by Matthew Schuh
“I would say to Chairman Steele, you know, the party of no shouldn’t now become the party of no empathy.”
-DNC Chairman, Governor Tim Kaine on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on May 17, 2009
(Birmingham, Alabama) Southerners are gritty people; they really can be the nicest folks in the world, but you do not want to cross them at the wrong time. As explained to me yesterday by a lifelong Alabaman, “...we’re nice until we’re not, but don’t mess with us.” Perhaps it was the instinct of a party that has become increasingly concentrated in the southern United States that motivated Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele’s statement yesterday to State Republican Leaders that “if we have the courage of our conviction, and we do, then we will and we must stand up against disastrous policies, regardless of the president’s popularity.”
Good. I hope so, but it is concerning that as the party seeks to appeal to more voters, more and more Republicans find themselves being questioned as to their conservative bona fides. So, as the party “turns the corner” and seeks to become one of “new ideas”, allow me to join the fray as a Republican suggesting some ideas on which to focus, none of which are new.
Federalism/Separation of PowersIn a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, Lord Acton wrote in 1887 that “[p]ower tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” With the expansion of Executive powers of the Federal Government under the Bush and Obama Administrations, Republicans should be on the front lines extolling the virtues of the decentralization of power. States, as Justice Louis Brandeis argued, should be “laboratories of democracy” that offer the latitude to exercise the powers reserved to them in the 10th Amendment of the Constitution. While this does leave more freedom for people to locate to places most in line with their political sympathies, it also allows the Federal Government to see public policies in place before implementing them on a national scale where Interstate Commerce comes into question. Furthermore, the Republican Party has to insist that Congress reassert its rightful place as a check on the Executive Branch, even when both are controlled by the same party.
Humble GovernmentIn the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson notes that “Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed” for the purpose of securing “inalienable Rights.” Republicans should take these words seriously in favoring limited government, but they should also take seriously the words “among these are” that precede “Life, Liberty and pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson came down on that side of the Oxford Comma debate?). Perhaps legitimate government can extend beyond the role of literally protecting life and liberty (and then striking “pursuit of Happiness” on the grounds that it is void for vagueness), and can instead capitalize upon the collective energies of a nation that could not be achieved solely by individuals. The key to this is that this power be exercised with reluctance and with humility.
Thoughtful ApproachFor quite some time, American politics has been defined by false dichotomies that forced potential legislators, Governors, and Presidents to choose between options that provided incomplete answers to public policy problems. Candidates were forced to say whether they were “for” or “against” everything from gun control to taxes with the idea being that it was incomprehensible to fall somewhere in between a complete “yes” or “no” answer. Part of what I believe attracted some conservatives to Barack Obama as he sought the Presidency was his willingness to consider all options and then thoughtfully push beyond the traditional yes/no answers. Many who strongly disagreed with his policy views were willing to give him a chance because they believed he would at least consider their ideas and take a thoughtful approach to public policy. Republicans do not need to weaken the prescription to the conservative lenses through which they view the world, they just need to gain some peripheral vision and refine their approach.
So there you have it, three ideas the Republican party can implement on their way to recovery. These are of course bullet points, each meriting a much more significant discussion. Perhaps these make me a moderate or a “Republican In Name Only” (RINO), but the party needs such voters if it is going to survive. In the meantime, I need to eat to survive so I’m going to go have some barbecue and sweet tea. Gotta love Southern Hospitality!
Matthew Schuh is an attorney in St. Louis, Missouri. He can be reached at mschuh@gmail.com. He writes a weekly op-ed column at The Ayes Have It.