The Tide Goes Out - The Crest of the Republican Party Empire
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60480-2004Sep3.html
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Some Republicans Predict Upheaval Within the Party (Washington Post):
These are the woes of the party in power. The concerns of the victor.
In the first six decades after the New Deal, the Republican Party became the perfect opposition party, arguing for fiscal constraint and limiting the power of government. Since their dazzling capture of the Congress in 1994, the Republicans have been torn between the conservative values that were their foundation for most of the century, and the ambitions of a newly ruling party.
No matter who wins in November, the Republicans will have to mend this tear and decide for what their party stands.
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), a man known for frank talk, offered a blunt description of the state of his party, which broke camp here Friday after nominating President Bush for a second term. "The Republican Party," he said, "has come loose of its moorings."
Hagel was not referring to Bush's leadership or his prospects for reelection but instead to the impact of a presidency that has seen the party embrace the largest deficits in U.S. history and a foreign policy that has put the United States at odds with many of its closest allies and heightened suspicion of institutions such as the United Nations.
"We're at the height of the Roman Empire for the Republican Party," [Republican Senator Lindsey] Graham said, predicting a Bush reelection and expanded majorities in the House and the Senate. "But the tide slowly but surely goes out."
These are the woes of the party in power. The concerns of the victor.
In the first six decades after the New Deal, the Republican Party became the perfect opposition party, arguing for fiscal constraint and limiting the power of government. Since their dazzling capture of the Congress in 1994, the Republicans have been torn between the conservative values that were their foundation for most of the century, and the ambitions of a newly ruling party.
No matter who wins in November, the Republicans will have to mend this tear and decide for what their party stands.