Do you think the Republicans can survive for the long haul while essentially existing as the party of the Christian Right? I long for the days when both the Democrats and Republicans truly were 'big tents.' Back when one could vote truly for the candidate and NOT the party. The Democrats and Republicans were once both heavily divided into different factions. Strong wings of Liberals, Moderates, and Conservatives existed in both parties, and not merely just on social or economic issues. There were socially liberal Republicans AND economically liberal (using the American usage of liberal here, of course. Not classical liberal economics) Republicans. The reverse was also true, of course. The two-party system was not as evil and restrictive as it was back then because of this.

Then Goldwater, and later Reagan, came along. The conservative revolution hijacked the Republican party and turned it sharply towards the right. Liberals and Moderates dropped like flies. The term Rockefeller or Nixonian Republican became an insult. Now we have RINOs (Republican in Name Only). This is a very new occurrence. The Republican Party went from being the home of respectable moderate centrists like Eisenhower, Nixon (heh... corrupt as hell, but brilliant and effective) and Ford to what it is today. Even George W. Bush's father was a very different breed of Republican, and probably the last of what was once the dominant wing of the GOP. Now we have evangelical social conservatism as the official platform of the GOP. We have a party that grapples with the issue of evolution once again. This rightward tilt of the GOP has also influenced the Democratic Party. Clinton was, if anything, a perfect Nixonian Republican. But while the Republican Party has gone off the deep end and worked hard to expel any sensible voice from a position of power and leadership, the Democrats remain a bit more divided at least. They still have Southern and Red-State conservatives. Blue Dog and DLC Democrats, who remain much more influential within the party than moderates in the GOP.

America today reminds me more of a European-style parliamentary democracy than anything else. Where we once had independent politicians, we now have top-down platforms and party-line votes. There is still some variation here and there, but far less than there has been historically. And a TWO-PARTY parliamentary democracy is not that great.

Anyway... I have gone off on a tangent. Do you see the Republican Party surviving much longer if they remain in bed with the Christian Right? No doubt the Christian Right is the most organized, dedicated, and determined constituency in America today, but I see them as being more of a short-term thing. America is just currently in a state of religious conservatism that frankly quite scary. I still have hope we will come to our senses and I do believe that we will see a shift back towards sanity. Republicans might have gained a lot due to an agreement with the loony right over the past two-to-three decades, but I cannot see this arrangement remaining successful far in the future.