Republican Identify: Its Candidates

How do we learn what a political party is about? Mostly it is the candidates and their speeches and publicity which inform the public about them and the party in general. We see the party through the persons who run under the party banner. So who are the current Republican candidates for President, and what do they tell us of the Republican Party? 

1. Mitt Romney: good solid guy with experience in Massachusetts as governor. A product of a long-term Republican family in Michigan with his father CEO of American Motors (now defunct). A Mormon, Romney seems a nice enough guy and welcoming of diversity. Some of his ancestors were born in Mexico and he espouses family values, whatever that really means! But he also is against marriage equality and insists on making this a campaign issue. I don’t think it should be an issue, but it is because he says it is. So, he and the Republican party now stand opposed to equality, opposed to gay people, support an out-dated and ignorant view of what gender orientation is and insists it is some sort of evil that has to be beaten back. At all costs. And of course, Obamacare is an evil beyond belief although Romney-care in Massachusetts is a near duplicate of Obama’s plan. Mitt seems to be having trouble gaining clear leadership of the Republican mindset as his opponents are attacking him as being liberal, or at least, not conservative enough. So is this what Republicans are about? Discrimination, religion as national policy and over the top conservatism? Seems so from my chair but voters will sort this out eventually. 
2. Newt Gingrich: a checkered past on all matters having to do with family values but he orates how wonderful his family values are! Of course he sings from the same hymn book against gays, against marriage equality, about sanctity of marriage (although he has had 2 failed marriages and cheated on both wives and is now in a third marriage). Newt also espouses all sorts of Christian dogma without citing authorities and facts that support his view. I really find it amazing that Gingrich seems to get away with his egotistical professorial manner. A novelist couldn’t make this stuff up any weirder and still have it factual. Egad! Is this what the Republicans call a golden candidate, representative of their party’s ideals? Are they really serious about this? Newt is the master of the sound bite for television, radio and campaign ads. But do the bites represent a cohesive body of work that presents a sound policy base? Hmmm. Need to think about that a lot more.
3. Ron Paul may be a registered Republican, but he seems to be a true libertarian instead. He makes arguments completely different from the other candidates and often makes more sense than they do. He seems like a nice guy and treats people well even when they don’t agree with him. He believes in smaller government. He vows to reduce the federal bureaucracy by huge amounts but doesn’t tell us how the work is supposed to be done without the staff and organizational structure. Do needs go away just because we say so? Or are the programs to be ended no matter what and the targeted citizens told to go to Hades? I’m not sure what Republican message Ron has, but I don’t think the Republicans are comfortable with him either.
4. Rick Santorem:  Where do we begin? Well, Rick is disgusted by gay sex. And he morphs that into a disgust of all gays. No discernment here; all gays are evil, anti-Christian, non-religionists,…you fill in the rest of the blanks. He is for conservative ideals but doesn’t explain or define them. It is evidently a given that we all know what they are, and if we don’t, we must be terribly flawed. So the Republicans are anti-gay, discriminatory, pro Christian and very, very conservative. Is this what the party wants to be known for? Really? 

It is their brand. They have to control how it is used and if some candidates are not synchronized with the party, then it is up to the Republican leadership to regain control. But they don’t and that leaves all voters guessing. I really doubt that Republicans want all of the above statements to stand for them. But where is their clarifying statement to set the record straight?

Seems to me they have an identity problem. And it is theirs to repair.

February 11, 2012