The 2012 and 2008 primaries brought out the deep divisions within the Republican Party when Mitt Romney and John McCain became presidential candidates in 2012 and 2008 respectively. Both moderates according to their voting records, Romney was slammed by the GOP as being a ‘weak moderate candidate’ who had been handpicked by the ‘mushy-middle’ GOP. Similarly in 2008, McCain was heavily criticised by his own party, particularly his plans for an overhaul of the immigration system, which was seen by hardline conservatives in the party as a sneaky way to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants. A civil war ensued within the party between moderates and more conservative Republicans.
On the other hand, the Republicans remain a united conservative party as illustrated by the fact that 2 moderate presidential hopefuls never went on to win the general election, illustrating the fact that moderate Conservatism is a declining force within the party. From these two elections it seems as though the GOP are unable to win a presidential election on moderate principals and therefore for the upcoming 2016 presidential race have been squeezed out of the competition, the current candidates that have announced their intentions to run and genuinely stand a significant chance are hardline conservatives like Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Mike Huckabee and there’s no mixture of candidates from different wings of the party as was the case in 2008 or 2012.
The Tea Party have without a doubt been a polarising force in Washington and have subsequently stirred up a lot of divisions within the party. They rose to prominence in 2010, their aim was to nominate true conservatives not RINOs (Republicans In Name Only). This led to a lot of less hardcore conservatives losing their seats in Congress such as Senator Lisa Murkowski in favour of Tea Party candidate Joe Miller, Bob Bennett from Utah was denied his 4th term by the Tea Party, Marco Rubio won over moderate Charlie Crist. And so, in 2012 Republicans got 47 seats in the Senate, short of four for the 51 needed, Spencer Bachus made a bold claim saying the Tea Party “cost us control of the Senate.” The aim of the Tea Party is to make GOP members of Congress toe a certain policy line and refuse any compromise with the Democrats which led to the government shutdown in 2013 which caused divisions in the party – Tea Party members tried pressuring House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor into supporting their plans of defunding Obamacare (led to shutdown) in which they refused. Moderates have been fighting back, 2014 GOP primaries Tea Party suffered losses in North Carolina, Indiana and Ohio. The civil war between the GOP establishment and Tea Party has without a doubt generated an image of disunity within the Republican Party.
Washington Post Journalist, Paul Waldman commented on the Tea Party and the so-called divisions its created within the party. In reality, Waldman argues, is that there never was any significant ideological divide between the GOP establishment and the Tea Party movement. Waldman argues there was never much difference in policy and if there ever was any disagreements, they were tactical, not policy-orientated. Thom Tillis, for instance, was the GOPs candidate for the Senate in North Carolina and he was no less a conservative than his Tea Party opponent in the primary and he was also endorsed by U.S Chamber of Commerce and Crossroads GPS (two very conservative interest group) who believed him to have been a more experienced speaker in the state House. Fact remains that the Republicans become an established fiscal conservative party since the 1980s under Reagan and these sentiments remain strong within the GOP as further illustrating by the 2015 budget which has proposed over $5 trillion in spending cuts which will make it easier to repeal Obamacare. And thus, any differences between the Tea Party and the establishment GOP are merely tactical not ideological.
In the aftermath of Edward Snowden’s leaks to journalists about mass spying programs by the NSA divisions have emerged within the GOP between civil libertarians and traditional hawks. With Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act set to expire on June 1st (which allows the NSA to conduct mass data collection from peoples internet and phone records) many Republicans have spoken out against renewing the Patriot Act. Rand Paul has threatened to filibuster any sort of extension or renewal. The Republican House passed a bill to renew it and a 2-month extension, however the Republican Senate also blocked it. Mitch McConnell for instance is at odds with Paul, after the bill was blocked by the Senate, McConnell asked for a shorter extension version but Paul continued to refuse. Paul eventually did launch a ‘filibuster’ (was more of a speech not technically a filibuster) lasting 10 hours and 30 minutes. This isn’t the first time Paul has filibustered – in 2013 he delayed John O. Brennan’s appointment to the CIA director position to draw attention to the issue of drones. Moreover, divisions are also clear on strategy on how to deal with ISIS. For instance, Rick Santorum wants to deploy 10,000 American troops in Iraq as part of a coalition with Arab nations to fight ISIS. Jeb Bush believes those troops would have been useful few years ago but today ground troops won’t help. Marco Rubio has adopted a tough stance, taking a line from Taken and saying “we will look for you, we will find you, and we will kill you” and provide the most devastating air support available. Scott Walker and Rick Perry are in favour of a combat missions while Rand Paul only wants Arab boots on the ground.
Such disagreements in national security and foreign policy are minor disagreements and not divisions, according to the New York Times, most Republicans do indeed have differing strategies for the war on ISIS but are reluctant to lay down any detailed plans and would much rather focus on criticising Obama’s current strategy. Different strategy but underlying objectives are the same. The 2003 American-led invasion of Iraq still casts a shadow upon the Republican Party and this means that the Republican Party remain reluctant to speak out openly in favour of a certain strategy but there is broad agreement among everyone that ISIS is a serious threat and must be dealt with – with most agreeing that the main viable options are to intensify airstrikes and arm Kurdish forces. Though there are some disagreements the Republican Party can unite around a single issue such as this and criticize the Democrats efforts for not going far enough, in which the public seem to agree also as seen from a CBS News poll that found 64% of respondents said the American military fight against ISIS was going “somewhat badly” or “very badly”. Republican figures have commented saying Obama's foreign policy has been a "disaster for America", saying Obama has down played the threat of Islamic terrorism.
Obvious divisions within the GOP can be found within the area of social policy which is dominated by social conservatives seeking to promote traditional family values, the ‘nuclear family’, banning of recreational drugs, promoting Christian values in schools, etc. The social conservatives have faced many defeats in areas such as gay marriage (e.g. Hollingsworth v. Perry, U.S v. Windsor, repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell) and many Republicans are becoming increasingly more accepting of issues such as gay marriage (e.g. Jeb Bush) since they’re becoming more accepted in society. This obviously hasn’t been accepted by everyone in the Republican party. Rick Santorum said he would never attend a same-sex wedding, Marco Rubio said he might attend one but thinks its absurd for gay marriage to be a constitutional right, Scott Walker actually went to a same-sex marriage reception, Ted Cruz said he firmly opposes it. GOP are struggling to adjust to a rapidly changing legal, political and cultural landscape. Such division have become more clear during Obergefell v. Hodges case with the GOP facing difficulty adopting to the new shift in attitudes towards gay marriage.
Such divisions over social policy are often over exaggerated as most Republicans remain firmly against gay marriage. There have actually been very few Republicans who have openly supported or endorsed gay marriage. Moreover, with Congress now a Republican stronghold there have been recent efforts made in the House to pass a bill which requires doctors performing late term abortions to take all the necessary steps required to ensure the survival of the foetus, which is all a part of a bigger attempt by the Republicans to make abortion at the 20th week of pregnancy illegal. An odd combination of fiscal and social conservatives along with Libertarians in Nebraska have united to take steps in abolishing the death penalty in Nebraska.
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