Picking up from the last posting, the focus of much of the political commentary since last Tuesday has been on the Republican Party. How will it respond to its losses, which were serious and totally unexpected by party leaders, pundits, and faithful? There is the hope that it will learn its lesson and shift back to the center at least enough so that it can advocate a less abrasive and radical conservatism. There is the fear that it can't and that we will continue to be plagued by asymmetrical politics. Stated theologically, there is the hope that the party will learn the lessons of idolatry and will move away from the hardline ideology in which is has been mired for some years now. The statement, "This is not your grandparents' Republican Party," reflects the reality of how far to the hard right the party has fallen. The predominant portion worships uncritically at the feet of Conservatism. The religious fundamentalism of the Evangelical Right gives this idolatry a religious fervor, one of the key marks of idolatry being the worship of a false idol. The racial fear of people of color, the Other so potently symbolized by President Obama, is an idol in itself and powerfully contributes to the Idol of Conservatism worshipped by the dominant wing of today's Republican Party.
Much of the Republican Party appears to live in a bubble because it does live in a bubble. Its faithful live in an alternative reality where their hard right version of conservatism fed by religious fundamentalism and white racism is god-like, and the god their religious wing preaches is a piece of their idolatry. The Republican Party was not like this in the past. The Democratic Party, for all of its obvious flaws, is not like this today, although the possibility that it could be is always with us. Inside the bubble of right wing idolatry, the president is an anti-christ figure. He is not the legitimate president. He is a Muslim born in Kenya. He is a socialist who doesn't understand how the "real" America works. He is incompetent and lazy (meaning, of course, he is a person of color). His followers are ignoramuses or only interested in living off the government "teat"—"they" just want "stuff" (meaning, of course, they too are people of color). Thus, the 2012 election's results are mind-boggling to the idolatrous hardcore Right that is so powerful in the Republican Party. Its faithful are fervently convinced that the real America of their forefathers is dying.
Idolatry is always insidious and always carries its own judgment. The political ideology that infects a powerful wing of the Republican Party cannot be sustained in the long run. As a form of idolatry, it is self-defeating and self-destructive. The thing that is not comforting is that idols fall hard and in the process cause significant collateral damage. What could happen is that the hard right wing of the Republican Party will refuse to budge politically or practice compromise, and the demographic realities of 21st century America will inexorably squeeze it into a smaller and smaller space until eventually it will become irrelevant. But the process will take time. Each election cycle the Republican Party as it is today will shrivel a little more. As some have already observed, Virginia, Florida, Nevada, Colorado, and Ohio will become solid blue states. The new swing states will be places like Texas, Arizona, and Georgia. The electoral college math suggests that it will become harder and harder for a Republican to win the presidency. The Congress will eventually become lopsided with Democrats. And the real debate in American politics will be between liberal and conservative blue dog Democrats with a rump Republican Party sometimes allying itself with the blue dogs.
Or, perhaps, the Republican Party can shake the party loose from its idolatry, and we can return to true, fruitful two party politics. This could well happen. Certainly, right now there is a sense that the Republicans could loosen up their doctrine of "new no taxes" and could accept some kind of meaningful immigration reform measure. Some powerful Republicans, at least, heard the message that the public is tired of all the fighting and wants a Washington that works effectively and cooperatively. This second scenario is preferable, but given where the party is today not certain. Idols fall hard. Their faithful will not, cannot live outside the bubble. They cannot compromise their principles. They honestly believe that their political opponents are inherently evil. And the realities of 21st century America will eventually bring their god crashing down, but it will take time and there will be a good deal of damage done to the very fabric of our nation.
The matter hangs in the balance. Idols are powerful, and a wing of the Republican Party will not learn the lessons of defeat. They will continue to live inside the bubble, and their intransigence threatens the whole party with decline and eventual irrelevance on the national scene. There is another wing, however, that can live outside of the bubble and learn the hard lessons of last Tuesday. The key is compromise and humility. Real-world politics requires compromise and a pinch of humility. If the Republican Party can shake itself free of doctrinaire politics ("no new taxes" politics), it can reverse the otherwise inevitable demographic decline that threatens it today—if. But, we should never forget that idols fall hard.
The matter hangs in the balance. Idols are powerful, and a wing of the Republican Party will not learn the lessons of defeat. They will continue to live inside the bubble, and their intransigence threatens the whole party with decline and eventual irrelevance on the national scene. There is another wing, however, that can live outside of the bubble and learn the hard lessons of last Tuesday. The key is compromise and humility. Real-world politics requires compromise and a pinch of humility. If the Republican Party can shake itself free of doctrinaire politics ("no new taxes" politics), it can reverse the otherwise inevitable demographic decline that threatens it today—if. But, we should never forget that idols fall hard.
