Big Tent Appearing For Republicans

Republicans fussed or feuded before the 2006 elections about what or who should be included or excluded from our fold, while Democrats united in castigating anything Republican. Not surprisingly, the more focused Party scored gains.

The Democrats are failing to retain the sale, as they expose there’s little behind their slogans. Democrat Iraq policy is various shades of how quick to retreat, without a plan or care to deal with the consequences or diminished trust in America’s purpose and resolve. Democrat domestic policy is to shift political slush funds to their pockets by pushing narrow interest legislation for unions, pandering to radicals, and legislative payoffs to other allies. Hardly the right stuff that they promised.

While this Democrat self-exposure occurs, Republicans are discovering that their Big Tent approach that won national elections for two-decades is actually still intact. The star attractions – those pursuing the Republican nomination for president in 2008 – are not only filling the tent but also favorably competing with their potential Democrat opponents among early watchers and the media.

Many commentators bemoan this long campaign. I welcome it. There’s no better way to find out who has the sense, presence of mind, and intestinal fortitude to fill the unrelentingly trying role of president. John Kennedy’s appeal to a prospective Cabinet member, “We can learn our jobs together,” led to foreign policy failure after failure in the early 1960’s. Today, the political and security challenges and challengers to America are of such a more immediate and dire magnitude that, it should be evident to any, there’s no luxury of an inexperienced, confused, glib or half-stepper in the Oval Office.

I’m not ready to declare for one of the potential Republican presidential viers. I have definite leanings, but prefer to see how each fare under a long, grueling public vetting. Whether Guiliani, McCain or Romney, the current prospective leaders have various pluses and minuses. But, compared to any prospective Democrat candidate, as preliminary polls indicate, they are seen as more viable, essentially because they have tested careers of taking strong stances, usually practical and successful. In short, they have character, the essential quality upon which the decisive margin of voters ultimately decide. Not only that, but their record of policy flexibility is comforting to many, who prefer that to narrow partisanship exhibited in the political careers of the leading Democrats.

The Republicans are rediscovering their Big Tent, while the Democrats are still caught in their policy and leadership-sterile ghetto.