This weekend, I've been at a family function in Akron, Ohio - the gray, snowy political middle of Middle America. It is a place where big corporations test their products before taking them to the wider market. And looking at the front cover of the local section of the Akron Beacon Journal, I can see just how adrift the Republican Party really is.
In a story about an upcoming local congressional race, we get this from one of the potential GOP challengers:
''I'm from the private sector -- I have no agenda,'' said David Potter, a medical device sales man and one of the Republican contenders on the March 4 ballot. ''At the end of the day, when the Constitution was formed, nowhere was it indicated that you have to hold office to represent good views.'' (emphasis added)
Campaigning on "having no agenda" is one level of ridiculousness, especially for a Republican Party that prides itself on having supposed principles. But going on to say that there is no need to "represent good views" in a public office is just downright hilarious as a public message - especially in a state that has recently been ravaged by Republicans with decidedly "bad views" (ie. corruption).
Granted, this is a statement from one local Republican congressional candidate. But then, this is emblematic of the Republican Party nationally - a party that has really lost its way. It is a party that continues to back the Iraq War and royalist economic policies that reward the wealthy during a recession. I guess in some ways, Republicans who really do "have no agenda" are probably more innocuous than those who are honest about their regressive objectives. Then again, the ones who say they have no agenda are probably just not telling the truth.
Either way, it's pretty telling that here in the political heart of the heartland, GOP candidates are fleeing from their national party to the point where they are making self-indicting statements on the front page of their local newspapers.