Jennifer Rubin suggests that I've
misrepresented her arguments, and perhaps so. She calls to my
attention
her two final paragraphs:
So perhaps Republicans can take their cue not just from Haley
Barbour, but also from Rahm Emanuel. If the former provides a
guide to policy - pragmatic, relevant, a mix of fiscal sanity
with effective middle-class services - the latter gives the
clue on candidates. It was Emanuel, who as head of the
Democratic Congressional Committee teamed up with Sen. Chuck
Schumer to recruit candidates around the country to fit
constituents in diverse locales. The result was two successive
Congressional cycles in which attractive Democratic candidates,
well-matched ideologically to their districts and states, made
substantial gains, and thereby lifted the Democrats to
comfortable majorities in the House and Senate.
So the Republicans have their work cut out for them, just as
the Democrats did following their losses in 2000 and 2004.
Devise center-right policies on bread-and-butter issues to woo
back swing voters. Look to the governors for policy innovation.
But politics does not operate in a vacuum or in the newpaper
columns of pundits. Ultimately the GOP must find candidates who
may diverge from the party "line" but can win over voters
outside conservative strongholds. It is not an impossible task
but it will be that much more difficult if Republicans
maintain a tone of class resentment, paranoia, and vitriol and
adhere to policy positions which are either extraneous or
offensive to large segments of the electorate. The
choice is up to them: become the Dixiecrats of the 21st century
or forge a new Republican majority.
With the first bolded section, I have no quarrel. It's the second
section that is troubling. Democrats have certainly never shied
away from class resentment (that eeeevilll top 5
percent!) and while there are indeed some paranoid, vitriolic
Republicans, we shouldn't blame the entire party for Sean
Hannity's shortcomings.
As to conservatism being "offensive to large segments of the
electorate" -- well, yes, those segments are called "liberals."
