The New Republican Party Leadership - Where Is It?

[oldiebutgoodie]

I grew up in the 1950's with "I Love Lucy" and Eisenhower and the Republican Party at that time seemed to represent solid family values. Life seemed plainer and simpler although I'm sure there were also scandals and controversies. I do remember having to practice a bomb drill at home and at school in case the Russians ever dropped a nuclear bomb on us (as if hiding under a desk would save you, lol). What's so funny about the bomb drill business was just a year or so ago, I was talking to a Russian cab driver and he laughed so hard when I told him about that and he said, "We had to do the same thing! Just in case you Americans dropped the bomb on us!"

So, the world wasn't perfect then, either, but you had a pretty clear idea of what the Republican Party was and who its leaders were.

Today, it seems that the Republican Party is struggling to identify itself and to have clear leaders emerge that the rank and file will recognize as representative of the "big umbrella" of varied points of view in the party. A leader would have to come up the ranks of leadership, perhaps as a Senator or Representative or Governor and have proven bona fides in education and government and public service.

I found this article on Yahoo News that discusses some aspects of the Republican Party's current turmoil. So... my question would be, what does anyone here think will be the eventual outcome for the Republican Party in the next few years and who will emerge as its strongest leaders?

Here are excerpts from the article:

GOP tussles over leadership, party's future path

NEW YORK – Rush Limbaugh has been Topic A in the political world, with Republicans debating his influence on their party and Democrats trying to elevate the conservative radio host to the GOP's de facto spokesman.

The skirmish has cast a bright light on the GOP and its search for leadership in the Obama era. But the personality-driven diversion has deflected attention from the deeper problems the party faces.

Simply put, the public isn't buying what Republicans are selling right now.

An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll this past week put Republican popularity at near historic lows. Just 26 percent in the survey viewed the party positively, compared with 68 percent for President Barack Obama, despite the economic crisis and sharp GOP criticism of his $3.8 trillion budget plan.

Republicans trailed by more than a 30-point margin on the question of which party is best positioned to end the recession.

Congressional Republicans did show remarkable near-unanimity in opposing Obama's $787 billion stimulus plan. Yet party leaders have proved less successful in articulating a competing message on the economy.

[...]

The party's up and coming leaders have stumbled a bit as well.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a potential presidential contender in 2012, was widely panned after his nationally televised response to Obama's address to Congress last month.

Jindal and other Southern governors, including South Carolina's Mark Sanford and Mississippi's Haley Barbour, have drawn flack for refusing money from Obama's economic stimulus plan to help expand unemployment benefits, even though their states have some of the highest unemployment rates in the country.

And Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee, has avoided the spotlight amid complaints in her state that she had been too focused on developing her national profile.

Democrats have their share of political headaches, most notably Illinois Sen. Roland Burris. He has refused to step down after acknowledging he had tried to raise money for the state's former governor, Rod Blagojevich, who appointed Burris to the seat before being impeached and removed from office.

[...]

Still, little on the Democratic side compares with the Republican Party's challenges.

[...]

Still, the challenges are such that the GOP chairman, Michael Steele, pledged in a radio interview to put the GOP on a "12-step program" to cure it of its ills. That came after he was forced to apologize to Limbaugh for calling his message "incendiary and ugly."

No less the Arizona Sen. John McCain, the 2008 GOP presidential candidate, said this past week that the party was on the ropes.

"We just lost two elections in a row, big time. Let's get together," McCain told Fox News.

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE HERE

So where does the Republican Party go from here?

[LouiseVargas]

The Republican party is nowhere. As of now, there is no electable leader. And I'm amazed to hear people say Rush Limbaugh is the new spokesman. That is laughable. That rich fat glutton took oxycontin for years. And Bobby Jindal is already toast. Two strikes.

[oldiebutgoodie]

The Republican party is nowhere. As of now, there is no electable leader. And I'm amazed to hear people say Rush Limbaugh is the new spokesman. That is laughable. That rich fat glutton took oxycontin for years. And Bobby Jindal is already toast. Two strikes.

I think this whole "Rush as Leader" spiel only came about as a machination of the leaders of the Democratic Party. They are the ones truly promoting the Rush as Leader thing. Why would they do that? Because they know that Rush is a buffoon and they want to damage the Republican Party even more than it's already been damaged. If the Republican Party is represented by a buffoon with a wealth of embarrassing material to play with, that's another anchor to drag the whole party down.

Democrats might think that's dirty-politics-as-usual and no doubt, the Republicans would hand the Democrats a shovel to dig their own grave if they were in that position, too, but meanwhile just plain Americans like me are disgusted with the whole political machine in this country and that's for both parties. It's one of the reasons I'm an Independent.

We have some serious sh*t to deal with as a nation and our major political parties have the time to waste on Rushbo games?

And one of the sad things about all this are the just plain Republicans, the rank and file, the ordinary citizens who think this is a serious campaign on Rush's behalf to make him a leader. These just plain Americans deserve better from their political party and their real leaders.

Democrats had better be real careful in cutting the Republican Party up into little pieces like they are trying to do. More Americans identify with a conservative Republican-oriented political philosophy than anything the Democrats are representing. Something for Democratic leadership to think about.

[WhiskeyGirl]

I'm of the old school that believes that the power or any government or political party comes from the people.  Perhaps the Republican Party is looking to all the little people that have lost money, jobs, and home, and looking to see how they can help. 

I would imagine, that independent parties are doing the same.  When will a political party come to power that represents the long term interests of American?  Makes jobs for America a priority?  Seeks to level the playing field with rich foreign countries, companies, and wealthy individuals?  Seeks to build common sense financial and social firewalls to protect Americans?  Believes that a strong nation is in the best interests of everyone?  A party that doesn't put the financial interests of wealthy foreigners first?  Ensures that our common values apply to everyone that sells in America, and not just American businesses?

jmho

[crazybabyborg]

Rush isn't my cup of tea, but he's obviously a voice to a lot of people judging by his radio audience, and according to the whole content of what I have heard from him outside of his radio show ( I don't listen to it ), I am much more closely aligned with his point of view than I am Obama/Pelosi's. MUCH MORE!

Rush isn't running for office. He's a commentator at best, and people who are increasingly alarmed at the direction the current administration is taking this country turn to any outlet that echoes their concerns. Enter Rush Limbaugh.
Rush isn't a problem for the Republican Party, IMO, but the Democraticic Party is in dire need to distract conservatives from the Obama/Pelosi agenda because lots of folk who aren't traditional conservatives have growing concerns over the policies being pushed and passed. What better way than to frame Rush as the definition of the "alternative"?

Newt Gingrich is far more representative of the majority conservative view, but there are many others; Kasich and Huckabee, among them. I'm not at all concerned about the "unification" of te Republican Party. Obama is doing that for us.