Conservative Influence Surging In Congressional GOP
Politico:
Republicans may trail in the polls on virtually every issue, but conservative influence is surging in both chambers of Congress as the GOP tries to find its soul again.
It’s a risky strategy to tack to the right while Democrats have momentum in most polls, but Republicans clearly believe that they need to recapture their base before they recapture the majority.
When Republicans ran Congress, hardened fiscal conservatives often had a lone voice-in-the-wilderness feel about them.
Whether it was Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) filibustering on earmarks or Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) making a late-night speech about runaway government spending, the conservative caucus had a sympathetic ear from GOP leaders yet rarely prevailed on strategy or party message.
But now that they’ve been thrust into the minority, the conservative agitators have a front-row seat with Republican leaders, and the number of lawmakers who describe themselves as conservatives continues to grow while moderates appear to be a dying breed among Republicans on Capitol Hill.
In the House, the conservative Republican Study Committee has led the caucus in promising to sustain vetoes of children’s health care legislation and spending bills.
In the Senate, the conservative Republican Steering Committee, led by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), is now being invited to weekly Republican leadership meetings on appropriations, a departure from tradition.
The top members of the Senate steering committee also had an exclusive meeting recently with President Bush, who himself is trying to launch a sort of renaissance of fiscal conservatism by vetoing popular spending bills.
The Republican Study Committee now has 104 members, up 50 percent in the past five years.
And 12 of the 15 Republican freshman lawmakers joined the group this year, a clear sign that the small rookie class of Republicans still believes in a conservative future, even while its party struggles nationally.
In contrast, the moderate Republican Main Street Partnership has seen its membership decline 20 percent, from 59 lawmakers in the last Congress to 47 this year.
And seven of those moderates are retiring, further diminishing the power of the middle.
“We don’t need to be shy about what we believe in,” DeMint said in an interview. “We’re starting to act as Republicans around core principles, whether it’s SCHIP or earmarks.”
Democrats are happy to see the Republicans taking a sharp right turn, believing it makes winning independents in 2008 that much easier.
“Republicans can’t try to make fiscal responsibility their mantle when they are responsible for turning record surpluses into record deficits,” said Sarah Feinberg, spokeswoman for the House Democratic Caucus.
“They can’t whine about earmarks when earmarks exploded under their leadership and Democrats have cut them in half and brought accountability to the earmark process.”
The renewed influence by conservatives in the House and Senate Republican caucuses appears to be disconnected from recent poll results.
According to a Washington Post/ABC News poll released Nov. 4, Americans favor Democrats in handling the economy, 50 percent to 35 percent, and on taxes, 46 percent to 40 percent, showing that Democrats have gained an edge on fiscal issues usually dominated by Republicans.
Independents are also disgruntled. In a Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll last month, 63 percent of independents disapproved of the president’s performance.
Some Republican congressional aides privately admit that the energized push for conservative issues amounts to a “minority strategy” in which the party must reclaim its identity after being thrown out of power on Capitol Hill before making a serious run at regaining the majority.
“The far right is not going to bring the Republican Party back to power,” said Charlie Bass, president of the Main Street Republican Partnership and a former GOP House member from New Hampshire.
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Sadly, they always run as conservatives, then govern as liberals.
However, as one of his constituents, I can tell you that Demint appears to be the real deal, along with our Governor, Mark Sanford. I expect that they will both be on the short list as VP contenders.
I don’t know if Demint is a “movement” conservative, but he certainly carries the flag.
November 14th, 2007 at 4:48 amThe reason Congress is a failure whether you are liberal or conservative is because pragmatism is dead. Democrats have battled Bush on the Iraq War without coming up with successful ideas on how to win the war and Republicans have given Bush a free hand to carry out the war even though the strategy up until the surge was flawed. It is crazy for Democrats to say the war is lost and for Republicans to say they were right all along. Pragmatism must flow into the Congress.
November 14th, 2007 at 6:58 amOne of the biggest lies perpetrated by the MSM and one too many Republicans believe is that you need to move to the middle to win elections. Baloney!
No, the Dimocrats need to move to the middle to win elections. That’s a losing proposition for Republicans. Ronald Reagan didn’t run to the middle. But Bob Dole did. George Bush I ran to the middle after caving on taxes and found himself a one term President. G.W. 43 caved on his conservative principles by thinking he could work with Swim Kennedy and dropping the ball on illegal immigration and quickly found himself with about a 30% approval rating.
My biggest reservation about Rudy G. is that I will vote for the man if elected nominee (anybody but Hillary Rotten but feel many will again believe it takes a RINO to win elections. If Rudy goes to Washington and starts nominating activist judges or doesn’t fulfill his promise of promoting strict constitutionalist on the SCOTUS like Scalia or Roberts, or if he even mentions anything having to do with gun control laws, he will quickly find himself a one term President. For the Republicans to become a moderate party is a sure fire way to quickly become minority party for another 40 years.
November 14th, 2007 at 7:00 amI completely agree with Goodbye Natalie. I’m noticing that the only reason Ron Paul seems to be riding a groundswell in support is that he’s garnered a lot of the “throw the bums out”, swing, libertarian, politicians-are-all-crooks, get-the-government-out-of-my-pocket/life-Reagan Republican voters. These are the same guys who, by voting for Ross Perot, put Clinton in the White House. If the Republican leadership was smart, they would start spending some time outside the beltway, outside the gated communities, outside the main political punditry gossip circles, outside the lobbying/fundraising events and start doing what Reagan did…cultivate some great photo ops with everyday Americans…you know, like the guys on Dirty Jobs. Maybe then voters would believe them when they talk the talk on conservative, smaller government issues.
November 14th, 2007 at 8:47 amKL,
You are right. Reagan did it and you may not have liked him but Clinton was also a master of it. Clinton had town forums throughout his presidency. I don’t think it is any coincidence that both Reagan and Clinton left office with high approval ratings. Bush on the other hand has a “gated community” presidency. His ratings have suffered as a result.
November 14th, 2007 at 9:06 amHere’s some good news: a lifelong Dem friend whose father was Pres. of a union told me when asked that he’ll vote GOP in 2008 because his GOP business/political contacts treat him better than Dem contacts, that plus he doesn’t want to lose his hard earned living when Dems vcte to skyrocket taxes. He said he resents the Dems acting like they are more Dem than him, sanctimonious, when being a Dem has been in his blood for at least a couple of generations. Ha!
P.S.: Reagan won landslides by getting Caucasian bluc collar people who usually vote Dem to vote for him.
November 14th, 2007 at 9:42 am