The Fraud of the Republican Coalition

With rise of Ronald Reagan, the Republican right took control of the party, which it has held for over twenty-five years.  There are no longer Republicans with the stature of a Nelson Rockefeller or even Barry Goldwater, able to withstand the assault of the "New Right."  Occasionally there are RINO (Republicans In Name Only) like New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, but they are the exception, not the rule.  And certainly neither has any future developing a national base within the party.

The Republican right was actually two groups held together by a common disdain for the left.  First there was the ultra-Christian right: anti-choice, anti-gay, and downright hostile to all elements of the Bill of Rights except perhaps, the Second Amendment.  Then there are the hawks, the domestic and the international.  Led by the likes of Grover Norquist, the domestic ones are determined to destroy public education and public works ranging from streets and highways to water utilities, which they plan to privatize. Perched with Norquist are the international chickenhawks, the Neocons.  Fueled by a new Manifest Destiny for American capitalism, they follow the Rumsfeld and Cheney drummers of this administration.

Often the marriage is strained and sometimes downright hostile.  Many of the economic right wingers feel no need to destroy gay rights or to make every school open its day with a prayer.  The ultra-Christian right knows this, and seeing little change from their perspective in abortion law, are becoming disenchanted.

Meanwhile, the ultra-Christian right, in some ways the legacy of the Huey Long populists, is beginning to question a foreign policy they view as driven by the needs of wealthy oilmen.  Tax breaks for the rich aren't sitting so well, as tax legislation seems to pass, but their anti-abortion agenda is stalled.

George Bush is discovering the reality of dying by a thousand nicks and cuts. And so are his Republican critics.

Seeing Bush wounded and close to staggering, the angry are gathering on all sides. The ultra-Christan right, while certainly not in the Iraq bed with the left, sees Bush wasting his political capital, their support of him, on foolishness orchestrated by aristocrats.

More moderate Republicans on social issues, once patient and tolerant of civil rights and liberties as the goal of a new economic millennium approached, now see chaos.  Most corporate executives know full well that while getting government regulation and taxes off their back is an admirable goal, anarchy doesn't cut it.

Democrats can sit and watch. Or they can get a program.  Out of Iraq, public education, health insurance, and a clean environment. Oh, and something for business: regulation, but regulation that is reasonable, fair and most important, predictable.