The candidates said this election would be the most important of a lifetime. Some conservatives scoffed at such a perspective, pointing to the liberal and moderate tendencies of both candidates. Whatever the pundits are saying, this presidential election may have turned American politics down a road of restructuring.
The Democratic Party is in the middle of an identity crisis, having lost seats in both the House and Senate and, of course, the presidency. Republicans are enjoying this time to gawk at the failures of the Dems.
But the real question is this: Have the liberals really lost? I would emphatically say no. While the Democratic Party is dealing with some failures, liberalism as an ideology has found some success in the GOP, with party leaders endorsing socialist-type legislation every session. Indeed, the prospect of a pro-choice presidential nominee in 2008 may not be such a radical idea if you take a look at the prime-time lineup of this year’s Republican Convention.
In contrast to the reality of what’s taking place within these parties – the Democratic Party moving left and Republicans with them – the mainstream media continues to refer to President Bush as “conservative” and even his most adamant supporters as “right-wing.” Following suit with what the media feeds them, the average American, especially the evangelical comfortable with being conservative, will support the Republican nominee without argument. Thus, we’re witnessing a shift to the left in what America considers “mainstream,” “liberal” and “conservative.”
As I said, America’s presidential decision may lead to political restructuring. This seems to be dependent upon two things: the numbers of true conservatives with a collective spine, and how liberal the Republican Party plans to be in the next eight to 12 years.
A scenario: President Bush acts just as liberal – if not more – in his second term. The true conservatives then become more and more frustrated with the neo-conservatism of the GOP, but to what end? Third parties aren’t striking a chord with Americans. The newly formed Constitution Party and their nominee, Michael Peroutka, only mustered up 150,000 votes nationally. The Libertarian Party – which has been around for over 30 years – nominated Michael Badnarik, and he barely passed 400,000 votes nationally.
The future of the America’s political structure with the Democratic and Republicans will be decided by the expectations the citizens. Both parties will continue their adventure into socialism. While everyone is chatting up the idea of the Democrats becoming more moderate to reach the Average Joe, their image of being on the fringe is dependent solely upon the platform of the Republican Party. Even as partisan as the politicians act, the two parties are close, and their futures are linked.
Many say a third-party will never work because the atmosphere of American politics just won’t allow it. That may be true, and thus the prospect of the Dems and GOP folding into one and a third party rising into the second party may not be impossible. As a recent conversation on my blog has proved, however, that this has happened before.
For this to take place again, the hearts and minds of Americans must change. There must be a revival of principle and participation. I pray and hope this happens because within the current structure of Capitol Hill, Americans are not being served – they are being ripped off, becoming slaves to the national debt, and tyrannical judges are shaping our society.
The near future will be decided on the actions of President Bush in his next four years. News this week shows he will continue with strong support of his “guest worker” program. Hopefully, that’s not a sign of things to come. If President Bush doesn’t pull his pen out to veto the socialist legislation from Congress, it’s going to affect the way activists think about supporting a presidential candidate in 2008.
