The Strange Death of Republican America

On July 29, President George W. Bush appeared at the Lincoln Electric Company in Euclid, Ohio, where he spoke about energy and then asked the audience for questions. The opportunity for people in a small town in the Midwest to pose a question directly to the president of the United States is a rare one, possibly a once in a lifetime experience. "And now I'd like to answer some questions, if you have any," said Bush. But his request was returned with silence. Bush filled the air with an awkward joke: "After seven-and-a-half years, if I can't figure out how to dodge them, I shouldn't..." The audience tittered nervously. Bush continued, "If you don't have any questions, I can tell you a lot of interesting stories." The crowd laughed again, but no one raised a hand. "Okay," said Bush, "I'll tell you a story."

Despite the daily tracking polls and the back-and-forth of the candidates, the underlying story of the 2008 presidential campaign remains the Bush presidency and how it brought about the end of the long era of Republican political dominance that began in 1968 with the election of Richard Nixon. That story is the subject of my new book, "The Strange Death of Republican America: Chronicles of a Collapsing Party."

Bush has the lowest sustained popularity among modern presidents. The Republican Party has fallen farther behind the Democratic Party in party identification and favorable ratings than it has in decades. Democrats are poised to make dramatic gains in their numbers in the House of Representatives and the Senate. The previously little-known Senator Barack Obama could have vaulted to become the presumptive Democratic nominee only as a response to Bush. Senator John McCain's emergence at the presumptive Republican nominee is also one of Bush's consequences. Without the crackup of the conservative movement and the fragmentation of the Republican primary field, McCain would not have had his opening. His candidacy is as much a manifestation of the shattering of the Republican phalanx as Obama's. Whatever the outcome of their contest, the party as it was is over. Today no one can even envision when the Republicans will control the presidency and both houses of the Congress as they did just two years ago.

Bush's decline is an end to more than family dynasty; it is an end of political empire. Bush, "The Decider," was the implementer of complementary radical plans for an imperial presidency and a one-party government to be ruled for generations by Republicans.

Dick Cheney, whose Secret Service code name when he was President Gerald Ford's chief of staff, "Backseat," suggested his invisible influence, was the originator of the imperial presidency. It was a overarching idea he took from the Nixon White House, when he was then counselor Donald Rumsfeld's deputy, and elaborated as vice president into a doctrine of an unaccountable and unfettered "unitary executive" that had the right unto itself even to order torture.

Bush's chief political strategist, Karl Rove, whom he has called "The Architect" and "Turdblossom," was the designer of the grand realignment that would lock in Republican control for time immemorial.

But Bush's fiascos, from Gulf to shining Gulf, from the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq to FEMA in New Orleans, were the culmination of Republican ideology and have unraveled Republican strengths built up over 40 years. I explain the scope of Bush's damage to his party in a talk on July 31 at the New America Foundation in Washington, D.C., which can be viewed here.

Though the Republican era is drawing to an end, a new Democratic one is not inevitable. Its dawning would require not only winning the White House and the Congress but also governing together successfully, which has not been possible since Lyndon Johnson was president.

In the meantime, the growing intensity of the day-to-day campaign has turned the focus away from the Bush presidency. Bush has achieved the weird effect of being the incumbent, still responsible, and increasingly ignored as somehow irrelevant. The silence that greeted Bush in Euclid, Ohio is symptomatic of his fading while still being present. Dominating politics just a short time ago, his elusiveness can only work to the advantage of the Republicans. If the Democratic campaign allows him to escape from being in the picture it will have forgotten a cardinal law of politics that voters can be led into the future only by making the election a referendum on the past.

Comments

[Ohg]

We wonder if George Bush will ever realize how foolish he seems on the domestic and world stage.......................http://thefiresidepost.com/2008/08/11/george-bush-started-a-joke/

[larry278]

It may be that Mr Putin, the de facto leader of the CIS [aka Russia] will be given the credit or blame for destroying W's Republican party Karl Rove designed. Putin's invasion of Georgia appears to be the coup de grace which crushed Rove's structure. We may see the G W BUSH/R B CHENEY wing of the Republican lose the trust of the religious right fundies, the military/industrial block, capitalsts & the so called establishment, aka power elite. The names of W, Rove, Cheney, Rumsfeld et al will become anathema if Russia defeats Georgia. The loaded question of the 21st century will be, Who lost Georgia, Iraq, Afghanistan, America's foreign sources of oil, the middle east, the Muslim World for the USA? The answer will be W & the neo-con Republicans. W would be well advised to stay in China & beg for refuge after this week-end. Putin & Russia have destroyed the credibility of America's neo-cons & W by invading Georgia. The USA can't do anyting about it except say, "Nasty, nasty, Russians".

[Ceruleanblue1]

I only wish the Republican era was over. Unfortunately, they have no intention of going quietly. They have been plotting this out for 30 years. They apparently have decided it's time to stop with that silly 225 year old experiment with democracy. They can rely on the Democrats who never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. The Dems are playing by the old two-party system rules, bringing picnic lunches to the fields while the GOP, which has virtually declared war on them, is sending in bombers. The Reps still have their think tanks which they have spent billions on and staff who can always count on the sleeze factor to work, and brilliantly. The Dems are poo-pooing the Paris Hilton ad. Don't kid yourself. The Reps know exactly what they're doing in their ads and publicity, right down to the very last dotted-i and crossed-t.


Don't write the GOP off yet. They're are still very much in the game.

[ProudLiberalDan]

Blumenthal makes some great points.

However, Obama is barely leading in the polls because he's using this wrong approach. This naive "new politics" may have helped him win the nomination (barely), but it ain't going to win him the general by itself. Only a small number of people care about "unity". Most people who are struggling economically and are anxious about Iraq and foreign policies want a "fighter" who will advocate for them. Obama's ad about "we can't afford four more years of this type of politics" misses the mark.

"Division" is not what has caused our public policy problems. It's not "division" that misled the nation into war against the wrong country and then incompetently planned that war, or gave wealthy people tax cuts they didn't need bankrupting our treasury, or seek to amend the constitution to make a whole segment of the American population second class citizens, or stopped congressional business to inflict their religious beliefs on Terry Schaivo, or obstructed any government investment in alternative energy sources. "Division" didn't do these things. CONSERVATIVES did these things. If Obama wants to do more than squeak into victory he needs to bag this unity theme and aggressively confront the conservative movement, and link McCains voting record with it.

If Obama wants more than a squeaker of a win, he needs to forget unity and start hammering conservatives with both barrels. It's the only he can take advantage of general disgust with the Republican Party and the conservative movement.

[onlinesavant]

I know it is the current di rigeur of the regressives to claim that "the polls are close'! But there is a post currently on this site that explodes that whole myth. It's called "The myth of the popular vote vs. the electoral vote". I suggest all you fretting purposefully over Obama's perceived inability to "close the deal" before either convention has even happened to read it.

[Citizen54]

The author overlooks the dreadful fact that McCain is going to be elected President. Look at how close the polls are now, and just wait until November, by which time those incompetent Republicans will have convinced those "independent" voters that they do not want to put a black man in the White House. The bamboozled in our nation, and they are many, will not be thinking about all of Bush's disasters when they go to vote. They will be thinking "old white guy war hero vs. black dude." In our dumbocracy, it's that simple.

[PurplePhase]

Historically, voter sentiment changed and sometimes decisively after the party conventions.

Because the polls are close, a small swing can make a big difference.

It's too early to count the chickens, they haven't hatched yet.

[Pat15]

Republicans have always been about propaganda & hypocracy ... They call themselves conservatives but look at their actions ...biggest deficits, $ lost 50% of the value, jobs gone overseas, imports at the highest levels .. But you have to give it to them they know how to win close elections ... The problem is that even the regular Joe who gets shafted time after time comes back for more from these Hypocrites ...
No surprise here ..Repugs will do anything for their base no matter how low they have to stoop to ...However, they will turn around then talk about Family values, God & that in thier eyes balances everything ... Imagine this free spirit Staright Talk has stooped so low to sell his soul to the evangicals ...How hypocritical of him but Being Hypocritical is Republican Trade mark ... No surprise there ...

Hope folks remember what has ocuured the leadership of Bush ... another 4/8 yeras under McBush and this nation will become 3rd world country ..with majority of people living under the poverty line. no health insurance, low wages & vast sum of wealth controlled by the few ... . American citizens have not shown any propensity to learn from the past but only time will tell .. Amen

[dadw5boys]

This tells thewhole story!


http://static.crooksandliars.com/2008/08/greenberg21.jpg

[JennyJay]

GOP - the party of dumb and dumber.

[returnofthejedi]

When people say that Hurricane Katrina was the worst disaster in American history, the are mistaken.
The greatest disaster that has happened to America to date was the Supreme Court selecting a theocratic facist government to rule over the American people! True Americans and Facism will never co-exist. Someone should have warned the ditto heads that voted for Bush............er......wait a minute...
I take that back...............WE ALL TRIED TO WARN THESE RELIGIOUS IDIOTS NOT TO DO THIS TO THEIR FELLOW AMERICANS!!!!!!! Now here is a word of advice............keep your religious beliefs to your self...........never again try to force your twisted delusions down the throat of all Americans.

[NewRiver]

If Al Gore could have won Tennessee (his home state), it would have never gotten to the Supreme Court.

[PurplePhase]

It's wrong to say the Republicans are dead because they represent one basic trait of human nature, conservatism. By the same token, Democrats represent another basic trait, liberalism.

The Republicans are far from dead, in fact they are not even in a coffin. I will agree that the GOP and neocons have been reduced in scope and power but conservatives will still hold seats in the Senate, House, state legislatures and other elected offices throughout the country. Unfortunately conservatives elected on school boards will still try to implement their theological agenda at the expense of science. Conservatives will still be employed in non-elected positions in all branches of the government.

I place little value on Blumenthal's book because like many other pundits, professors, scholars, think tankers, politicians, columnists, journalists, commentators, and others make the same mistake again and again. They still see the political spectrum as Democratic or Republican. The real political spectrum has a growing sector of independents who are hardly acknowledged but should be because their numbers range between 30% to 40% of the voters.

We need to see more candidates run as independents to reflect the large number of independent voters. To accomplish this, we need to change the political system that promotes the two party system while ignoring about a third of the voters and their interests.

What kind of a democracy do we have if only two parties are allowed preferential funding, support and opportunities while other parties are not?

[ProfessorDuh]

No, the Republicans represent TWO basic traits of human nature: greed and fear. Those are the only two notes they ever play, but they have learned to orchestrate whole symphonies with just those two.

[returnofthejedi]

Your right about one thing, republicans DO represent a basic human trait. Your wrong though when you say that trait is conservatism. I have not seen conservatism from these republicans, rather, what i've seen is killing, stealing, and destroying.The basic human trait that THESE represent is WICKEDNESS.

[Swerinjer]

Nancy Pelosi is doing the right thing-holding her breath while the repugs self-destruct.

[PurplePhase]

Was Nancy Pelosi doing the right thing when she she pledged during the 2006 campaign to end the Iraq War and after the election she supported George W. Bush's additional funding for the Iraq War?

Was she right to take impeachment off the table?

[boing007]

PhantomAviator
.

I mean WHO would vote for Bush TWICE?

A lot of people, it turns out.

All the people who voted for Bush should be cited for war crimes as well.

[boing007]

adzeman,

Gee maybe the bills not passing might have something to do with GOP filibusters on over 80pct of the bills offered. One GOP senator put a hold on 300 bills, many bi-partisan, many GOP. So now they're ready to work? Most wont have jobs after November anyway.

I heard Harry Reid say that there have already been 90 filibusters this year alone.

[raker]

If the Republican Party were dead, we wouldn't have Obama and Clinton and virtually every Democratic Congressperson tiptoeing past the sleeping beast for fear of waking it, praising jeebus apropos of nothing, cheering offshore drilling, making subpoenas optional, and allowing telecom companies to break the law as they wish. It's Democratic politics and principles that are dead. Dead and buried. Who would have thought that a creature like Mary Landrieu could pass for a Democrat. We have one political party in this country: Corporate Stooge. It's a tragedy.

[dadw5boys]

With 60 votes there would be no tip toeing.

Voting MAJORITY is different than the simple majority.

[milo9]

It might be a bit premature to count the Republican's out. They still have a lock on A.M. talk radio and there are still vast areas of the country where progressive opinion will not get a hearing. Their class allies run Corporate Media. They control the framing of issues, and their talking heads I believe are hired in the same manner that Monica Goodling hired employees for the Justice Department. They view all subjects through the lens of conservatism.

A large portion of the population is already conditioned for the Conservative talking points (taxes), and with their control of communication, the Republicans are quite adept at painting lipstick on a pig. Before you know it, voila, the morass created by Bush will be creditied to the Dems.

Neutralizing conservative media has to be high on the "to do list".

[SgtLucifer]

milo9...
I'll bet you are regular listener of Michael Savage. The man (like other overpaid ranters) is a genius at blaming the liberals/progressives for every sin under the sun, even though the Republicans have virtually controlled the political/economic/social agenda for the past few decades.

[milo9]

That's it!

[dadw5boys]

Yeah 8 more years of fear and war.

8 more years of bank failures and high prices to make investor rich.

8 more years of falling home values and lost jobs.

8 more years of incompent forgien policy.

8 more years of lies and deceit.

8 more years of no bid contracts and no oversight !

[paixa3]

Sadly, you know what to expect. So do I, exactly what you wrote.

[PaHairO]

Your last paragraph is the meat, Syd.

Like the entire Bush administration from Day 1, it's 90% premeditated design. What could be better ? Get the libs fawning over their 1st black President while his disgusting gang shreds and delays and steals and consolidates the rest.

It's as if Tricky Dick wrote a posthomous thesis on what he'd learned.

[dadw5boys]

They were ready to make all the changes they wanted but were sloppy in excution.

Like allowing the LOOTING in Iraq was planned.
When you allow chaos that creates a power vaccum that must be filled !
Who better to fill that power vaccum that the U.S. Troops if your goal is to stay in Iraq a long time!

So many other planned events like Rumsfled holding back the troops when they had Ossma Ben Lowdown cornered in the mountians. Rumsfeld wanted to be giving total control over the military. He was taking control of the military away from Cheny! Osama escaped!!!!!

Everything that could be done to give the U.S. a reason to stay in Iraq has been done even allowing access to weapons staches so they could be stolen instead of blowing them up in place.