? Is there room for them in the GOP? David Brancaccio sits down with former New Jersey Governor and EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman to discuss the political tolerance of the modern Republican Party, and her perspective on the current race.

One of the more lamentable features of podcasting has been the death of the written transcript, especially where PBS is concerned. There once was a time where I could excerpt salient points from a transcript to tease you into “reading the whole thing,” Gentle Reader, but alas… such is NOT the case any longer. And PBS doesn’t allow for the embedding of their precious video and/or audio feeds. Nope… you gotta go their site to access the material. Fair enough, I suppose, as it IS their stuff. That said, I encourage you to go watch what Ms. Whitman has to say. There’s a fight going on right now for the control of the Republican Party. While that fight might be simmering below the surface at the moment, it will break wide open soon. Very soon. Especially if we lose this election, but soon thereafter… even if we win. Why? Because The Base simply refuses to compromise on nearly ALL of its cherished positions, and compromise is something that Senator McCain believes in. Fireworks, forthwith.

Here’s the link again: 2008: A Republican Reinvention? Chase it, watch the video, and see if you think moderates have any future in the GOP. As for me? I’m hopeful.