While the primary process has put the divisions within the Democratic Party on display, there’s a little secret that often goes unnoticed — the fissures within the GOP are just as serious. And the far-right elements of the party aren’t just frustrated with Bush; they’re beginning to actively dislike him.
There were several recent reports, for example, covering the annual Conservative Political Action Conference two weeks ago, highlighting the intense discontent among the Republican’s most right-wing supporters. For most liberals, the CPAC conference is hell on earth: ultra-conservative vitriol, racist t-shirts, Ann Coulter dolls, radical literature, and more far-right lawmakers than you can count. But this year, there was plenty for the left to be happy about.
Salon’s report in particular captured just how angry the right really is. Right-wing activists are finding themselves in opposition to Bush policies in a host of areas — immigration amnesty, expanded government power through the Patriot Act, half-trillion dollar deficits, half-hearted support for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, record-high government spending, etc. I may consider Bush the most conservative president in U.S. history, but for these folks, Bush is just Clinton-lite.
Given these circumstances, it’s tempting to think that Bush may face a challenge in November from the far-right, a counterweight to Green Party activists who believe the Dems aren’t liberal enough. Indeed, Slate’s Tim Noah recently wrote that religious right leader James Dobson could run an independent presidential bid against Bush and serve as the “Republican Ralph Nader.”
But the Wall Street Journal’s John Fund has a different presidential candidate in mind: former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore.
A big threat to President Bush’s re-election could come if his conservative base chooses not to turn out and vote in large numbers this fall. That’s one reason he told a congressional Republican retreat on Saturday that he supports spending caps on the exploding federal budget. But the president could also still face a challenge from a social conservative running as a third-party candidate.
In the past such candidacies have fizzled. But Roy Moore, the ousted Alabama Supreme Court justice who made headlines last year by refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument he placed on public property, could make a difference in a close race. And just last week, he refused to rule out a presidential candidacy.
Fund explained that Moore’s potential candidacy was a major topic of conversation at a Christian Coalition conference in Atlanta over the weekend and, the week before, at a Pennsylvania dinner sponsored by the Constitution Party, a right-wing political party which has a spot on the presidential ballot in 41 states in the last election.
Asked if he would consider a run for the White House, Moore said, “Not right now. I have to wait till all these things are done to decide my future.” Of course, that’s not exactly, “No.”
If Moore does launch a campaign, it would presumably be through the Constitution Party, which would likely welcome him with open arms. As Fund noted, the Constitution Party has “320,000 registered voters around the country and guaranteed ballot access in large states such as California and Pennsylvania. Its national convention won’t be held until June 22, giving Moore time to exhaust the appeal of his dismissal before the Alabama courts.”
Keep in mind, Moore is a right-wing fanatic, but he doesn’t necessarily bear any strong loyalty to the Republican Party. Throughout his legal fight over his Ten Commandments display, he had tepid support from state GOP officials. And when Moore decided he had the luxury of ignoring federal court orders, Alabama’s Republican governor and attorney general said he’d gone too far and they stepped in to enforce the law. With that in mind, it’s not as if Moore would worry about running as a third-party candidate and burning GOP bridges — as far as he’s concerned, those bridges are already gone.
As much as I hate to see this loon get even more public attention for his bizarre and theocratic agenda, a Moore presidential run could be a big benefit for the Dems in the general election. With a closely divided nation gearing up for another tight election, Nader is likely to run and siphon off a couple of million voters who would otherwise vote for the Dem candidate.
With Roy Moore acting as a high-profile, right-wing, Nader-like spoiler candidate, we’d find a far more level playing field: a far-right Constitution Party candidate, a far-left Green Party candidate, a Republican Party conservative, a center-left Democrat. I, for one, would like our chances.
In other words, “Run, Roy, Run.”