A Republican Voice Of Reason

After the disastrous presidency of George Bush and the selling-out of many Republican moderates like John McCain to the ultra-right wing, it looked like the Republican Party was destined to become a minority party for many years. At the present time, the party is controlled by the ultra-right social conservatives and corporate entities.

The party that once believed in limited government and constitutional rights is now preaching a theistic tyranny willing to replace the Constitution with the Bible and science with religion. The party that believed in balanced budgets took a government surplus and turned it into the biggest debt of any administration ever. The party that once believed in individualism found itself sacrificing the individual on the altar of corporate greed. The party that once believed in non-intervention found itself starting foreign wars to force our way of life on others.

With no new ideas, the party turned to hate speech to try and save itself. Instead of conservative thinkers and philosophers, the party turned to the Limbaughs, Coulters, O'Reillys and Hannitys of the world to push their cause. In the last election, the people firmly rejected this replacement of ideas with hate. It looked like we might be witnessing the demise of the Republican Party.

But there has emerged a lone voice crying out in the Republican wilderness -- a voice calling for reason and change. That voice belongs to Meghan McCain, the daughter of Senator John McCain. Her father may have sold out to the right-wing, but she has not. She has stepped forward to fight the Limbaughs and Coulters of the party.

Listen to what she told the Log Cabin Republicans yesterday, "I feel too many Republicans want to cling to past successes. There are those who think we can win the White House and Congress back by being 'more' conservative. Worse, there are those who think we can win by changing nothing at all about what our party has become. They just want to wait for the other side to be perceived as worse than us. I think we're seeing a war brewing in the Republican Party. But it is not between us and Democrats. It is not between us and liberals. It is between the future and the past."

She went on to say, "Simply embracing technology isn't going to fix our problem. Republicans using Twitter and Facebook isn't going to miraculously make people think we're cool again. Breaking free from obsolete positions and providing real solutions that don't divide our nation further will. That's why some in our party are scared. They sense the world around them is changing and they are unable to take the risk to jump free of what's keeping our party down."

Will the party listen to her and begin to change? That is the question right now. I doubt it though. The ultra-right theists and corporatists seem to have a death-grip on the party right now. That will have to change, or the party is doomed to a minority status for a long time.