There has never been any doubt in JAY H. ELL's mind that the GOP Establishment candidate, Romney, would be the Grand Old Party's, (GOP), nominee. The problem always has been how this weak candidate was going to clinch the deal, (See Blog, FOR SALE: REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION), and what was going to be the manifesto of this acknowledged Establishment Republican candidate
There is little doubt that had the "Anyone but Romney" candidates not been split, had as much money as Romney, were better organized or just BETTER period, Romney could have been easily beaten. Even as things are this is going down to the wire. There still is a majority sentiment among the Republican base that Romney is not their man and they will keep this Primary process going to the bitter end. This bruising battle has turned fissures within the party into ravines. It is, in fact, the last hoorah of the Republican party as everyone knows it. The Tea Party have taken over. You will notice that the Tea Party do not hark back to the good old days of Reagan - that is left to the conservatives who still are part of the dying GOP. Reagan would be having it uphill in this Primary too.
In fact it is in this Primary that Romney's capitalism, the credo of the Grand Old Party, has been castigated not only by the Democrats but his Republican Primary opponents. (See Blog Romney is Wounded and Bleeding).
In case the Establishment has forgotten the Tea Party had plenty of criticism of Government, period, including George W. and the rest.
WHY NO VIABLE TEA PARTY PRESIDENT?
Other than Sarah Palin, who also has crippling deficiencies, there is no coherent spokesperson for this new Republican Party. A whole number have fallen by the wayside even in this Primary as they are simply not up to speed - Bachmann, Caine, to name but a few. Those still standing simply don't cut it due to personal and philosophical deficiencies. Gingrich's associations with the Tea Party are about as new as Romney's and he really is an old style Conservative - he cut deals with Clinton. Santorum, Romney's biggest challenger may have the social credentials but not the fiscal and vice versa for Paul.
Hence the GOP Establishment have an opportunity for a last hoorah with Mitt as their standard bearer.
WHY THE GOP DEMISE?
The American political struggle has always been between unregulated laissez affaire capitalism and a more equitable deal for the employees. In the process there have been always been a divide as to how to provide social services for the less fortunate, the sick and the hungry. Should it be the Central Government? Should it be the Employers, personal responsibility and/or other forms of Private Enterprise and "free market"?
In the heady days of American economic dominance the lack of consistent legislation for fairness and equality in social services was not the issue it is now. It was the massively wealthy corporations that took on the pension programs, the health care and the like. Their intrepid pioneers also took on the role of robber barons establishing Foundations with their wealth - Carnegie, Rockefeller, Kellogg, Pew, Pritzker to name a few endowing the Arts and Welfare, much like Gates and Buffet today. Trickle down economics worked in a fashion - sometimes spectacularly. It was also aided by Governmental social programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
CHANGING WORLD FOR CORPORATIONS
The world has changed and the American corporations are now globalized with global competition. The shareholders are paramount and if you can make it cheaper in China so be it - at the expense of American jobs and services. Health care and Pensions have become such a burden that have made the Corporations uncompetitive and even bankrupt. This means the Government has to pick up the slack one way or another. It is also harder to make the argument that these global companies not bring home their profits and their rich officers not pay their share of taxes, for example. Halliburton, Cheney's company, that virtually got every contract in the Iraq war, has established it's head office in Dubai and so it goes. So much for patriotism. One thing is for sure you can't have trickle down economics if the fountain is no where in sight.
UPSHOT OF FINANCIAL WORLD CHANGE.
The upshot of change is that, in the wake of the mortgage crises, financial collapse and the recession - all associated to a lesser extent with unregulated corporate greed - the Republican credo is having a hard time. Attacking Obama's bail out of the American auto companies which salvaged 1,000,000 jobs and tons of American pride as "government interference" just wrings hollow. Fighting extensions of tax relief for the "working class" and unemployment payments is just not sounding the right note. And refusing to raise the taxation of the really wealthy who have been shown, Romney included, to pay less than the average secretary has to be out of touch with reality. But on they go!
THIS IS NOT REALLY NEW.
The steady attack on Capitalism, as it was originally understood, has been going on for a long time. A little known Governor, Bill Clinton, if one remembers was supported by Iaccoca and several businessmen as he was going to introduce Health Care Reform. Iaccoca was famously quoted as saying "How can we compete with Japanese Automakers if every American car has to include $900 health care costs. Clinton also compromised on several "entitlement" programs for the unemployed as he sought to move to the middle.
To the Republican base's chagrin and a pivotal criticism of the Tea Party was Bush the younger's "passionate" Conservatism, his policy with Teddy Kennedy of "no child left behind" and his running up of the deficit - inter alia financing wars without finding money to pay for it.
So there has been an attack of the fiscal and social services policies of the GOP for sometime now both from within and without the Party - although often for differing reasons.
So rah rah rah for Romney. He is understandably dancing on eggs as he himself had made "adjustments" to Republican dogma in Massachusetts with Romneycare, for example. This is the selfsame policy of Obamacare that he is now so busily repudiating. Simply put changing circumstances do not give the GOP a coherent policy to run on - giving the somewhat challenged Romney little chance of winning.
Their only unified stance is "Out with Obama", which is resonating because of the economy, but can that be enough to win a Presidential election?
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