I feel that a little context is in order so please allow me to explain. My family is all from the Northeast, Pennsylvania to be specific, and all of
them are heavily involved in politics although none hold political office. When I was speaking with my grandfather, two uncles, and a few other
relatives over the weekend when I was up there for a visit my one uncle is a staunch Liberal Democrat which is no surprise to anyone in the family
while everyone else is Republican.
What I noticed was something strange compared to the traditional landscape of American politics, all of them unanimously condemned President Bush and
all the Republicans which have governed since his election. They claim that an ideological rift began to develop back in the 1970s after they became
frustrated with the policies of Richard Nixon.
My grandfather told me he had voted for Nixon in 1960, the first time he was legally allowed to vote, and was proud to do so. He abstained from
voting in 1964 because he felt both candidates were horrible. 1968 he said he voted again and was proud to cast his vote for Richard Nixon and did so
again in 1972. But come 1976 he said that the Republican Part began to lose many of their core constituents in the Northeast, while many still
remained loyal to the GOP in their area he voted for Jimmy Carter, the first and last Democrat he ever voted for.
1980, 1984, and 1988 he voted for the main Republican candidate but said that in 1992 he felt the Republican Party no longer truly represented the
Northeast faction of the party and that voting for George H. W. Bush again would be a mistake so he cast his ballot in the primaries for Patrick
Buchanan due to the massive loss of manufacturing in the metro area and unemployment hovering around 15-20%. He did not vote in 1992 but did in 1996
for Bob Dole and in 2000 for George W. Bush. Now according to him, and in agreement with everyone else in the family, they say their vote for Bush was
far worse than their vote for Carter. 2004 and 2008 he did not vote.
So this intrigued me, they remained loyal to the Republican Party but they claim that the Republican Party had not remained loyal to them. For me it
is very interesting in a person-to-person interaction of the subject because I am used to studying it via education sources. I began to pick their
brains (figuratively) and learned many interesting positions which they claim the GOP of yesteryear would have undoubtedly supported.
1. They are very much fiscal conservatives who do not support deficits or high taxes.
2. They are against free-trade and the globalization which rapidly occurred after the fall of USSR.
3. They are angry with environmentalists and the EPA for putting nature before families.
4. They supported Clinton’s welfare reform, and unanimously opposed the use of government assistance, demanding that the welfare state be
drastically scaled back. Bringing up memories of how they worked 2-3 jobs to make ends meet with 5 kids and never asked for government help, they all
said it only makes people weak and lazy while making everything else more expensive.
5. They all said that Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security are far too large and believe that they would be best handed over to the states.
6. All of them agreed that the federal government is far too large and needed to be drastically scaled back.
7. All of them agreed that the Christian Right, while noble in their cause, are only trying to waste tax money and invade people’s privacy with
their constant government intrusions in pornography, drugs, etc…
8. They all condemned the Iraq war, some said the Afghan war was important at the beginning but we should have pulled out years ago and said that the
Republicans never supported intervention around the world for any reasons.
9. They all said that our goal should be to create more manufacturing jobs, spur private investment, and lead a nation effort to restore and rebuild
our infrastructure.
10. They all said that people should be left to their own abilities to rise or to fall except with a small safety net at the bottom for those who
truly need the help.
Those were 10 things they all agreed on that I could easily put together in the shortest amount of sentences.
After I heard everything they had said it made me wonder, I asked them if they had heard of Ron Paul, all of them have yet most do not know much
about him. I went on to explain and they said that he is a little extreme but generally that is why they believe in, his same principles, just without
dismantling all of that government just about 90% agreement with Paul.
Now they are all worried about the upcoming elections in 2012, they know that Obumbles is a buffoon and do not want him to have a second term but
they also do not want a moron like Huckabee, Gingrich, or Palin to be elected either but still do not want to stay home in 2012. I asked them about a
third party vote and they said it would be a possibility for them but it would be a last resort.
After analyzing what they had said and discussed it made me think about what happened within the GOP in the 1970s that set the stage for
Northeasterners to exit the party. So I searched the internet and the History of the Republican Party to find before my eyes something entitled the
“Southern Strategy”. Of course the North and South never seen eye-to-eye on most issues. I thought “this has to be it!”
When I was finished reading about the Southern Strategy I had concluded this was what sent the Northeastern Republicans out of the arms of the GOP
and sent the GOP into the arms of the Christian Right. It is sad that they all still cling to the GOP of what it once was, the party of manufacturers,
businessmen, social moderates, fiscal conservatives, limited government, and protectionism, but I thought “what is the possibility of the North
gaining a foothold in the GOP again?
Think about it, Bush had virtually put the nail in the coffin of Northern Republicanism but maybe it was just under his administration? We are in a
post-Bush GOP where another rift is developing and with the election of several Republicans in the Northeast maybe this is their chance of taking back
some power in the party which has now become controlled almost completely by Southern Protestant Whites, or at least its policies and temperament is
aimed towards winning over Southern Protestant Whites.
So here are my questions to you politics savvy Americans.
1. What are the chances in your opinion, of the Northeast Republicans gaining a foothold in the GOP again?
2. Do you think that Northern Republicans can make a comeback by joining in with the Tea Party or will the Tea Party chase them away
once-and-for-all?
3. Are you, is your family, or is anyone close to you what would be termed a ‘Northern Republican’?
4.What do you think will happen in 2012 should the Northeast have a large uptick in Republican affiliation? Which GOP candidates would receive the
largest Northeast Republican votes?
5. Do you think the Southern Strategy was a bad and divisive idea aimed at manipulating Southern white men at the expense of black, northern, and
moderate Republicans?
Southern Strategyedit on 3/9/2011 by Misoir because: (no reason given)