Sunday, September 7, 2008

The Republican majority?

Gloria Steinem the other day, in the midst of a column ripping Sarah Palin for not being a leftist feminist a la Steinem, claimed the following concerning the Republican Party:

"Republicans may learn they can't appeal to right-wing patriarchs and most women at the same time. A loss in November could cause the centrist majority of Republicans to take back their party, which was the first to support the Equal Rights Amendment and should be the last to want to invite government into the wombs of women."

Ah, yes--that elusive Republican "centrist majority", always dreamed of by persons such as Steinem. Of course, their "centrism" just happens to be, in Steinem's fantasy, very much acceptable to feminism; and it's out there somewhere, somehow, they think. They've been pushing this for quite some time--ever since 1964, when Barry Goldwater secured the Republican nomination, and liberals and Democrats convinced themselves that it was some kind of "radical minority" that had somehow hijacked the GOP, but that some day their version of "sanity" (read: a world where conservatives are maybe seen once in a while but never heard) would again prevail. But later along came Reagan; and now one can't win a Republican nomination without appealing to conservatives.

And, sorry, Ms. Steinem--that fact should tell you that there IS no Steinem-friendly "centrist" majority in the Republican Party. Reagan was conservatism's hero. George Bush the elder appealed to conservatives with his service to Reagan, and his plan to resist tax increases. Bob Dole appealed to conservatives by promising tax cuts. George W. Bush has always called himself a "compassionate conservative", but he could never have gotten the GOP nomination without appealing and winning the support of the right. John McCain has appealed to it, too--most recently, by nominating Sarah Palin! Yes, within the Republican Party, then, there's a conservative majority; one that we've worked hard to build and to maintain. Maybe some day, you'll accept the reality of it. But I'm not holding my breath.