How Conservative is the Republican Party?

How Conservative is the Republican Party?

Conservative	Not conservative	Conclusion
FOREIGN POLICY. The Republican Party still remains a very conservative party with regards to foreign policy and this was fuelled by the revival of neo conservative activism during the Bush administration and these sentiments are still very much active within the party today. Conservatives have a realist approach to foreign policy in which they only intervene when American interests are threatened. This is still seen today among the Republican Party’s criticism of the Obama administration slow approach to the threat of the Islamic State in the Middle East. The GOP are in agreement on how to deal with ISIS – while some such as Rick Santorum are suggesting deploying 10,000 ground troops others believe that air strikes should be intensified, so although there may be different strategies – overall the party remains conservative in that they agree that intervention in the middle east is still needed. Similarly, Conservatives continue to support the renewal of the PATRIOT Act, which they agree is necessary to keep American lives safe.	In the aftermath of the Edward Snowden leaks on the mass data collection programmes being conducted by the NSA some Republican figures have spoken out against it – most notably Rand Paul who launched somewhat of a filibuster lasting 10 hours to delay its renewal and has promised that he will delay the bill as much as possible. Paul has also been a strong opponent of drone strikes – which Republicans strongly support – whereby he filibustered the appointment of John O. Brennan as CIA director to raise awareness on the issue of drone strikes. With the emergence of ISIS the GOP have become increasingly blamed for it’s creation by invading Iraq back in 2003 which destabilized the country and paved the way for ISIS – as a result, the Iraq war still casts its long shadow over the Republican Party and they’ve become increasingly war wary as seen from the fact that in 2013 they voted against military action against Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria.	Rand Paul seems to be the only one with such strong opposition to the PATRIOT Act, and overall the Republican party remains very in favour of it as well as the leadership in the Senate – Mitch McConnell has been pushing for the GOP to vote for the renewal of the Patriot Act since the GOP dominated House has already passed it.
TEA PARTY. Under Ronald Reagan in the 1980s the Republican were established as a fiscally conservative party and such sentiments remain strong within the party to this day. The underlying belief of fiscal conservatives is to greatly reduce government spending and cut back in taxation as well as achieve a balanced budget – the emergence of the Tea Party in recent years has further reinforced these sentiments and therefore the GOP remain a fiscally conservative party. The Republicans ‘conservative’ stance is perhaps most evident from their opposition to Obamacare, which ultimately requires high taxation and GOP opposition intensified to a point where in 2013 there was a shutdown by the Tea Party. Further evidence that the GOP remain a conservative party is seen by the 2015 budget which was approved by the GOP dominated Congress, proposing $5.3 trillion in spending cuts and a balanced budget (first time since 2001), which will make it easier to scrap Obamacare. They opposed Obama’s Stimulus Package in 2009.	However, the GOP have been criticised for not being conservative enough. For instance, during the Bush era public expenditure went up incredibly as a result of No Child Left Behind. The GOP also agreed to tax hikes in 2013. The 2015 budget has been criticised for two of the most fiscally conservative members – Ted Cruz + Rand Paul – as not going far enough as the budget also proposed $38 billion being pumped into the defence budget, thus undoing previous fiscal achievements in 2013 when significant cuts were made to the defence budget. Arguably moderate sentiments within the Republican party remain strong.	The days of compassionate conservatism from the Bush era are over and the party’s fiscally conservative principles have been reinforced by the emergence of the Tea Party movement. Tax hikes were agreed upon in 2013 to end the shutdown. The 2015 budge is as fiscal as fiscal gets – its massive spending cuts and aims to repeal Obamacare epitomise the very fact that the GOP remain a very conservative party. +John Boehner banned earmarks in the House which is seen as wasteful spending by fiscal Conservativism.
SOCIAL ISSUES. Under Reagan the Republican party also became an established socially conservative party and such sentiments are still seen today by their opposition to things like gay marriage and abortion rights. The Republicans, whose core supporters and members are typically Evangelical Christians want to promote traditional family values and the ‘nuclear family’. There have been recent attempts in the House to pass a bill to instruct doctors performing late term abortions to ensure the best survival of the foetus which is all a part of larger attempts by the Republicans to ban abortions starting at the 11th week of pregnancy. Moreover, Republicans continue to strongly oppose gay marriage.	As Bill O’Reilly from Fox News made it clear in May – ‘it’s a tough time for social conservatives in America’ who are now officially in the ‘smear zone’ because views on issues like gay marriage are gradually changing in the US and becoming increasingly accepted. As a result, social conservatives are now in the ‘smear zone’ according to O’Reilly who are unable to get things done – this is seen from several losses over issues like gay marriage such as repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, US v Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry. As a result, there have been calls within the GOP to quit being so anti-gay marriage because they run at risk of alienating young voters (who usually support gay marriage) – Jeb Bush for instance says he supports gay marriage. GOP struggling with a changing political and social shift on gay marriage.	However, they may indeed be struggling with the changing social and political climate- but they continue to remain fully social conservative as further illustrated by the ongoing Obergefell v. Hodges case in which Marco Rubio commented saying it was ridiculous to assume gay marriage is protected by the constitution.
IMMIGRATION REFORM. The Republican Party’s conservative principles are evident from their tough stance on immigration reform in which they continue to believe that comprehensive immigration reform is not a sensible approach to dealing with the issue and believe deportations should intensify, they also see comprehensive immigration reform as being a way of rewarding (by granting amnesty) criminals who have broken the law by coming to the US illegally. This tough stance on immigration reform continues to be evident within the conservative Republican party whereby they filibustered the DREAM Act in 2010 and were outraged by Obama’s executive order last year. Similarly, conservatism within the GOP on this issue is seen at a state level whereby some states have adopted very strict anti-immigration laws such as Alabama HB 56 and Arizona SB 1070 and a Texas legislature dominated by Republicans have put on hold Obama’s executive order.	However, in recent years there has been increasing efforts by the Republican party to work in conjunction with the Democrats on achieving immigration reform, for instance, the Gang of 8 Bill was a bipartisan measure led by Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Chuck Schumer which sought to introduce a path to citizenship, it was one of the several other attempts at comprehensive immigration reform in recent years. Also, John Boehner, the Republican House Speaker put forward a 3 week extension bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, thus allowing for Obama’s executive order to go through, and was supported by a dozen GOP House Representatives.	However, Boehner’s bill ultimately failed and a shorter version (1 week) was passed instead due to the GOP House voting against it. Similarly, the Gang of 8 bill also failed due to a lack of GOP support. The GOP remain seriously in opposition to a path to citizenship.
2016 RACE. The 2016 presidential race is dominated by conservatives – such as Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio with not a moderate in sight.	Previous two elections the GOP presidential candidates were Mitt Romney and John McCain – two moderates, and right now Jeb Bush is considering running for presidency which could consolidate moderate sentiments within the party	Romney and McCain lost – moderate conservatism is a declining force.

Is the Republican Party ideologically divided?

Are the Republican Party ideologically divided?

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 4^th 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 1^st (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.