TPM Reader BC has sparked a lively conversation by questioning the “GOP in Disarray” meme. Now TPM Reader JB responds …
To your correspondent’s point, Republicans have in our modern history been more dependent on strong-looking leaders than have Democrats.
For generations, there was a pretty obvious reason for this: Republicans were members of the smaller of our two parties. Not only that, but a whole region of the country — the South — had large numbers of voters who would only vote for a Republican if the negative value of his party identification was outweighed by his personal qualities. Small wonder that the first Republican to recover the White House after the GOP’s collapse in the Hoover period happened to be the country’s greatest war hero.
Illinois state party to consider firing chairman after he expresses support for gay marriage.
TPM Reader BC has a question …
Look, I love Republican disarray as much as the next guy, but four months after E-day I’m still confused by this notion that the GOP’s now in turmoil because it lacks a “strong leader.”
I want to challenge TPM to question on this narrative a little more – because frankly, the more I think about it, the more it seems like the kind of lazy pseudo-explanation that mainstream reporters fall back on to avoid serious, thoughtful analysis of the party’s woes… And I come to TPM to get away from that.