It has become obvious that the “big tent” Republican Party isn’t big enough to accommodate the likes of Christine O’Donnell and her conservative supporters
If there ever was a time for the United States to abandon its two party system that time is now. It is tempting to say that the way the Republican Party establishment is treating some of the candidates elected by their members is reminiscent of a banana republic but that would be grossly unfair to those countries that grow tropical fruit.
The need for another US political party was evident when Karl Rove appeared on Fox News, the day after the final 2010 primaries. Rove not only spoke about the deficiencies of successful candidate Christine O’Donnell but gave a clear illustration of exactly how the Republican “the Ronald Reagan era is over” power structure thinks. The worst thing that Rove did was to make MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann sound rational and intelligent. Olbermann described Rove’s speech as a future political ad for O’Donnell’s opponent Chris #. And of course he’s right.
It’s hard to recall another time in any democratic country when the movers and shakers of a major political party ever talked publicly about how their party was going to lose an election or even a seat but that’s what Rove and other Republicans are doing. Rove and other Republicans are not only attacking O’Donnell and other successful conservative candidates but they are insulting the thousands of Republicans who went out on Tuesday and cast votes for O’Donnell, Carl Paladino and other tea party candidates. How can anyone expect fed up Democrats and independents to vote for a Republican candidate when the party’s power brokers describe them as losers?
It has become obvious that the “big tent” Republican Party isn’t big enough to accommodate the likes of Christine O’Donnell and her conservative supporters. So what would happen if conservatives left the Republicans and formed their own party? It could be called the Tea Party. And like the Democrats with their donkey and the Republicans with their elephant, the symbol of the Tea Party could be a mama grizzly.
The creation of a third conservative party would have the effect of making the Republican Party the largest of the American parties. The party would have rid itself of all those “evil right wing lunatics” and give moderate Democrats; those who do not share Obama’s vision that the United States should become just another European-like socialist country a place to go. Republicans like John McCain could hug these new arrivals without ever having to stretch to reach across an aisle.
Democrats moving over to this new moderate and larger Republican Party would also leave the Democrat Party a more left wing entity. It would then be easier to keep the likes of Obama, Pelosi and Reid from keeping or regaining power.
Of course the creation of a conservative party would also tend to keep members of the Tea Party from power too. “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” may be true for football but it’s not necessarily true in politics. The best case scenario in a three party system is that the Republicans would be hold the most seats but have a minority. They could govern but only with the help of either the Democrats or the Tea Partiers. It’s hard to imagine that the Republicans would side with the extreme left in the Democrat Party to continue to go where the United States is now going. The conservatives would not gain power but neither would the far left liberals. Socialized healthcare and stimulus programs for the unions would probably end.
A lot of Americans would not be happy with a multi-party political system. But anyone who thinks that the two party system is working should pay close attention to what Rove and other Republicans are saying. They want candidates like O’Donnell to lose just as much as the Democrats do. It’s not about democracy or what the American people want; it’s about power. People need to have a party that will accept their will when candidates are selected by party members in a free and fair vote. If not, the Republicans might as well fold and allow the United States to become a one party system.
If only that one party state could follow Cuba’s lead and issue pink slips to the bloated government bureaucracy.
