- Home
- About Us
- Contributors
- Departments
- Topics
- Back Issues
- Weekly Archives
- AmSpecBlog
- Subscribe
- Newsletter
- Advertise
- Donate
- Contact Us
- Daily Digest
- Templeton Essays
AmSpecBlog
RNC Hangover
After five hours Thursday night and five hours Friday at the Capitol Hilton covering the contest for chairmanship of the Republican National Committee, I'm just about OD'd on the RNC.
My source who predicted Mike Duncan to have 55 votes on the first ballot was very near the mark. The two state party chairmen who said Thursday they liked Steele's chances were prescient, so I wish I hadn't taken their predictions with a grain of salt.
My belief that the all-star conservative endorsements for Ken Blackwell could make him a favorite proved woefully misguided. The thing about an RNC election is that there are only 168 voters, whose preferences are idiosyncratic and influenced by factors (including personal friendships) that are opaque to any outsider. Blackwell's endorsements from Steve Forbes, Ed Meese, Brent Bozell, David Keene, et al., which seemed so impressive to me and others, simply did not penetrate the opaque loyalties of the voting members.
This suggests a clear disconnect between the operational mechanism of the GOP and the institutional apparatus of the conservative movement. I don't think it is "a deliberate affront to the conservative movement," to use Quin's phrase. Rather, I think that the people who are doing the day-to-day work of the Republican Party simply don't pay any attention to anything outside their particular operational focus. What Bozell does at the MRC or what Meese does at Heritage doesn't have anything tangible to do with canvassing precincts or recruiting candidates or running volunteer phone-banks. And so the names of these movement leaders conjure no particular magic among RNC people.
As much as I'd like to ponder at length the phenomenon of the GOP/conservative disconnect, or contemplate the significance of the 77 votes for Katon Dawson on the final ballot, my synapses are too frayed for any serious thinking now. If anybody else has some unfatigued brain cells they'd like to apply to these Big Picture questions, please have at it.
UPDATE: Dan Riehl weighs in on the conservative movement:
In my opinion, they are Old School as organizations, more DC-esque than grassroots now and suck up too many valuable resources, some of which would probably serve the GOP better in younger, fresher hands. And I say that as no youngster myself.
There may be a problem of what I call institutional inertia. Institutions over time develop patterned ways of doing things -- institutional habits -- that are not necessarily the only way to do things nor the best way to do things. These habits become embedded, and are resistant to reform.
You see this, for example, in the public school system: If the current system did not already exist, no one seeking to develop an ideal system would create anything like what we have now. But institutional inertia causes the system to fiercely resist reform, so those who don't like what the system offers eventually just walk away. (I'm a homeschooling dad.)
It is troubling to think that the conservative movement may be an example of the same principle of organizational dynamics at work. I know that the folks at Heritage, etc., have worked hard to maintain their relevance (e.g., adapting their output for online consumption) so I'm not ready to write them off as dinosaur fossils. But reform and innovation take time.
Comments
Leave a Comment
clashseeker| 1.31.09 @ 11:36AM
dear sir, I am a republican and not a member of the conservative movement. I support and send money to the GOP, not the conservative movement. I am part of the operational focus of the GOP, especially when I write a note with my check explaining soon they will get no money or other support, unless they bitch slap Limbaugh and his crowd. Now, you may think your bunch is the base but I question your reasoning. If exit polled as to whether I am conservative, liberal, or moderate, I would have said conservative. But, such a response does not put me in your camp. If, the category political agnostic existed, I would have said that best describes me, and yes my politics in many instances would be called conservative, but in no way am I part of this conservative movement you insist is the only way for republicans. For instance, I agree with Bruce Bartlett that the welfare state is here to stay. The republican role is to make it more productive, accountable, and inject common sense into these programs. That would be a winner in even the northeast. it would help the GOP hold onto the midwest as well. I am a republican who got into quite a verbal altercation the other day in a coffee shop located in the Brown University area. Some jerk lefty woman and her guy friend were going on rather loudly about torture and such at Gitmo. I told them in no uncertain terms of my disagreement and disgust with their claims. I reminded them that members of our state national guard served there, and if they had any names or specifics. I told them I knew personally some who served and their families, and I resented their slanderous and libeling accusations. I said as far as I was concerned they should be sued by any member of the guard for their public statements. I said it loudly. I incurred nasty looks from their fellow lefty freaks in the coffee shop, but I stood up for something and said what needed to be said. But, I am told not wanted in the GOP, because I think trying to outlaw abortion is futile, or helping old folks buy their meds is communist, or agreeing with Ben Stein that a bit of a minimum wage hike is not a big deal, or that the astronomical incomes of the super rich may really not be the pure, true voice of a free market. You movement conservatives do not own the GOP. Let your hero Limbaugh debate debate Lindsey Graham on how to grow the GOP. Rush would be destroyed. Put up a representative audience of republicans and independants, and see who would be the winner. The people who see nothing " beyond their operational focus ", are the talkers and writers and thinkers of the conservative movement. You really all need a sabbatical that gets you out and about. Sit at that vaunted kitchen table with your fellow citizens as they do their monthly budgets, and deal with their problems. That"d be reality. And, I might add, once you all experienced this reality you'd come with better solutions than anything the idiot stick, plundering democrats have to offer. But, you all know all the answers. Bull.
Theresa| 1.31.09 @ 2:23PM
Wow, clashseeker is a republican that I just might like to have a cup of coffee with!
Patricia A. Helvenston| 1.31.09 @ 2:49PM
Clashseeker: You are far more conservative than you realize. The Republican Party has had your loyalty for so long you aren't able to appreciate the damage they have done to the US with big government policies, go along to get along and all the rest of the McCain mess. You have been worn down by the Marxists and need to read the book "There is no Alternative: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters." by Claire Berlinski. She documents the socialist nightmare that England was prior to Thatcher and what this woman and her government did to reverse the trend of total control of the economy by socialists and the labor unions that nearly destroyed it. Socialism can be reversed. Join conservatives who have many more plans to do so than the big gov, liberal Repubs.
Patricia A. Helvenston, Ph.D.
Interloper| 1.31.09 @ 3:42PM
Of course Robert Stacy McCain was wrong about who would win the leadership of the RNC. He lives in a bubble of far Right, neo-Confederate moonbattery. (And, apparently, is holding his children hostage there, 'protecting' them from the diverse society they will live their adult lives in.) The irony, as the long-winded, anti-paragraph guy noted, is that McCain thinks that Republicans who still are in touch in reality as the ones who 'don't get it.'
Methinks that McCain and other delusional persons (including the poor woman who thinks the U.S. is run by Marxists) have become part of a small and irrelevant, largely Southern, lunatic fringe.
Kat| 1.31.09 @ 5:18PM
I love it when liberals /Marxists lecture republicans on how to be a successful political party. Their time would be better spent trying to clean up the filth in their own party. Oh, look, Tom Daschle, another crooked Obama nominee, cheated on his taxes. You have to follow these democrats around with a broom and shovel. Democrats: The dirty politicians who pay their back-taxes AFTER they are nominated by Obama.
Red Phillips| 1.31.09 @ 6:39PM
Interloper is clearly living up to his name. For people like Interloper, all bigotry is bad unless it is against Southerners.
Frosty| 1.31.09 @ 7:01PM
It's okay to be a bigot, if you are a liberal bigot. Just ask Intergroper.
clashseeker| 1.31.09 @ 8:44PM
Dr. Helvenston, I am not beaten down. I want to fight and gave you an idea of how I do fight. But, surely you understand we need a better General than Limbaugh, and better weapons than his stale ideology. We are the Polish cavalry charges into panzer tanks right now. We need new weapons, new ideas, new everything. Rush has the persona of Scrooge prior to the xmas eve transformation and wants the entire GOP to present itself accordingly. This is a losing image.In a way we are selling toothpaste, and we proudly proclaim our brand smells like rotten fish, and tastes like sour vinegar.
clashseeker| 1.31.09 @ 8:46PM
I'll buy theresa.
Basil Plumley| 1.31.09 @ 10:34PM
@clashseeker
I am pretty sure you have a bad case of "me-too conservatism". There is still hope for a full recovery for you; for Interloper, not so much.
Alan Brooks| 1.31.09 @ 11:16PM
you'll be suprised how many people will become real conservatives when they realize how wrenching the social distortion is going to be-- unappetizing,
guaranteed.
Alan Brooks| 1.31.09 @ 11:19PM
that's surprised. you will be surprised when moral seasickness sets in, oh, around sometime during the next decade when the Old School is mostly dead and gone.
clashseeker| 2.1.09 @ 10:49AM
So the barbarians get to burn, rape, plunder our great and beautiful country while we watch and do nothing Alan explains. Then, the virtuous rise from the rubble, having learned the lesson and rebuild. Why must we endure all this suffering, and destruction ? Is there really no way to reach people before these ludicrous, subversive, meglomaniacal , insane people take total control. Is it not just a matter of a strong second party with a common sense approach to every day problems being born and put into charge of government ? A party that is not afraid to admit that tax cuts for the rich is not the solution to everything ? That abortion is here to stay , and if embryonic stem cells do indeed cure a horrible sickness we will not send storm troops into hospitals that offer said cures, and shut them down. Why can't we stand up for the American people against all enemies foreign and domestic ? Point out who really is going after them and their freedoms and fight back. If you are a man of the left BAsil and a person who wants to force your world view and lifestyle choices beware. I fought commies in Viet Nam and I'll fight them here. I am an enemy of the left. If, Interloper you believe a small right wing segment of society is your only opposition you have miscalculated. In the end your side is not with America. You think this smooth talking bullshit artist Obama is gonna transform us ? Think again again. You think you are gonna force us all into " smart cars ", take our guns, turn us into vegans living in our government approved" space" you must be prepared to fight and die for your cause. I have a clear case of truth seeking, and people like the late M Crichton have convinced me that being at least somewhat politically agnostic is the best way than some blind adherence to conservatism, or leftism. So you peel the layer of the onion I guess. The more I do this of the leftwing onion the purer and purer , deeper, more menacing evil is revealed. I'd love a violent revolution Basil. To fix bayonets and meet the legions on the left on a field of military battle is my utmost dream. Still feeling hopeful about mr Basil ?
clashseeker| 2.1.09 @ 11:07AM
sorry basil used your name when I meant interloper. I may be longwinded Interloper, but its nothing against the trillions of words and imaged the left slams us with every year. Our only answer is trillions of words from talk radio and conservative pundits. we need new fresh voices in the nation. Better than me I admit. But it is just this left vs. right debate. We need smarter, clearheaded people with honest minds entering the fray. People without a conflict of interest Is there anyone out there, anyone on the stage without massive conflicts of interest, often in the end financial. Is anyone in this media not massively over paid for producing crap, and with out any free market checks and balance? Take political talk ? Can anyone do something different beside it left or right ? Can't you predict a Limbagh show or a Brian Williams show before it even airs ? Is this the free market ? Their ratings sink or stay flat. As old farts die they both suffer. Where is the fresh challenge from competition ? Free market my ass.