Not So Grand Old Party and Open Thread

"A-Punk" - Vampire Weekend

Wasting time at the office on this holiday weekend.  Need to clean the desk and tend to a few things so I can hit the ground running tomorrow.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

- Ramesh Ponnuru has a piece in the New York Times today about updating the Republican Party's ideas to face the reality of today.  I say good luck with that.  Ponnuru largely echoes the kind of ideas put forth by Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam in Grand New Party -- policies that are supposed to aid the American working class, the so-called "Sam's Club" voters, who are supposed to be the new face of the Republican Party.  Like Douthat and Salam, Ponnuru acknowledges that income tax cuts for the wealthy -- the north star of Republican policy for the last 35 years -- have done nothing for the white working class, the constituency upon which Republican success rests.  He argues for economic policies that do not fit within the current Republican mania for smaller government and deficit reduction (yes, we know this is a selective obsession). 

All three would like to see the payroll tax burden reduced -- which raises obvious questions about how to preserve the long term solvency of Social Security and Medicare, programs that are more important than ever to working class Americans, who by and large lack the traditional pensions and other resources for secure retirements.  They all argue, as well, for an expanded child tax credit -- in other words a wealth transfer that would favor married couples with children, an attempt to "nudge" people in the direction of stable family formation and to support "traditional" families.  This right wing social engineering will be paid for by not lowering taxes on the wealthy (and maybe even increasing them), a bit of a heresy in the era of Paul Ryan and Rand Paul and the heroic job creators of the upper class.  In other words it is a form of wealth redistribution on behalf of people who adopt a family structure of which Ponnuru, Douthat, and Salam approve.  (Along with a number of other social conservatives, all three are convinced that the sexual revolution has been disastrous for the working class -- one suspects that advocating for its repeal may prove less popular with its intended audience.)

It seems to me that Ponnuru and his allies are on to something in acknowledging that plutocratic economic policies aren't really going to deliver that which the working class needs.  However, I don't see how they can sell this sort of thing to a party that has fully committed itself to the notion that taxes must go down at all times and that government has nothing to offer to people.  

Similarly, the young Republicans portrayed in this lengthy New York Times Magazine piece, who are troubled by the GOP's hateful attitudes towards gays and immigrants -- which most Americans in the 18-29 demographic find to be at least puzzling if not abhorrent -- don't seem to have a very clear idea of how one does a 180 on these kinds of issues without alienating the folks who support you that very reason.  The Republican Party, minus its hater constituency, is a pretty small club.  (Of course a large number of the young right wingers interviewed in this article see the GOP's problems as more a result of bad messaging and technological backwardness rather than the Party platform.)  Can one really form a majority party based on cutting taxes and government spending rather than based on various forms of white resentment?  Color me skeptical.      

What's on your minds?   

Comments

[Eric Wilde]

The Death Spiral continues down and away. The vacuous Republican brand seems beyond repair. Cockroaches in Massachusetts run from the light in this upcoming special election. Whither the NRA?

Exciting times, my friends. Think midterms.

[oddjob]

Cockroaches in Massachusetts run from the light in this upcoming special election.

There's one distinct exception to that. Former US Attorney Michael Sullivan is attempting to collect enough signatures (via an all volunteer effort) to place his name on the ballot for the Republican primary for the special election. His chances are deemed to be less than 50-50, but if he succeeds he would be a credible candidate. If he wins the primary I'm not sure if the Dem. would beat him.

[oddjob]

Interesting graphical depiction of the country's various age cohorts and how they vote for party compared to the national average in every election going back into the 1990's.

[oddjob]

It would seem that the president when you came of age has a great deal to do with how you perceive the two national parties.

[Sir Charles]

oddjob,

Yeah, the notion that people move from left to right as they age is nonsense.

Political loyalties tend to form in one's twenties and they tend to stay relatively stable absent really cataclysmic events -- see e.g. the Depression, the Sixties.

Like many of you, I am part of the Reagan youth cohort, although I never joined that particular group.

I came to political maturity -- such as it is -- pretty much with the mindset that I would be in the minority forever.

I have to say that despite all of the frustrations and disappointments of recent years, I am heartened by the generational shift that has occurred and hope that we can continue it for a good long while.

[low-tech cyclist]

As part of the Nixon cohort, I'm not surprised that he convinced people coming of age in the 1969-74 era to not vote for Republicans.

It was certainly my first encounter with politics as a form of tribalism - I still considered myself a Republican in 1973, but it was pretty damned obvious that Nixon was acting like a man with something to hide. But pretty much all the Republicans I knew, including my father, defended him right until the 'smoking gun' tape was made public the following summer.

But I left the party with Anderson in 1980: I had a slight arithmetic problem with Reagan, specifically the promises to cut taxes, increase the defense budget, and balance the budget at the same time.

People won't see the elephant in the room if it's important to them that they don't see it. But whatever affiliations I share with them, I won't pretend the elephant isn't there. And when it gets too taxing to be around people like that, I'll find people to hang out with who will say, "Hey, that's an elephant!" when there's an elephant.

[oddjob]

Like many of you, I am part of the Reagan youth cohort, although I never joined that particular group.

Actually I think that's the Ford/Carter cohort.

[nancy]

Like many of you, I am part of the Reagan youth cohort

Sir C -- Perhaps this accounts for your Radiohead problem? ;)

lt-c -- I'm the Nixon cohort as well -- and didn't that feel like several lifetimes! Once you've lived as a young person under curfew and era-induced martial law, with tear gas wafting in the window, you're pretty good to go. Nixon: 'we hate you young people.' 'Yeah, we don't much care for you or your party either.'

Contemporary GOP is all an extrapolation of same.

[Sir Charles]

nancy,

Hey, c'mon, I'm the hip 53-year old lawyer/husband/father/blogger. See Vampire Weekend above.

oddjob,

I think it was the experience of a lot of 70s teens, who grew up in an error of perceived presidential failure, folly, and weakness -- Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Carter -- who were willing to buy into the myth of Reagan as some kind of political savior. I describe myself as in that cohort because the Reagan Carter race was the first one in which I could vote. And despite having supported Kennedy in the primaries, even my 20 year old self understood the supreme importance of supporting Carter, notwithstanding what I considered his immense leadership flaws.

It was amazing, however, to see the degree to which the Reagan myth was a success.

[oddjob]

Contemporary GOP is all an extrapolation of same.

Pretty much. (Hell, I was only 8-14 years old during Nixon's presidency, but it's had an enormous influence upon me.)

Wasn't Spiro Agnew more or less the iconic, "HEY! YOU ROTTEN KIDS! GET OFF OF MY LAWN!!!"

[nancy]

Oddjob, I think that would have to be "Get off my lawn, you 'nattering nabobs of negativism.' "

Words written to appeal to the great *Silent Majority*. Without irony. :)