There’s a tale of competing headlines this morning. Here’s they are:
The first one is from JoeMyGod.com (article here), and the second is from Towleroad.com (article here). Basically, these two men, who are staples of the Republican party, are telling two very different stories about the future of their party. Bush, who is already being talked about for a 2016 run for the presidency, thinks the GOP can grow if they start embracing diversity; basically, they can’t rely on old, straight white men to be the core of the party if they want to grow and prosper in America. The GOP needs diversity if they are to survive.
Huckabee, on the other hand, wants to bolt if the GOP comes out for marriage equality. He’s one of those in the core of the GOP that doesn’t want to learn nor grow. He’s happy with the GOP being based in a bigoted reality, and will pick up his toys and go home if the GOP decides to grow without him.
Well, one of these will be right. The question is, which one?
Personally, I think the GOP will once again come up to be a respected national party ONLY IF they abandon their bigoted views on everything not-white and not-male, and start talking about sensible regulation. The GOP of the past, such as Eisenhower or Barry Goldwater, wouldn’t be in the banks pockets, gutting financial regulation or doing idiotic, racist things like we see today’s GOP doing. But I think it’s going to take the GOP being ripped to shreds, and maybe even bordering on disappearing (can we say the modern day equivalent of the Whigs?), before something drastic changes.
Democrats have a big-tent view of things, proven by having such diverse members from Oregon Senator Jeff Merkely (D-OR), who is one of he most liberal senators in the Congress, to Mary Landrieu (D-LA), who holds views much closer to Eisenhower or Goldwater’s GOP than Democrats. But the GOP can’t stand diversity, even in their own party.
Only the future will tell us how this is going to unfold.