I’ve watched with some amazement the radicalization of the modern Republican Party that started in earnest with Gingrich, continued through DeLay, was made more severe by Cheney, and continues on today through some odd sense of ideological inertia.
The consequences of this radicalization for the political landscape have been sweeping (and devastating), but it’s also led to a Republican Party that seems to be collapsing before our very eyes. Sheryl Gay Stolberg notes that Sen. Larry Craig’s (R-Idaho) sex scandal has left much of the party wondering whether things can get any worse.
Forget Mark Foley of Florida, who quit the House last year after exchanging sexually explicit e-mail messages with under-age male pages, or Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist whose dealings with the old Republican Congress landed him in prison. They are old news, replaced by a fresh crop of scandal-plagued Republicans, men like Senator David Vitter of Louisiana, whose phone number turned up on the list of the so-called D.C. Madam, or Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska and Representative Rick Renzi of Arizona, both caught up in F.B.I. corruption investigations.
It is enough to make a self-respecting Republican want to tear his hair out in frustration, especially as the party is trying to defend an unpopular war, contain the power of the new Democratic majority on Capitol Hill and generate some enthusiasm among voters heading toward the presidential election in 2008.
“The real question for Republicans in Washington is how low can you go, because we are approaching a level of ridiculousness,” said [Republican strategist Scott Reed], sounding exasperated in an interview on Tuesday morning. “You can’t make this stuff up. And the impact this is having on the grass-roots around the country is devastating. Republicans think the governing class in Washington are a bunch of buffoons who have total disregard for the principles of the party, the law of the land and the future of the country.”
As it turns out, they’d be right. Indeed, I sincerely hope that’s exactly what rank-and-file Republicans believe about their party’s officials in DC, because it would show that reality is, slowly but surely, reaching people and having an effect.
For that matter, Stolberg noted that it’s not just DC.
Just ask Thomas Ravenel, the state treasurer of South Carolina, who had to step down as state chairman of Rudolph W. Giuliani’s presidential campaign after he was indicted on cocaine charges in June.
Or Bob Allen, a state representative in Florida who was jettisoned from the John McCain campaign last month after he was arrested on charges of soliciting sex in a public restroom.
While blogging every day, I often wonder how, exactly, someone looks at the Republican Party of 2007 — its leaders, its decisions, its priorities, its conduct — and says, “You know, that’s the party for me.”
The irony is, this was supposed to be a year of recovery for the GOP. Last year was a humiliating fiasco, with Abramoff, Cunningham, Ney, Foley, Harris, DeLay, Wedlon, and Burns (among others). The voters awarded Dems both chambers, Republicans learned a valuable lesson, and 2007 would help the GOP take a long look in the mirror and get back on track.
But as Paul Kiel explained, this year is poised to be as shameful as last year.
So what’s the tally this year so far? Well, there is, of course, 1) Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) and 2) Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) with their sex scandals (the attempted restroom tryst and numerous successful hotel room trysts, respectively).
But then there’s the much greater toll of just plain ol’ corruption. 3) Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) and 4) Rep. Don Young (R-AK) are under investigation for their ties to the oil company Veco (though that’s just the tip of the iceberg for Young). 5) Reps. Tom Feeney (R-FL) and 6) John Doolittle (R-CA) have found themselves the focus of a reinvigorated Abramoff investigation (though Abramoff is in prison, he’s still busily cooperating). 7) Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) had his house raided. 8) The FBI is investigating Rep. Gary Miller’s (R-CA) land deals.
And then there’s 9) Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) whose land deal with a businessman and campaign contributor became such a scandal that she finally just sold back the plot of land.
There are a couple holdovers from 2006, of course; scandal figures who’ve stuck around and managed to keep a relatively low profile. 10) Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) is still apparently under federal investigation. And 11) Rep. Ken Calvert’s (R-CA) land deals are still winning scrutiny.
Ouch. We’re looking at a Republican Party that is quickly becoming a laughingstock. It’s a sight to behold.