South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham is facing a strong reaction from his party’s right wing, another sign of the sad state of the party of Lincoln. 🙁
Graham has always had an image of being somewhat independent. He was a strong supporter, and has always been a loyal friend of Senator John McCain, who many right wing Republicans have never been thrilled about. He has shown some willingness to back the Obama Administration on environmental issues, and avoids constant criticism of some other aspects of the Obama Presidency, although he has not actually voted to support the Democrats on any specific topic up to this point.
People tend to forget that he was one of the congressmen pushing for the impeachment of President Bill Clinton ten years ago. But right wing Republicans see him as a turncoat, because he has expressed the need for the GOP to be a “big tent” party, and he certainly comes across as comparatively moderate when put along side his South Carolina colleague, Jim DeMint, arguably one of the most right wing Republican senators.
Considering that South Carolina is still in many ways a “rebel” state living in the Civil War era, it will be a challenge for Lindsey Graham to survive in office as long as his state and his party continue their march to the far right.
The attack on Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, and now Lindsey Graham, is an alarm bell for the long term viability of the Republican party. When will common sense and rationality return to the party of Lincoln, TR, and Eisenhower? 🙁
I have wondered the same thing. When I was young (into my 20’s), the Republican and Democratic parties were both big-tent parties. It was often difficult to understand how people decided which to join.
I first lived in Oregon when I moved to America in 1980. At that point our two senators were Hatfield and Packwood, both Republicans of a distinctly liberal persuasion. Our governor was Vic Atiyeh, who was a kindred spirit. In those days, the Democrats often ran individuals to the right of Hatfield and Packwood in elections. Although I had a general preference for Democrats, I certainly was glad to see those gentlmen representing us in the Senate.
Today, the Hatfield and Packwood would be hounded out of the party. The Republicans can’t win state office in Oregon because they have moved so far to the right that even a mainstream state (not particularly liberal or conservative) can fathom voting for the GOP. Both Senators, the governor, and both houses of the legislature are controlled by Democrats.
The change started with Reagan and his “deal with the devil” — the religious right. He brought fundamentalist Christians into the political process in order to win elections. I’m not sure even Reagan would be conservative enough (in action) for those who have taken his party to the fringes.
It’s a mystery to me why anyone would want to create a fringe party out of a mainstream one.