Rush versus arnold
- From: "bliss" <socculturefilipino@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 29 Mar 2007 20:41:29 -0700
Do Republicans know who they are?
Article Last Updated: 03/28/2007 09:06:09 AM PDT
BY now, you've probably heard about California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger's verbal sparring match with conservative radio talk
show host Rush Limbaugh.
Rush threw the first jab, blasting Schwarzenegger as a "closet
liberal" and a "sellout" for proposing an initiative in California to
expand health care, supporting a hike in the minimum wage, and
advocating a centrist approach to government. Schwarzenegger - no
girlie man - punched back. On NBC's "Today," the governor called
Limbaugh "irrelevant." Then Schwarzenegger called into Limbaugh's show
and told the host that he understood where he was coming from - "where
you look at it just (in terms of) the ideology or maybe in just a more
conservative way." But, Schwarzenegger said, as a governor he has to
represent everyone and "make decisions that are based on bringing
people together." They parted amicably even if they didn't settle
their differences.
This back-and-forth points to something larger: namely, how lost most
Republicans appear to be at the moment.
They certainly seem to have squandered the support of many Americans.
A recent poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press
found that public support for the GOP is on the wane and that
Americans are more likely to identify with or lean toward Democrats.
In 2002 Americans were split, with 43 percent supporting Democrats and
43 percent backing Republicans. Now, five years later, Democrats are
way out in front - 50 percent
to 35 percent.
Many Americans might blame the drop on Bush, Iraq, Hurricane Katrina,
or scandals involving Republican officeholders. But I blame the fact
that Republicans don't seem to know who they are anymore. Are they
moderate or conservative?
Many of the Republicans now running for president say they want to be
like Ronald Reagan. However, I'm not sure that Reagan could get
elected in this climate. A Hollywood actor who was on his second
marriage and who kept the abortion issue at arm's length, Reagan might
have a hard time winning over evangelicals who are such an important
part of the current GOP base.
So perhaps it is not surprising that some of these same GOP candidates
are trying to be all things to all people. You can guess how that will
turn out. In 2004, President Bush and the Republican Party got the
better of Sen. John Kerry by pegging him as wanting to have it both
ways.
Now Democrats might be able to turn the tables. Some of the GOP front-
runners are all over the map. But mostly, they're running from the
center and lurching toward the right.
-On gun control. Rudy Giuliani won praise as mayor of New York for
supporting trigger locks and lobbying Congress to outlaw assault
weapons. Now he extols the right to bear arms and suggests that the
federal government perhaps isn't the proper entity to place conditions
on that right. And, Giuliani's campaign insists, it is not entirely
clear that the candidate would support a ban on assault weapons.
-On abortion. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney tried to set
himself apart from Republicans in Congress who, he insisted, were
hurting the party with their intractable hard line on abortion. Now,
as a presidential candidate, the formerly pro-choice Romney seems to
have hardened his own position on abortion to please social
conservatives.
-On immigration. As one of the legislative leaders trying to get an
immigration bill through Congress and a co-sponsor with Sen. Edward
Kennedy of a comprehensive reform plan, Sen. John McCain recently sent
shock waves through the debate. He now claims he is reconsidering his
views and is receptive to the idea of requiring illegal immigrants to
return home before applying for legal residency - something proposed
in legislation drafted by Rep. Mike Pence,
R-Ind.
I'll bet that somewhere, Ronald Reagan is surveying the Republican
field, shaking his head, and, saying, with a smile, "there they go
again."
Ruben Navarrette (ruben.navarrette@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) writes for the San
Diego Union-Tribune.
.
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