Crumbling GOP?

The Republican Party may be having a hard time since 2006, but does that mean they have a realistic risk of fading out and being the resigned party or will they cycle back as it seems the Democratic and Republicans tend to do throughout history?

In 1852 there was a collapse of a party. It was the collapse of the Whig party. As Aldrich said, "The 1852-53 elections were very bad for the Whigs. Scott won 44 percent of the vote, unusually low for the second party system. The uniformity of the vote throughout the nation meant that he won only 42 electoral votes to Pierce's 245. The Whigs held only 71 House seats in the Thirty-third Congress, down from 88, setting a second party system low, and 22 seats in the Senate, one more than the lowest total...this signaled to many that the Whigs were doomed" (135). This was the collapse of the Whig party, however there was a difference between then and now. The main difference is that at the time there were not just two major competing parties. The country was changing dramatically and when the Whigs collapsed, another party was on the rise.

This is one of the main reasons that the current Republican party would be safe from being crushed for ever. Yes they lost the majority in congress, and yes the presidential election was a very strong win for the Democrats and Obama, however that does not mean that the Republicans wont be back.

There has been a cycle throughout American political history where the Democrats gain strong power and then fall while the Republicans take charge. This seems to be what is happenings at the moment. The majority of people vote for a candidate or party with which they can feel the most connection with and also who has a better chance of wining. Although many people may feel more connected to an independent candidate it is much more likely for that person to choose either a candidate from the GOP or Democratic party to support instead because they have a better chance of wining. This is a strong reason as to why the Republicans will stick around even after a hard time.

What the GOP does need to do though to stay relevant is to change their main focus and to be seen as the party that can handle all of the current problems that are happening to the country and the world. The party itself needs to come together and re-think some of the issues. Issues that the Republicans used to be strong on are fading and are not as important as climate and health care. By creating a party ideal about this issues could help them to bounce back.

Van Buren's principle for a political party is that "the party is more important than the men in it" (128). If the GOP can put the focus back on the party, and start to reshape the parties image away from the negativity of the past 8 years, then they could have a chance to come back fairly recent. It is not certain when the Democrats will start to lose power and when the Republicans will become powerful again, but it seems that throughout history it is bound to happen as issues and events change.