Over the years many have come to claim the title of Republican. The Republican party, true to its founders tried to be accomodating to those who wished to join in our efforts to make America in the image its founders established for us. This is a lofty, and some would even say impossible task, but the old Robert Browning quote is a good priciple to guide ones efforts. "A mans reach should always exceed his grasp."
The down side is over the years we have lost our way more than once and never more so than in the last 30 years. Why do I say that? Simple, two factions have risen to prominece within the party to the point of dominance and have corrupted, some would say usurped, the principles the party was founded on.
The Neo Consevatives have always been with us. Like a bad penny they simply won't leave. They are the plutocrats and corporatists. They believe government should be only by those with means. They chose the Republican party and they have good reason for this and that reason has played itself out now, much to the chagrin of us long time Real Republicans. (that will be explained in a different entry)
Then we mistakenly welcomed the TeaParty in because they claimed to be patriots. They talked a good show but in the end they turned out to be the secessionists, states righters and puritans. Not the folks you really want in your corner if a strong Republic is your goal. The problem now is how to make them go somewhere else.
That leaves us with very few of the old Republicans still in the party. Even the current chairman is a neocon. The rest have either gone Democrat or now consider themselves independants. It's not that we left the Republican party, but more like the Republican party left us and our traditional values. What values? Equal rights. Voting rights. The right for labor to organise, Progressivism just to name a few.
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