In a futile bid to hype an upcoming Republican Party special session in Washington this week, GOP Communications Director Trevor Francis characterized the unusual meeting - so soon after picking a Chair only several months ago - as "the beginning of a new direction for the party" and that "the days of looking back are no longer relevant or helpful."
At first glance, perhaps this is RNC Chair Michael Steele's attempt to re-assert himself as "Joe Clark" of the GOP: "I'm the H.N.I.C.!" Yet, one quirky development on the agenda derails any hope for that and Steele, once again, finds himself struggling to control party management and direction: attendees are strong to pass a resolution officially branding their Democratic rivals as "socialists."
Republicans contradict themselves by choosing to "re-brand" Democrats as "socialists," after asserting "the days of looking back are no longer helpful or relevant." There's something awfully old school and uninventive about that. As though a band of curmudgeon, crotchety conservative blokes - still in disbelief over the party affiliation and persuasion of the guy in the White House - could only come up with this. If feeling compelled to re-brand your opponent in the face of stinging defeat is not spiteful at the least then we're forced to redefine pettiness. Bad enough Republicans incorrectly overuse a noun ("Democrat") in what they see as their clever dig at the adjective ("Democratic"). Any re-branding effort on the part of the GOP should wisely focus on its own message and image, followed by a commitment to creatively differentiate itself from the opposition with sound alternative policy. And the problem here, in what is dangerously becoming an elusive quest to maintain a balanced two-party system, is that we're seeing a whole lot of pugilistic resistance and bark as opposed to cogitative plan and bite.
We want to believe there are smart people in the GOP. There's some indication that GOP messaging chiefs are looking at recent polling data suggesting a slim majority of Americans want smaller government as opposed to bigger government. Hence, attack the left for European-style polity; cast Democrats as "socialist" insurgents brown-shirting 21st century tyranny and Orwellian despotism. Taking that road may appear a bit extreme, but the polls, so say the hacks, may differ. Much of that sentiment possibly stems from party-line anxieties over the magnitude of the $800 billion stimulus package and concerns that Congress may have to pass another one: an April CBS News poll showed 72% of Republicans worried over the growth of government as opposed to 58% of Democrats wanting more of it. Even though more Americans are leaning towards greater government control over health care and Wall Street, Republican polling gurus can point to a recent CNN poll finding only 39% of Americans wanting stricter gun control laws. In the sense that party leadership wants to keep its core intact, one could argue its smart politics, especially when the threat of total implosion appears imminent.
But, anything short term is simply a hustle. The GOP's long term survival hinges on what it can do to attract others ... many others. On a larger scale, looking beyond the base, it's wicked misguided to pursue this re-branding of the opposition. And it's a clear fumble reflecting the RNC Chair's inability to smartly manage irate factions within his party and said party's belligerent declension from political reality. The "socialist" brand throwback also shows the extent of the GOP's detachment from every part of the population except its steady conservative base. Does the average voter even know what "socialist" means? And do they care? In his discomfort with the use of "Democrat" as an adjective, the late great conservative thinker William F. Buckley, Jr. once wrote: "It has the effect of injecting politics into language, and that should be avoided. [I]t's our job to get the correct meaning transmitted without contorting the language." One wonders what Buckley would have thought about this latest effort.
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