Over this past weekend, at a GOP governors' gathering in Washington,the chief executives of several states "split sharply during the weekend over how to respond to the economic crisis, a debate whose outcome will go a long way toward shaping how the national party redefines itself in the wake of its election defeats of recent years."
Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina, one of the most ideologically right wing members of the conservative Republican governors, recently said:“There’s a tug of war right now within the party as to where we go next,... I am in the camp that says we go back to basics. There are other folks who say something a little different. The answer will be determined in this tug of war.”Among those opposing Sanford and his small band of ideologues has emerged the ideas and actions of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, who in the past week has raised taxes to meet a $42 billion budgetary shortfall.
Mr. Schwarzenegger was widely quoted just yesterday for complaining against the conservative ideologues who “were not in touch with what the majority of people want to do in California.”The New York Times characterized Mr. Schwarzenegger as being undeterred "by the attacks from Republicans," and the California governor pledged to go against the wishes of conservative ideologues and "would try again to win health insurance coverage for all Californians, though it would require new taxes," The New York Times reported.
Mr. Schwarzenegger, driving home his point against the ideologically driven conservatives, and explained: “Even though it is against your principles or philosophy,... what the people want you to do rather than getting stuck in your ideology.”
For those who are interested in the recovery or disintegration of the Republican Party since its election defeats in 2006 and 2008; this years annual governors winter meeting has provided a stage for differences to be aired n public.
The GOP faces a battle for control over the future direction of their party. As map of the political landscape shows today; the Republican's strength is found among conservatives found mostly within a belt of southeastern states; making the GOP a regional party with a small, but highly dedicated and ideologically driven base. Their conservative influence at this point in time in the Northeast is negligible with no congressional seats and only a handful of moderate Senators still in office. The GOP's conservative base in the Midwest and West is better than their nonexistent presence than in the Northeast, but is not a growing base; it is rapidly shrinking with the rise of democratic Hispanic populations of voters.
"And with the party leaderless after losing control of both the White House and Congress in the past two election cycles, the split is colored by early maneuvering for conservatives’ support among potential aspirants for the party’s 2012 presidential nomination," The New York Times observes.
The New York Times continues to assess the epicenter of conservative ideologues: "Several governors, nearly all of them Southerners known to have national ambitions, have been withering in their criticism of Mr. Obama’s stimulus plan, which received only 3 of 219 Republicans’ votes in Congress. The harshest critics include Mr. Sanford and Govs. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Haley Barbour of Mississippi, the national chairman of the party in the 1990s, Rick Perry of Texas, and Sarah Palin of Alaska, the party’s 2008 vice-presidential nominee."
Governor Rick Perry voiced his opposition to President Obama's signature into law of the "H.R. 1, the $787 billion stimulus package" which Perry characterized would "burden future generations with unprecedented levels of debt."
Although Perry criticized the signing into law of the stimulus, he artfully skirted the issue of whether he would reject federal dollars from the stimulus b saying that if: "Congress pass stimulus legislation using Texas tax dollars, I would work to ensure that our citizens receive their fair share."
Governor Perry engaged in more parsing when his letter to President Obama/Press Release made the following request for the stimulus money and then stipulated how he intends to use the funds: "On behalf of the people of Texas, please allow this letter to certify that we will accept the funds in H.R. 1 and use them to promote economic growth and create jobs in a fiscally responsible manner that is in the best interest of Texas taxpayers. I remain opposed to using these funds to expand existing government programs, burdening the state with ongoing expenditures long after the funding has dried up.
Perry concluded his message by telling President Obama that his approach to stimulating the economy using spending increases was wrong: "On behalf of the people of Texas, please allow this letter to certify that we will accept the funds in H.R. 1 and use them to promote economic growth and create jobs in a fiscally responsible manner that is in the best interest of Texas taxpayers. I remain opposed to using these funds to expand existing government programs, burdening the state with ongoing expenditures long after the funding has dried up.
The New York Times summarized the attack/accept positions of the conservative governors: "After initially saying they might reject any federal aid, several conservative governors said in interviews over the weekend that they were likely to reject only the money for expanded unemployment compensation because of federal strings that could require them to provide relief to part-time workers who lose jobs as well as to full-time workers. Many other states already provide such aid."
Governor Jindal had "announced on Friday that he would reject the $100 million for unemployment compensation in the estimated $4 billion for Louisiana. And on “Meet the Press” on NBC, Mr. Jindal stated: “Now is the time, and it’s a great opportunity for Republican governors and other leaders to offer conservative-based solutions to the problems.”
Referring to having been chosen to give the GOP's reaction to President Obama's Tuesday night's congressional address; Mr. Jindal's responded by answering: “We need to work with the president every chance we can. But on principle — when we disagree with him — we should be unafraid to stand up on principle and to point out our alternative solutions.”
Governor Charlie Crist of Florida, disputed Mr. Jindal’s comments and said: “There is a national leader, his name is President Obama,... I think we do need to be bipartisan,... We need to be, in fact, nonpartisan.”
Mr. Crist, a Republican governor, actively pushed for Mr. Obama's stimulus plan in Florida.
The New York Times characterized Mr. Crist's remarks directed at "some of the Republican governors’ criticism of the unemployment compensation." Quoting Mr. Crist: “In the past five weeks, I’ve visited six unemployment offices throughout Florida,... I look into the eyes of these people, and I understand that the challenges are serious that they’re having to deal with, and I want to do everything I can to help them.”
In another interview, Mr. Crist pointed out that “I am not here to judge,” he said of the conservatives who are against the stimulus, but he compared himself to Mr. Schwarzenegger's support of the stimulus as perhaps emblematic of just the actions of two governors whose support: “Maybe it’s a result of being from larger states,” that also electorally supported Mr. Obama.
Mitch Daniels, the governor of Indiana, a long-time red state, which was another state that voted for Obama last November, has said: “I want this president to succeed because I want America to succeed,... There will be plenty of time for alternatives later.”
Speaking for a possible Republican electoral victory bonanza down the road if the Obama plan fails, Mr. Barbour wistfully recalled the mid-1990s GOP capture of the House and Senate while Bill Clinton was president and cited the conditions for such a triumph:“The last time Republicans made a comeback, it was led by Republican governors,... Now we have to take that same approach, take our values and principles,” he said, and “tie them to the new issue set (of the recession )that we have to deal with.”
There are some Republican governors who have taken a middle ground. Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota has aspirations to run for president in 2012 and builds his strategy on attracting "women, Hispanics, younger voters and independents" to insure a GOP recovery in 2012.
Mr. Pawlenty added his thoughts:“The Republican Party is going to have to adhere to its principles, because they are foundational and they are important. But they need to be presented in a hopeful, optimistic, up-tempo, modern, practical way, and that’s not what we have been doing recently... We’ve become too petty and angry in many aspects,” Mr. Pawlenty said. “That’s unappealing to swing voters.””
Greta Van Susteren interviewed another Republican critic of the Obama Stimulus; Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. Ms. Palin voiced her opinion that the president should veto the stimulus and send it back to Congress and make them read the bill in it's entirety so they would be able to understand the real impact of the bill. Ms. Palin was less precise on her plan for whether she would take all of the money."Palin supported plans for new infrastructure spending, but opposes expansion of social programs."And while the cameras were rolling; Palin tried to whip up fears about the "return" of the Fairness doctrine."She said it is dangerous to attempt to silence those that are asking questions about our government."
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