Winning Shouldn’t Be Everything

God help me, I’m beginning to take pity on the GOP! The Republican Party has taken a lot of heated constructive criticism lately. 

Two examples just from the past few days: in a recent article, one commentator called on the party to “stop electing amateurs who serve little more than ideological indulgences, who exploit resentments that play well enough among the base, but whose positions make them nonviable in general elections.” A current political office holder has bluntly echoed this argument by claiming the party’s recent electoral losses are due to “bad decision-making and loss of courage.” 

Now consider that these comments came from MSNBC’s Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough and New Jersey governor Chris Christie, respectively, and we can see the party’s dilemma. These comments came from the party’s friends, and not from the other side of aisle!

As much as I have enjoyed watching the collective stupidity of the extreme right wing Tea Party sink the Republicans hopes in the last few years, I realize that a Republican Party-less America is not a viable option. The party will not disband or go out of business, and they should do neither. The party provides a voice for those who embrace traditional values while eschewing progressive idealism. Okay, their views are not for everyone, but it works for them.

This is tolerance talking. Tea Partiers, please take note.

The country needs to allow a place for people with these views to congregate on the political landscape. And no, my fellow liberals and progressives, concentration camps are NOT a workable option.

In his article published in Parade Magazine (insert snarky Rand Paul attribution swipe here), Scarborough invoked the spectral spirit of conservative immortal William F. Buckley to present his cure for what ails the GOP. He argues that the party can choose between the conservative pragmatism of Buckley, or go the way of extreme right wing fruitcake (characterization mine) Glenn Beck. He argues that the Republicans can win elections again if they choose the path taken by party icons like Ronald Reagan and Dwight Eisenhower. 

 

Unfortunately for the time being, Scarborough’s party is held hostage by a movement that is twisted around big business. Twisted as say, a poison ivy vine around a thorny rose bush. Specifically, the party is tangled up in the big business philosophies of billionaire siblings David and Charles Koch. The situation was wonderfully skewered in Will Farrell’s not-so-subtle, and unfortunately overlooked, 2012 satire The Campaign. The story revolved around a congressional race between an ideological challenger and an incumbent deep in the pockets of billionaire businessmen. In this case, the corporate bad guys are dubbed the Moch Brothers. (Will Ferrell subtle?  Surely we jest!) It may be a trick of my hearing or my subliminal consciousness, but one character’s Southern drawl pronunciation of the Moch name comes out sounding like “Marx”, which completes the absurdist circle back to another group of satirists from a previous age.

The Campaign questions the philosophy that winning is everything. It’s a point which Scarborough, unfortunately, over emphasizes in his article. Don’t get me wrong: I do like Joe Scarborough. Yes, he is a diehard conservative with a deep hatred of Obamacare/Affordable Care Act, but he has said complimentary things about the other side of the aisle from time to time. He realizes that extremism is keeping his party out of power. In the end, he laments that he is tired of seeing his party lose every election.

I agree with Scarborough…up to a point. Yes, it’s nice when your side wins, but that is and should not be the ultimate goal of winning in politics. The prized goal should be enacting and enabling policies that have a positive impact on your constituents and society as a whole. If an office seeker wins election only to start an endless cycle of fund-raising for the next election the day after they are sworn in, then I hope they will do everyone a favor and STAY THE HELL HOME!  

We don’t need any more political hacks in Washington who are only there to get high on power, as Ferrell’s character did in The Campaign. We need public servants who will take their job seriously. As a taxpayer, I am appalled at the sheer waste of my money used to maintain the legislative branch of the federal government, only to see them bicker like school children and ultimately not resolve a damn thing. I want my money back!

As for Scarborough, if he is truly tired of losing, then maybe he should consider registering as a Democrat. Subtle? Moi?

(Thank you for reading. No PAC money was used to produce this entry, which did not once mention Mama Grizzly Bore.)