American Conservatism Has Found a New Election Face

One would like to start with “Meanwhile, in America….” There is a strong desire to compare the local election campaign with Russia’s, though this is entirely an American phenomenon. At the moment, what is happening in the U.S. is leading to not just the simple formula of “who will oppose Barack Obama in November,” but also to the more complicated formula of “what” will oppose him, what kind of ideology: Essentially, what will the Republican party become in this new segment of American history.

The Extras Have Dropped Out

Today’s main event is a unnoticed speech given by one of the Republican candidates, Newt Gingrich, from 1992. He’s best known as a former Speaker of the House. Just imagine — a speech from 1992!

Though the speech was not secret, it was given to a narrow circle in the National Academy of Public Administration. In it, Gingrich lashed out at one of the Republican’s greatest — Ronald Reagan, by then no longer president. Reagan, it seemed, “didn’t think government mattered,” and undervalued the government as “the organizing mechanism for reinforcing societal behavior.”

What here is really that terrible? A few things. First: Gingrich, a member of the House of Representatives, at that moment — well, in essence, continuously — offended his elder party comrades. And the second thing is even worse: In 1992, he didn’t say what he is saying now. The biography of a not very good man is taking shape: By conviction, he was almost a Democrat and a liberal, but he went to the Republican party because it was convenient for him for a number of reasons. Then he pretty much stayed silent, except in private where he continued to voice his own beliefs.

The main thing is that these beliefs are completely at odds with the emerging creed of today’s Republican party: The government, as Reagan personally said, must be small. And taxes must be low. Then the economy will improve. Documents were dug up in light of this discovery, where they had been kept at the University of Southern Georgia; a former Gingrich assistant, now a retired professor, dug up the dirt. And now they’ve come in handy.

It’s possible to argue that, regarding one’s rights, one should be able to say what he thinks about the party bosses in private, at least. Or what if you think back to what each of us did and said in 1992…. But it seems likely that the issue deals more with technology (which, in the American political tradition, is pretty normal). But the root of the problem is that Republicans understand precisely that Newt Gingrich is not the person who will beat Obama, that his own wife wouldn’t even vote for him, and he’s had a lot of wives.

He Won’t Be the Republican Presidential Candidate

And the more or less “gray-haired” colorful personages who the enlightened public more or less laughed at, have more or less disappeared from the galaxy’s horizon: Sarah Palin, Donald Trump, Michelle Bachman, John McCain and still a few more who weren’t really necessary for the Republican party, the so-called “Tea Party.” In general, these are people from the past, connected to George Bush, Jr. Republicans understand that they need a complete party upgrade, no matter how hard that may be.

There’s Still Romney

The fact that Obama is likely to go up against Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts and a businessman, could already be seen back in the beginning of December. Now, in the wake of the state primaries, he is really gaining more points, and one can easily follow his successes on the New York Time’s candidate dossier. Romney is a man with little connections to Bush, relatively young, perky and tough (with the typical American jaw that’s worth something). But what is still good about him?

He turned out to be more right than many of the right-wingers (like Bush and even McCain); but at the same time, it’s believed that he could take away some liberal and moderate votes away from Obama. If you look at what questions really drive the election campaign, the puzzle is still being decided. In no way is the question about foreign policy; instead, one hears the voices of the most conservative Republicans. They discuss unemployment, taxes, health insurance and abortion. And here many Democratic voters can vary, especially when it comes to taxes and also health insurance.

In general, the meaning behind what’s going on currently is that Republicans have already made a preliminary selection for their renewed team, and they’re subjecting this new team to a test, demonstrating it to “their” voters. And Romney has turned out to be the best there is.

Well, and the fact that Romney’s a Mormon…. After all, the Democrats put up the first-ever African-American candidate in history (Barack Obama) and the first woman (Hillary Clinton), and everything turned out okay. So a Mormon in the United States shouldn’t scare anyone.

Decisive and Historic

American historians are now reflecting on how really decisive votes have not always been strained. For example, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was first elected in 1932, there were no serious election fights. But now, great changes have occurred.

Perhaps this is being said because the current campaign (and this campaign started a long time ago) doesn’t look very strained when compared to 2008, when Obama was elected. This doesn’t mean that Obama is guaranteed a victory; voters in the U.S. have been roughly split down the middle between Republicans and Democrats for years, so this time anything can happen.

This campaign is interesting precisely because it’s long and is virtually concentrated on one side, the Republicans. And not just because for the Democrats, the candidate is clear.

The moral defeat of the Republicans, which was technically in 2008 but in fact was much earlier, created America’s unbalanced political system. What exactly makes a Republican is again determined right before our eyes: It is a man who believes in low taxes and small government (that is, a belief in the omnipotence of private initiative); one who is against abortion; and increasingly after Bush, one who very skeptically relates to excessive activity abroad.

The process continues. They are digging to the bottom, all the way to the founding fathers.

It turns out, that it’s not about creating a strong party from scratch, but “resetting” an old and rather strong party. There are a lot of issues and a lot of months. And it is very likely that this process is now more important for Republicans than simply finding a candidate that can beat Obama this year.