Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

The U.S Republican Party and Defeat | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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The Republican party in the United States of America has been successful in its run for the presidency in the last three decades. At present, however, George W Bush remains a controversial and divisive figure. When Bush became president, he was backed by the neo-conservatives who had been planning frightening foreign policy political projects for some years. However, the focus was firmly on promoting the academic and theoretical merit of these plans, in order for them to be transformed into a practical vision, through the invasion of Iraq. With the increasing failures in Iraq, the lies and weak arguments of this group were revealed to the American public.

According to opinion polls, the American president’s popularity has declined to unprecedented levels, and most remarkably, amongst party members as well. A division is emerging between the two most important currents within this party. On the one hand is the extremist Christian current, representing the president’s power base and accounting for the bulk of his electorate, nearly 70 million voters. This current is extremely loyal to Bush and fully adheres to his decisions and his perceptions of the world. The second current represents traditional politics and has its own set of traditional convictions, including conservative fiscal policies, balanced international relations, an economy based on supply and demand and strategic alliances with pivotal countries. This group strongly believes that the current administration had “betrayed” their trust and turned against the party’s deep-rooted traditions. It also believes that the party has become a threat to its own future and the gains achieved in previous years. A large number of books, articles and interviews have illustrated the magnitude of the current administration’s “treason”.

Legislative breaches in the name of the war on terror, the disregard of strategic interests when dealing with allies, as well a senseless financial policy, bringing about the federal government’s biggest deficit in its history, are now being contested. Furthermore, as a result of the current administration’s neglect of international conventions and protocols, major environmental violations have taken place. However, the biggest disaster of all has been the administration’s failure in Iraq due to impulsive and ambiguous policies and the way it has dealt with central issues in the Middle East, namely the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Republican party is beginning to see the danger signs and recognize that the current administration will cause it to lose future races for presidency. Perhaps the Senator Hilary Clinton’s announcement that she intends to run for president and the promising support she has received from senior members of the Democratic party because of the power of her “name” as the wife of one of America’s most important and successful presidents in recent times, marks the elation that precedes victory.

The Republican party will pay the price for its lenience within the current administration and suffer a defeat in the next elections.