GOP In Trouble?

I would argue that although the Republican Party has recently been going through some turmoil, they will definitely not be reduced to a regional party “unable to compete for the presidency or congressional majorities”. The Republican Party is already firmly established throughout the nation, and although there are regional differences among party supporters, there is no clear prospect for a regional coalition. It is a mass party, and I really don’t see a new conservative/right wing party being created to completely replace the GOP. Rather, I think they need to restructure or adapt to the current political landscape. Really, there are supporters of each party in every state, as well as a sizable number of independents or leaners who could possibly be won over. I would argue that this is just a political cycle similar to what the Democrats faced in 1994 and 2002. Specifically, I think the Democratic congressional upset in 2006 was largely a reaction to the George W. Bush’s presidency and his policies on the war in Iraq, etc. A sizable number of citizens wanted a change of direction from Bush’s course, so they “threw the bums out” (in this case, voted in Democrats) the first chance they got. This feeling just continued to grow until the 2008 elections, when Obama ran on a promise of change from Bush’s presidency and the Republican party in general. I think this discontent is cyclical in nature, as the people simply switch their support to the other mass party if they don’t like the way the government is going. Although part of a political cycle, I think the Republicans failed to unify during the 2008 election. They had basically tried to remove any association with Bush to the party, and we even saw some key Republicans voice their support for the Democrats. And although the GOP seemed to prefer Fred Thompson as their candidate, he was unable to really go anywhere, and so the Republicans were left with a group of candidates who weren’t exactly ideal for holding a broad coalition that they desired. I think if McCain would have won, he would seem to be the “leader” of the Republicans. However we know that’s not the case, and the Republicans do seem to currently lack a clear leader. Michael Steele is the chairman of the National Committee, but his name is relatively new to most and I don’t think he is seen as the leader of the party by any means. Which is probably why there has been recent chattering over Rush Limbaugh possibly being the “leader” of the party, most likely to the enjoyment of Democrats. Although the economic crisis may have taken some of the spotlight off the problems of the GOP, I think the party will continue to try and improve its strength. They are not going to simply let the Republican coalition in Congress fall apart to let Obama pass whatever he wants. To do this however, I think they could use some restructuring, possibly similar to what Van Buren did for Jackson and the Republicans. With some restructuring to create a stronger leadership and stronger local parties to increase voter mobilization, the GOP could possibly see more success. Alternatively, if Obama’s policies don’t produce results, many people could decide they are sick of the Democratic government and simply continue the political cycle. Either way, it seems clear to me that the Republicans need to do some restructuring and possibly adapt to some of the more current popular issues.