Few things have intrigued me more about the current election cycle than references to the Republican Party's 'base'. John McCain apparently is not well-liked by it. Sarah Palin is adored by it. The base does not respond well to intellectual appeals, nor to statistics, nor to logic. The base is more of a meat and potatoes animal. It loves to clap when opponents are accused of anti-American behavior and beliefs. The base roars when potbellied local sheriffs introduce McCain or Palin with short riffs decrying the politics of Barack "HOO-SAYN" Obama. The base is not happy that the mainstream media elite have the temerity to question the "You betcha", "gosh darnit", down-to-earth folksy image of Sarah Palin upon learning that she's benefited from a $150,000 couture makeover courtesy of the RNC.
But just what is the Republican base?
Dictionary.com describes the word 'base' in part as follows:
base
adjective, bas.er, bas.est, noun
-adjective
- morally low; without estimable personal qualities; dishonorable; meanspirited; selfish; cowardly.
- of little or no value; worthless; hastily composed of base materials.
- debased or counterfeit: and attempt to eliminate the base coinage.
- characteristic of or befitting an inferior person or thing.
http://dictionary.reference.com/...
As the hull of the good ship McCain slips slowly and ignominiously below the waterline, it is worth inquiring into the true nature and composition of the Republican base. It may just be me, but in view of all the outrageous shenanigans recently undertaken - or sanctioned - by the McCain/Palin ticket in connection with the general election campaign, I would swear that the term 'base' is code for 'right-wing fanatics'. Obviously, noone in the campaign, or the RNC, for that matter, wants to say of Sarah Palin, "Her selection as VP has really energized the right-wing fanatics within the party." It sounds infinitely more positive to say, " "Her selection as VP has really energized the party's base." This latter iteration also has the virtue of making John McCain look less like a pandering, unprincipled idiot for having chosen her.
Unfortunately, all this leaves me wondering about the intellectual and philosophical conservatives I've met throughout my life - not a ton of them, but they're certainly out there - who sincerely believe in smaller government (not the bloated, unrecognizable monster force-fed by Messrs. Reagan and Bush II), and others who, though people of deep faith, believe that religious tenets are an individual's own business, and that forcing God down other people's throats - or suppressing other folks' religious opinions - is not a legitimate function of any government, federal or otherwise. There are still others who believe very strongly in individual privacy rights, which means - among other things - that government has no more business intruding on the bedroom of a couple (ANY couple) than on that couple's church service.
If I were one of those folks, and I'm not, I would be profoundly disturbed by the media's - and the Republican Party's - constant invocation of appeals to, and responses from, its 'base'. Such language, in the context in which it's been offered recently, clearly and quite intentionally excludes most rational, moderate, thinking Republicans throughout the country. (Forget about attracting centrist independents - they're clearly also not deemed worthy of inclusion in the 'base'.) It makes me wonder just what the RNC could be thinking.
Clearly, the McCain campaign is a lost cause, but why on earth would the Party posture so shamelessly in an effort to shore up its 'base' for the future? Do the 'powers that be' on the right actually believe that in a post-2008 election world they have any chance of winning the White House - or improving their position in Congress - without support from rational, moderate, thinking Republicans and independents? As a liberal, I couldn't hope for any more than that the GOP continues to operate entirely 'off base' for years to come.