GOP can yet prevail in a diverse America, Barbour asserts
The nation's changing demographics won't be a permanent roadblock to a Republican comeback, the former party chairman said Wednesday at a Monitor breakfast.
By Dave Cook | Staff writer/ May 20, 2009 edition
Washington
Mississippi governor and former Republican Party chairman Haley Barbour doesn’t put much stock in a Democratic strategist’s prediction that the GOP is destined to wander in the political wilderness for decades as a result of changing voter demographics.
In fact, he dismisses it.
“In politics, nothing is ever as bad as it seems and never as good as it seems,” Governor Barbour told reporters Wednesday at a Monitor-sponsored breakfast.
Amid post-election soul-searching by Republicans, who for most of the past 30 years have not been accustomed to being the minority party, comes a salt-in-the-wound new book by Democratic activist James Carville, “40 More Years: How the Democrats Will Rule the Next Generation.” In it, he argues that “the demographic foundations of the Republican Party are crumbling.” Among other things, Mr. Carville notes the Republican Party’s especially weak standing among young and nonwhite voters.
GOP voter identification on the downswing
Some 39 percent of voters identify with the Republican Party versus 53 percent with the Democrats, according to 2009 polling data from the Gallup Organization. In 2001, by contrast, the parties were evenly matched. Among young people ages 18 to 29, only 32 percent say they are Republicans, down 9 percentage points since 2001. Among nonwhite voters of all ages, just 21 percent say they are Republicans.
Barbour, who served as chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) from 1993 to 1997 and before that was political director in Ronald Reagan’s White House, acknowledges that “demographics certainly matter.” But he also argues that his party’s performance among various groups of voters does not have to remain at its current depressed level.
“I don’t believe, from my experience in politics, that voters of demographic groups, because they went in one way in one election, are going to necessarily be that way every election,” he says. “Except for the African American-vote, which is the most monolithic demographic group, a lot of these voters move around depending on who the candidate is, what the issues are.”
Governors’ races in 2010 will be key
Barbour argues that statehouse races will be key to his party’s efforts to rebuild.
“I am actually optimistic about the party’s future. We have two very, very competitive governor’s races this year. At this stage, Republicans are ahead in both of them – New Jersey and Virginia,” Barbour says. “We have 36 governors’ races in 2010, and I see those, the governors, as the most critical office for rebuilding the party.” He refers to this as a “grass-roots-up” strategy.
The governor dodged reporters’ efforts to get him to comment on the performance of Michael Steele, the current party chairman. Barbour notes that when he was RNC chairman he was criticized even by his friends. “I am not going to try [to] critique somebody else,” Barbour says.
Gradations of conservatism
The Republican stalwart did call for his party to tolerate different views.
“For a party that got 60 percent of the vote for president in my lifetime, it is silly to think everyone is going to agree on everything. We are not. In a two-party system, both parties are coalitions. We are the conservative party of the United States; the Democrats are the liberal party of the United States. And within our party, there are going to be a lot of people who are not conservative enough to get elected to Congress from Sugarland, Texas,” Barbour says.
Sounding at times like potential presidential candidate himself, the term-limited Barbour offered sharp critiques of Barack Obama’s policies.
“[Bill] Clinton’s proposals were liberal but not nearly as far left as Obama’s. I can remember when President Clinton said the era of big government is over. President Obama is offering us a size of government beyond anything that any Democrat or Republican has ever campaigned for,” he says. “There is nobody who has ever been willing to go out and campaign for a government as enormous, expensive, in debt, or as much in control of the American economy – whether it is healthcare, energy, or Wall Street.”
Barbour also was outspoken about Obama administration proposals to counter climate change.
“It is an issue that has to be addressed, but the cost of what the president has proposed is so enormous that it is an awful attempt at a solution,” he says. “The energy policy of America ought to be more American energy, more affordable energy. Obama’s policy is more expensive energy and it will reduce the amount of American energy.”
Comments
2. Alex M. | 05.20.09
The minority of the population known as the “religious right” was the worst thing to happen to the Republican party. If they can extricate itself from that minority’s grasp, the Replublican party can become mainstream again while still adhering to sensible conservative principles.
3. solsenz | 05.20.09
Now that’s something the Republicans should waste their time on. Do they not have anything else to give as a Party? Democrats should embrace this for them, as if this is what their constituents want them doing on their behalf, the Dems would love it. More solutions to citizens problems right? Solutions of jobs, healthcare, environment, and education - who needs work on that right? But relabeling the other party? Now that’s a solution to the unemployed, sick, kids of the country who want to go to school,or keeping up with other countries on the environment…..just keep doing what you’re doing:)
4. Bob Jackson | 05.20.09
I find it troubling that the only strategy republicans have is attempting to attack democrats. Its all about image over substance and a complete lack of new ideas. Why not lay out ideas for changes within the party instead of focusing all energy on petty name calling and attempted character assassination. For a party that claims to represent the moral majority, you certainly aren’t showing it.
5. Mike Grigore | 05.20.09
Mr. Harbour is right. The Republican Party is well preserved. A free society and free eterprise society is the backborn of our American Life and daily Industrial output (in the past and in the future). The first priority for our party is to start to eliminate the poverty in our country, by improving the food and the houses for the people which need. This is very important item.The money must coming from each Financial or Productive companies (contribution) from each state. A new home characteristics must be developed, to be confortable for each family, and given to them to be constructed by self and neghbores help. Places for training to do this job. Today we have to many people (men and women) in jail. These people should be educated in Military Boot Camps e.g 100,000 people trained on discipline, drugs, good citizens character located on New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Houston. On these camps each individual can learn a profession. The people which commited crimes should not be included here. These are the places for young people which using narcotics.Republican Party can have the power and finances and to show the differences. Today we have 6.6M unemployed today in our country. The people are desperate to protect their family. The Democrat Party cannot resolve the Economical Problems from our country today, because the Small Businnes today cannot pay additional taxes, and many are out of bussiness. I am an engineer with 40 yrs experience, I have travelled around the world, and I will be very happy to help Republican Party, to upgrade their image, and I would like to be in some kind of Technical Committee, and shows to the American People the real opportunity which is building behind our party. Mr Harbour I would like to talk to you and help you. Please call me at 702-363-8375, or send to me an e-mail. With kind respect, Mike Grigore
6. Jacob | 05.20.09
There’s several things that I feel are wrong with the Republican Party. The definition of political conservatism is essentially to maintain the “old way of doing things”, which in itself is not bad. If it isn’t broken, then don’t fix it. However the flip side of the coin is that if something is broken then it needs to be fixed. This is what the progressive movement is about, this is what the civil rights movement was about. If a particular policy or mindset is determined to be fundamentally unjust, then it should not be conserved.
Secondly, Republicans are arrogant almost to the point of no redemption. Even after losing an election, Republicans championed their ideology as if they spoke for all Americans and as if Democrats had no business leading the country. Until I see this attitude go away, I do not plan on casting a ballot for a Republican candidate.
7. Charlie Stogner | 05.22.09
William is correct we need a conservative party. Alex is correct in that the “religious right’ gained control over the GOP to only promote their own agenda. I’m unsure what Solsenz is trying to suggest and Bob is absolutely on track with saying the GOP should lay out ideas for changes that are better than those of the Democrats.
Jacob is ‘right on’ with his observation about the prevailing attitude of what seems to be the GOP leadership and Mike sounds like the sort of person I’d like to be associated with in the realigning of the Republican party. Far too many GOP office holders and party leaders today have their nose in the trough as deep as their Democrat brethren. They abandoned true conservative principles, trading ‘social’ for ‘fiscal’ conservatism and go after government money as eager as the Democrats.
Smaller, not bigger, government; more, not less, personal freedoms (have the government stay out of our private lives) and a realization that funding for public needs must come from the private sector, are core issues the GOP must embrace if they are to ever be in any position of influence in the future.
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1. William R. James | 05.20.09
Barbour is wrong on so many levels. First of all, you’d expect a governor to know that this is not a two party system. Secondly, the republicans lost power when they made it clear that that are not the part of conservatives. We need a conservative party. Both sides of the republicrats are far left.