The GOP Doesn’t Need “Republicans” Like Schwarzenegger (UPDATED)
Rebuilding the GOP is going to be a long and arduous process. There is a lot of talk right now about rebirth, about how the GOP needs to abandon conservatism and appeal to the wandering “middle”; talk about the party’s hopes in 2012 and who will lead the charge against an incumbent Obama administration. To me, this is unfathomable right now.
To be sure, the Democrats have a lot riding on the next four years. No more excuses for them. Starting January 20, 2009, it’s their economy, it’s their war on terror, etc. But they have the power and the control now. The GOP does not; and quite frankly, they don’t deserve to have any of it right now. Not when the GOP establishment in Washington, including President Bush, have wasted precious political capital, not to mention the time, money and efforts of its supporters blowing it away, spending like liberals and allowing the runaway growth of government to continue unabated for years. What turned the tide in Obama’s favor, was the perception that the GOP was not an alternative to tax and spend liberals, but their equal. The GOP got what they deserved.
President Bush learned that “compassion” in politics means more spending, which leads to more bureaucracy and more waste; characteristics attributable to liberal agendas more than anything else. William Buckley once said of President Bush, that he was conservative but not a conservative. And John McCain was never even close. Nevertheless, the irreparable damage to the GOP was completed long before John McCain became the nominee. The GOP is not seen as conservative; there is no fiscal responsibility, no accountability.
As some have noted, there are bright spots in the GOP, particularly at the state level. This may be true, but there is waste there as well, and waste needs to be discarded. If it isn’t, it will continue to rot and give off a real funky smell.
Now that the federal government has left the door wide, wide open for bailouts of any size, shape and form, it really wasn’t a surprise for states to start whining as well. The governors of New Jersey and New York have already made the trip to DC to plead for help. (Interestingly enough, John Corzine who was co-chairman of Goldman Sachs with Henry Paulson, is just as clueless with public finance as Corzine is apparently).
Today, Gov. Schwarzenegger of California is pushing the panic button, and more than likely, as Malkin notes, is looking for a handout:
Facing a deep budget deficit, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday declared a “fiscal emergency” in California and called a special session of the state legislature to deal with the crisis.
“Without immediate action our state is headed for a fiscal disaster,” said Schwarzenegger in a statement.
The Governator likes to talk tough at GOP conventions and stumping for candidates; his great speech at the 2004 GOP Convention seems like decades in the past. But his record, in his second term at least, stands as one of fiscal irresponsibility and pandering to liberal special interests, drifting towards the political “center”. Of course, Democrats share much if not most of the blame as well. But the point is made. This is not conservatism. Again, this is not conservatism. Fiscal conservatism is all but dead in the Republican party, which is one of the reasons they have lost in the past two election cycles, and will continue to lose in the foreseeable future. They need to get their act together and lose the dead weight.
(UPDATE)
Stacy McCain has more
And speaking of Republican dead weight. Senator Mel Martinez is not running for re-election. More from Malkin and Allahpundit.
Tags: 2008 Election, Arnold Schwarzenegger, California financial emergency, GOP, government bailout, Republican Party
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