For those of you unfamiliar with the area, let me explain the Cleveland suburb of Lakewood. It is a city born on Lake Erie by settlers looking to create a better life for themselves. Over the years, Lakewood has become a home for people of different socioeconomic backgrounds. The ‘burb is also known for having a very large gay population. A couple of years ago, Lakewood made it into the headlines with controversy surrounding a gay pride flag. Then-mayor Madeline Cain thought it wise to fly the rainbow flag over city hall, thereby showing solidarity with a very large section of the city’s voters. Most expectantly, a group of citizens were infuriated.
The debates at city council meetings often pitted gay-rights supporters against fringe conservatives. It was a picture of modern society. Broad support for progressive ideals versus a very vocal conservative minority.
Lakewood is a microcosm of America.
With that in mind, let me tell the tell of an observation I made this weekend. I observed a sign in front of the home belonging to a nice couple I know. Before this day, I thought they were run-of-the-mill Republicans. The sign was a George Voinovich for Senate 2004 placard that the couple previously had on their lawn during the last campaign. Although now it was markedly different. There is a hand-painted red circle with a line through it covering the front. It had become the opposite of what it was intended, thanks to fringe conservatives’ disapproval over Voinovich becoming a so-called “turncoat Republican”.(This term can be attributed to Rush Limbaugh’s view of the Senator over the Bolton U.N. nomination) I was immediately struck with a feeling of delight. For me, this represents the beginning of a civil war among Republicans.
For the last decade, GOP talking heads would point to Democrats’ supposed inability to form a cohesive ruling platform that appealed to main stream Americans as the number one reason they should not be in charge of the country. Intrinsically, liberals hold a belief that people have the right to think differently, and these differences are what make the country great. It was this basic tenant of the Democratic party that differentiated itself from the GOP; a party that held strict beliefs that were not typically stretched to encompass differing viewpoints. It was the ability of the GOP to toe the line that enabled Republicans to retake the House in 1994, the Senate in 2002, and give a rather weak president a second term. Unity ruled over common sense, and America followed.
However, it is this strict unity that is biting the Republican Party in their proverbial ass. Most main stream conservatives made a Faustian gamble with their support of Bush. If it took making deals with fringe religious conservatives in order to get Bush reelected, then so be it. This deal is now looking more and more like a lemon for those main-streamers. Dissatisfaction is now becoming common place.
So now here we are, licking the wounds over a lost presidential election and hoping for better times ahead. The light at the end of the tunnel can now be seen. Before the last six months, I would have never thought it possible. Republicans are falling victim to their own success. The GOP has revealed its true form thanks to Tom Delay and James Dobson. People will now realize that what they once thought was unity will turn out to be a blindfold.