RIP GOP?

After their stunning defeat in two consecutive elections, costing them majorities in the senate and house, and also the presidency, some liberal commentators are already hailing the death of the Republican Party. But is it too soon to put on the toe tag? I think the answer is, unfortunately, 'yes and no'.

I think the results of the last two elections are indicative more of 'running against hoover' than of a serious long-term downturn in the party. The economy was bad, that doesn't bode well for the party in power. Bush had critically low approval ratings, yes it's true, but so did Carter, and while it took a while for the US to get in a democratic mood again, it did come back around full circle. One cynical blog post I read described the cycle as such: "This sucks, elect a democratic congress. This is working, elect a democratic president! This sucks again, elect a republican congress! This is working, elect a republican president!..." and so on sinusoidally forever. Bad economies bode poorly for the president's party, simple as that.

On the other hand, I do think that this does show the failure of the neoconservative agenda. Americans, in fact I'd venture all voters, vote behind their pocketbooks more than on moral issues. When the economy is poor, Americans vote for who they think can restore it, while you may pick up some single-issue voters, face it, single-issue voters on neocon whipping horses like abortion and gay rights are never going to vote democrat anyway, you don't need to convince them of anything.
The republicans were the party that owned economic issues, by continually stumping on budget reform and economic reforms. They appear to have lost their central credibility on the economy. Perhaps this dates as far back as Regan and the specter of voodoonomics is catching up to the Grand Old Party, maybe they've just squandered their credibility in corporate scandals, but I think that's a transient problem indicative of the current mode of conservative discussion: Their party will continue to alienate so long as they force social issues over practical ones, and let themselves be hamstrung by scandal and perceived corporate ties, but I don't think that's the death of the traditional conservative ideology.
After all conservitivism is much more than neoconservativsm and the party is much more than Bush: what the GOP needs is a strong, charismatic leader that doesn't run on specters of fear, but rather the bulwarks of conservative philosophy that I think the average american can get behind. Talk to my friends, even the most liberal ones, and some of them start sounding very conservative at times, talking about responsible government, lower deficits, business incentives, the end of porkbarrel boondoggles and the return of the expectation of morality to politicians. The problem is the Republican party seems to have lost sight of those values that made it attractive to voters, if they ever find them again, I wouldn't count them out of the running. If they don't find them: R.I.P. G O P.