By Rob Janicki
Doing business as usual isn't going to cut it for the GOP.
Businesses that don't listen to their customers are doomed to fail.
Political parties that don't listen to their constituent voters are
similarly doomed to failure and recent history leading up to the
current GOP presidential campaign proves the point. The GOP looks to
many to be out of control or at least out of touch and it is. The GOP
doesn't need to gain control as much as it needs to understand that it
has to listen to and respect the voices of its constituent voters and
younger party members and make the changes that are necessary for
success in defeating the Democrats in 2016.
The Grand Old Party had the opportunity after the 2012 loss to
President Obama to take a serious look at how it became essentially
estranged from its voters and moribund in making decisions necessary
to appeal to a broader range of voters. The GOP has failed. Since
2012 the gap between the party establishment and leadership and its
constituent voters has only widened, which not surprisingly brings us
to where the GOP is today. Can you say, "disarray"?
The GOP presidential nomination process is plainly in disarray and is,
snidely, but deservedly so, called a clown convention. The GOP
"establishment" had the opportunity for introspection, which could
have and should have resulted in changes that obviously needed to be
made before the 2016 presidential nomination process began. I am not
certain that if the GOP began making the changes that need to be made
today, that those changes could be realized in time to win the 2016
presidential contest. I hope I'm wrong.
The "good old boy" political elitist class approach had already proven
to be a loser. New GOP members of Congress have been constrained to
toe the leadership line or suffer the consequences doled out by the
likes of Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the
House John Boehner. Tea Party members have been ostracized and
prevented from holding positions of power or influence in Congress, as
have other newly minted conservatives.
They say the art of politics is negotiation and compromise. If that
axiom is true, the GOP establishment and leadership have failed
miserably to recognize the reality before them, let alone act on it
Times have changed. America is suffering as a nation and as the
leader of the free world under President Obama. Americans are
suffering economically. Traditional American values have been under
pressure from the liberal courts and the Obama administration, which
selectively chooses which laws to enforce and which to ignore.
Immigration is out of control. The list of America's problem is long
and growing. American culture is under direct attack by the forces
of the radical left embodied in the Obama administration and the
liberal progressive leadership of the Democrat Party.
Half the GOP candidates have no business being in the mix for the GOP
presidential nomination. They simply are not serious candidates, have
no broad constituency calling for their candidacy and don't have a
chance in Hades of winning anything, much less the GOP nomination.
Enter the age of Donald Trump. I won't go into my belief that Trump
is anything but a conservative. It's out there for all to see, who
choose not to be blind by Mr. Trump's demagoguery. Moving on, many
are saying that a Republican failure to elect a president on November
8, 2016, can be laid at the feet of Trump. As much as I don't like
Trump, he is not the reason for a failing Republican Party. Trump is
both an opportunist and a self promoter, which should be evident to
even a casual observer.
It's the GOP that has opened the door for Trump and his show business
approach to politics, due to its many failures discussed above. Trump
has merely addressed the many issues that concern so many
conservatives, who are fearful, frustrated and very angry over a GOP
that has simply turned a deaf ear to their legitimate concerns. As
long as the GOP acts in a "business as usual" mode and manner, failure
is sure to result. And, it's not just the GOP that will fail, it will
be America that fails as a result.
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