Four years ago, if you had told me voters would be hoping – no, begging – for a qualified presidential candidate for the Republican Party, I would have laughed and dismissed your claims.
As this year’s campaign trail begins (or grows stale, depending on whom you ask), I have begun to loathe the Republican Party and everything it stands for.
From Michelle Bachmann to Rick Perry, or Donald Trump to Ron Paul, the Republican’s potential candidates have turned the GOP into a laughing stock.
To that end, our generation might not remember any “good” Republicans.
My own childhood could be characterized by the Bush administration with a president whose vocabulary included words such as “misunderestimated” and “nuculer.”
Today, we have Ron Paul, who regards Martin Luther King Jr. Day as “Hate Whitey Day.”
Rick Perry recently claimed, “The federal government has not engaged in border security at all.” (Clearly, he hasn’t visited Arizona in a while.)
Should voters associate the Republican Party with radical claims and unintelligent hopefuls in suits who are vying for the Oval Office almost in spite of the well being of the country?
The Republican candidates are painting an unrealistic portrayal of the party. Long gone are the days of Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon and Barry Goldwater.
The Republican Party has become so radical, Newsweek columnist Paul Begala alluded to the notion that even some of the most notable Republican politicians of the past would fail to fit in with today’s crew.
“Ike would have been booed off the stage,” Begala writes. “And Nixon? Well, Tricky Dick created the Environmental Protection Agency, which today’s Republicans want to abolish. Barry Goldwater wouldn’t have a chance; he strongly supported gay rights.”
I long to see the day where Tea Party extremists don’t control the Republican Party, a day where Republicans and Democrats can at the very least agree to disagree in an intelligent, articulate manner -or reach across the aisle and get something accomplished.
I hope that one day the Republican Party will not be known for its uncompromising stances or for its “birthright” antics. Instead, they will be respected for listening to the opposition and basing claims on facts, not just playing into the hands of the far right wing.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that day will come before the November election.
I suppose I should be grateful. As long as the antics and extremism continues, Obama’s chances to sweep the votes on Election Day can only get better.
But instead, I’m rather sad. It upsets me that the Democrats are only winning because the GOP still hasn’t found anyone better than that reality-television star that can see Russia from her backyard.
Reach Emilie at eeeaton@asu.edu.
