Death of a political party

[corbe]

Death of a political party

By David Thornton  |  October 30, 2016, 05:00am  |  @captainkudzu


http://theresurgent.com/death-of-a-political-party/



The deep schism in the Republican Party has given rise to speculation that the GOP is finished. While it is certain that the Republican Party is deeply wounded, it is premature to say that is dead. As conservatives and Republicans contemplate their future, it may be helpful to remember how the Republican Party was born from the death of the Whig Party.

The Whigs were formed in 1834 to oppose what many saw as the authoritarian tendencies of Andrew Jackson. They took their name from the British anti-royalist party and stood against the Democrats led by the man they derisively called “King Andrew.” Like the later Republicans, the Whigs were derided as a rich man’s party by their opponents.

The Whigs had a 20 year run as a successful party. Politico noted that their decline began with the election of an outsider candidate, Zachary Taylor. Many Whigs felt that Taylor did not share their beliefs and that the party had embraced Taylor’s personality as a hero of the Mexican War rather than nominating a candidate who shared their values. Horace Greeley, the founder of the New York Tribune, said that the party was “at once triumphant and undone” as it elected a man who might have been called a “Whig in name only.” Once in office, Taylor, who had campaigned on his personality since the Whigs did not even write a platform that year, soon began to anger party loyalists.

The election of Taylor deepened a rift between Northern and Southern Whigs over the issue of slavery. After his death in 1850, his vice president, Millard Fillmore, passed several pro-slavery laws with the Compromise of 1850. As the party became more pro-slavery, Northerners began to leave. In 1852, the Whig candidate carried only four states, losing in a landslide to Democrat Franklin Pierce.

It was the pro-slavery Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 that finally killed the Whigs and led to the creation of the Republican Party. A March 20, 1854 meeting of opponents to the act is generally considered the birth of the Republican Party according to History.com. Two years later, in 1856, the Republicans fielded their first presidential candidate, John C. Fremont. By that point, the Whigs were nonexistent. Four years later, the Republican Abraham Lincoln was elected president.

There are several lessons to be learned from the demise of the Whigs. The Republican Party was the result of a coalition of anti-slavery activists. The Republicans focused on that issue and swayed enough voters with their argument that they won the election of 1860. Republicans knew what they believed and fought for it. They focused on what was important and kept their eyes on the prize.

Though not part of the campaign, the debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas in 1858 established a logical and moral basis for the party’s existence. Lincoln was able to eloquently argue the evils of slavery and the impracticality of having a nation that was split between slave and free states. The debates not only helped to cement the regional factions of the new Republican Party, they also established Lincoln as a powerful intellect and a popular and persuasive speaker.

Conversely, the Whigs didn’t know what they stood for any longer. The party had no platform or statement of principle to rally around. The party that had opposed the Mexican War nominated a war hero and Taylor’s nonpartisan stances alienated Whigs rather than attracting voters from other parties. A successful political party must preserve its base while persuading unaffiliated moderate and independent voters at the same time. The Whigs won new voters at the cost of splitting their base.

Winning elections is not the only reason a party exists. The Whig party won the election of 1848, but lost its soul in the process. Winning the election with a candidate that did not share their principles doomed the party in the long run. There is little point in winning an election if the end result is not to move the country in the direction that the party believes is best.


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[sinkspur]

I have nothing in common with people who would nominate a degenerate like Trump.  That's why it matters little what happens to the GOP.

[rodamala]

@corbe

Thanks for posting this.

In the past week I have noted more and more an attempt much like during the Republican Primary over on TOS where a handful of paid troll types invade and spew lowbrow worthless insinution under the guise of "Breaking News/Front Page News".

I have accepted a while ago, probably with the reelection of John Boehner as Speaker of the House that the Republican party does not represent me in any way.  The nomination of Trump being just the icing on that cake.

I look forward to a new direction for like-minded rational-thinking conservatives.

[Frank Cannon]

@corbe

In the past week I have noted more and more an attempt much like during the Republican Primary over on TOS where a handful of paid troll types invade and spew lowbrow worthless insinution under the guise of "Breaking News/Front Page News".

I'll have you know that my posts are not lowbrow. They are more medium brow. Also from the money I earn trolling I was able to buy a new Playstation and a phone in the shape of a '59 Cadillac. The headlights and tailghts flash when it rings!!!!

[HonestJohn]

Bkmk for later.

[Cripplecreek]

I have nothing in common with people who would nominate a degenerate like Trump.  That's why it matters little what happens to the GOP.

Yup.

Decent people have already lost this election and are under no obligation to help one group of degenerates over another.

[jpsb]

The republican party is not dead, but Bushism (neoconservatism) is dead in the Republican party. All the neocons that came over to the GOP in the late 80's, 90's can go the hell back to the Rat party where they belong.

[rodamala]

I'll have you know that my posts are not lowbrow. They are more medium brow. Also from the money I earn trolling I was able to buy a new Playstation and a phone in the shape of a '59 Cadillac. The headlights and tailghts flash when it rings!!!!

Aw, come on... everyone recognizes that your posts are more... unibrow.

 

[LMAO]

The republican party is not dead, but Bushism (neoconservatism) is dead in the Republican party. All the neocons that came over to the GOP in the late 80's, 90's can go the hell back to the Rat party where they belong.

The GOP is dead, at least for now, as a party of limited government. It's now going to be nothing more than a battleground between the Progressive Nationalists represented by Trump and the Constitutional Conservatives

[Bigun]

I have nothing in common with people who would nominate a degenerate like Trump.  That's why it matters little what happens to the GOP.

The second they handed the nomination to DJT was the second I stopped being a republican and I won't be back.

[goatprairie]

I have nothing in common with people who would nominate a degenerate like Trump.  That's why it matters little what happens to the GOP.

After Trump "won" the nomination, I took out my Republican Party card, sliced it up, and threw it in the trash. I am now officially an independent. Got a call from the Party looking for money. I told them that as long as Trump is the nominee, I am no longer a Republican.

[Oceander]

If the GOP is to survive, Trumpism must be extirpated. 

[goatprairie]

I'll have you know that my posts are not lowbrow. They are more medium brow. Also from the money I earn trolling I was able to buy a new Playstation and a phone in the shape of a '59 Cadillac. The headlights and tailghts flash when it rings!!!!

That's weird....I just bought a '59 Cadillac in the shape of a telephone.

[geronl]

The republican party is not dead, but Bushism (neoconservatism) is dead in the Republican party. All the neocons that came over to the GOP in the late 80's, 90's can go the hell back to the Rat party where they belong.

Trump belongs in the Democrat Party. I will never be a part of anything with uch a NY liberal douchebag associated with it

[INVAR]

The republican party is not dead, but Bushism (neoconservatism) is dead in the Republican party. All the neocons that came over to the GOP in the late 80's, 90's can go the hell back to the Rat party where they belong.

That is hilarious coming from a rabid foam-at-the-mouth supporter of a lifelong NYC liberal Democrat running as a Republican who funded his opponent, publicly praised Hillary's tenures of offices on numerous occasions, funded, endorsed and campaigned for an overt Communist for NYC mayor 3 years ago - and you got the gall to tell what remains of your party to go back to the Democrat party "where they came from"????

The projection is deep with you people.