Still the Party of Lincoln?

Lincoln and the GOP

Republican candidates, incumbent or otherwise, will often paint their party with the inspiring and honest face of the first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln. Yet does the Republican Party of today still represent "The Party of Lincoln?" Do our current republican officials even share the same ideology of one of their most cherished members? Let's do a quick review of the Republican Party of old (The Party of Lincoln) and compare that to the current GOP platform.

"Free soil, Free Labor, Free Men"

This early Republican mantra is a quick snap shot of what Lincoln and his successors supported. The Republicans hit the stage as the clear opponent of slavery, the proponent of the free market, and all around reform. Although officially the Civil War was waged to preserve the Union, this also offered an opportunity for the Republicans to end slavery throughout the USA. This was accomplished by the Emancipation Proclamation (which freed slaves in the Confederacy) followed by the Fourteenth Amendment, securing the end of slavery in the USA forever. The Republicans even went so far as to pass the Civil Rights Bill of 1866. Nearly 100 years before President Johnson famously signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the "Radical Republicans" saw their purpose as defending rights for all.

The Republicans were also fierce supporters of a fair, free market and were very small-business oriented. They offered a stark contrast to the pro-big business of their democratic counterparts by ushering in bills such as the Sherman Anti-Trust Act which effectively made monopolies illegal within the United Sates. This bill helped ensure, and still ensures, that small business owners will not be run out of business by a single huge conglomerate inundating the market.

Yet these icon reforms that helped capitulate the United States into becoming the world's sole superpower does not end there. The Republicans were the first to argue for pluralism, acknowledging that wealth and power could and should be shared with all people, regardless of race, religion, etc. They also supported states rights, capturing the essence of American federalism set down by the Framers of the Constitution. Following in Lincoln, another Republican Presidential staple, Theodore Roosevelt, President Theodore became profound environmentalist, creating the first national park system and made environmentalism a a key Republican issue, almost a century before Democrats rallied behind "An Inconvenient Truth."

Reagan and the Republican Revolution

The modern Republican Party we recognize today truly began with President Ronald Reagen and ushered in a political realignment the likes of which hadn't been seen in almost a century. In domestic policies, Reagen and his followers (Bush Senior, and then G.W. Bush) supported social policies like making abortions illegal and limiting affirmative action. They also supported vast educational reforms such as No Child Left behind and increased federal involvement in state and local governments.

Seemingly their most cohesive issue, modern Republicans have even struggled to walk a straight line in economic policies. Two of the three Republican presidents decreased taxes (Reagen and G.W. Bush), introducing tax reforms and a more progressive system overall. However, President Bush Sr. was forced to increase taxes during his single term. All three presidents increased government spending while at the same time professing a deep affiliation to fiscal conservatism. This was made increasingly apparent with the George W. Bush Wall Street Bailout which saved many "too big to fail" companies, a stark contrast to the party that passed the Anti-Sherman Trust Act. These companies had cannibalized so many smaller companies that if one failed, they all failed. Environmentalism went out the window with such measures as decreasing the amount of protected wildlife lands and the withdrawal from the Kyoto Treaty. They also sponsored heavy drilling and increased material consumption, eventually increasing the nations dependency on oil and natural gas.

The Verdict, drum roll please...

The question was whether the GOP could still consider themselves "The Party of Lincoln," and the simple answer is no. The party has lost so many of its key issues that the two parties no longer share a common ground, just name only. No longer is the Republican Party the champion of civil rights that it once was. Nor does it respect the framers principle of federalism or the keynote issue of environmentalism; the Republicans ceded all they stood for to appease the religious right. The "Moral Majority" has no back bone, nothing left but broken politicians who play games to the televangelists and Christian extremists like CUFI (Christians United for Israel) lead by the ignorant and blasphemous Pastor Hagee.

Can this be fixed, can the Republicans return to a more traditional ideology? The answer is yes, and it may already be happening. With the rise of young Republicans like Meghan McCain and like minded individuals, who she calls "Progressive Republicans," call for gay rights and support a more Lincoln-esk style of Republicanism. And I agree. However I find that the word "progressive" tends to make people feel uneasy. Instead my view is that this is a return to the original values and morals that the Republican Party once stood for. If this is progressive, it is only because the Republicans allowed themselves to regress into the party that they long abhorred. This is a return to "traditional Republican values", and that's what I am, a "Traditional Republican."

The Traditional Republican Platform *

The Traditional Republican is a person who values what the older generations of republicans labored for starting with Abraham Lincoln. They demand strict constitutionalism, with small federal government and protect the rights of the individual. They are federalists who believe that state and local governments know better for what is best for their citizens in terms of domestic policies.

They value reform in education as well as environmentalism and wish to find new, renewable, an clean energy sources to replace the dirty carbon-filled sources of today. They support funding and research to integrate these technologies into our current system to decrease our dependence on foreign oil. They also demand that more land is set aside to protect the beauty that is America for future generations.

Traditional Republican economic policies such as supporting small business and allowing free market trade to flourish. They support decreasing the national budget and beginning to pay of the ever growing deficit. They also believe in lower taxes and the complete abandon of the "too big to fail" economics pursued by the current Republicans.

So there you have it, today's Republican Party has been hijacked by uninspiring lackeys, ruled by the religious right. They are no longer "The Party of Lincoln" but have become "The Party of Hagee and Rush." No wonder the people lost faith, constituents want politicians with backbones who actually stand for something. The cause in not lost but actions must be taken swiftly to defeat the guard and usher in the "traditional republican" values. People let's just do what is right for the party as well as the nation.

Later,
Cody

p.s. This issue is very important to me, please let me know how you feel about this issue as well. Thanks!


(Photo: Courtesy of Daniel Chester French)