The latest damage to the Republican Party’s image in national politics should probably be attributed to the threat that House Republicans made to shut down the government by defunding the Affordable Care Act In North Carolina. The Republican-controlled legislature and governorship provoked the Moral Monday protests by tearing down years of progress in public education, tax policy, racial equality in the courtroom and access to the ballot, according to The New York Times editorial board.
It seems that every time there is a standoff in Congress, the public stands by the Democrats, labeling Republicans and their old-fashioned ideas as troublemakers. The public and mainstream media often paint the Republican Party as an unloving, anti-gay, anti-immigrant, stubborn party with old principles. There is no doubt that part of this image problem is a result of the liberal media attacks. Most major outlets in the United States today overwhelmingly dislike Republicans, employing disapproving tones when they write news and selecting facts that are not in favor of the Republican Party. Readers who are not aware of the backgrounds of the media outlets are more likely to be misled and not see the whole picture of the news.
Even with that said, media bias doesn’t share all the blame of Republicans’ image problem. The Republican Party does have serious internal issues when voicing its opinions to the public. Peter Robinson, host of the Hoover Institution’s TV show “Uncommon Knowledge,” interviewed Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida.
The Republican Party “[has] become too reactionary,” Bush said. “We have not been as positive, offering concrete proposals that are based on the principle that future is incredibly bright.”
But the problem is not that sticking to its principles is too reactionary—in fact, the Republican Party has some great principles such as limited government, individual liberty and moral standards that are consistent with the traditional ideals that made the U.S. a great nation. But the demographic has been changed during the past two decades. Traditional supporters of the Republican Party are southern, white, evangelical Christians. Republicans’ principles and ideas are influenced by Christianity and classical liberalism for which John Locke, David Hume and Adam Smith laid the foundation. Republicans, especially tea party Republicans, tend to arm themselves with these powerful ideas and incite woe in the public, but they forget this is no longer the Enlightenment Era.
Republicans’ principles are less likely to survive in a nation where the number of people believing in God is decreasing. Heavily influenced by liberal mainstream media and other countries’ worldviews, Americans have begun to look abroad for examples, abandoning their traditional faith. Most atheists and pagans don’t think aborting a baby after 20 weeks is murder if they don’t believe in God in the first place. From their point of view, opposing gay marriage, abortion and big government is seen as nothing more than an old-fashioned and reactionary position and anti-liberty, whereas Republicans regard it as the right thing to do to prevent people from performing evil acts and defend innocent lives. The connection between Republicans and the majority has been breaking since more Americans started adopting other worldviews.
The Republican Party would have garnered the support from libertarians that are a rising force since the economic recession in 2008. Republicans and libertarians are allies by nature because, if nothing else, both oppose the fiscal expansion of the government. However, strong resistance among the Party remains because some Republicans despise the idea that government doesn’t have the right to regulate social and moral issues, which libertarians believe.
If Republicans want to restore the popularity that they had during Ronald Reagan’s time, they must start by educating the youth about why their ideas and principles trump their rival Democrats and how these principles have made the U.S. stand out and will keep doing so. Winning voters who are non-white Christians doesn’t require loosening the ground of principles. The most important strategy is sending the public good messages rather than adding more restrictions and rules without compelling persuasion.
