Under The Shadetree

It is hard to believe now, but if you were to go back in time 18 months, you would find quite a few people –particularly people of color - talking seriously about looking outside of the Democratic Party for a new political home. Not that they’re rushing to join the Republican Party but on Washington’s political cocktail circuit, longtime Black Democratic lobbyists and operatives were openly decrying the neglect of the DNC, and were seriously considering opening their minds to Republican-centered clients. On the street level, people were talking of a new generation of Black professionals who were aggressively undeclared in their politics and open to the highest and best bidder.

If the Republican Party ever had an opportunity to expand its ranks and make a “bigger tent,” it was in this election, and no one was more in a position to expand that tent than John McCain. But they and he blew it. McCain (out of ambition) and the right wing of the GOP (out of habit) went to the dark side, throwing distraction, division and fear in our faces when issues were what the nation was calling for.

As a result, The Republican Party is decidedly weaker now, and its moderate wing has allowed itself to be marginalized by an aggressive, highly vocal and less levelheaded core. That’s too bad, really. America is stronger when sober voices from all sides are heard and considered. With only the crazies having the microphone, the GOP will be split, splintered and fuming from the sidelines, just like the Democrats during the Reagan-Bush years.

The great irony is that Barack Obama may be the best thing to happen to the Republican Party. The moderates know this, which is why we’ve seen a growing number of high profile Republican endorsements of Obama. They know that as the first Black president, Obama would need to govern as close to the center as possible. He may in fact turn out to be more of a moderate Republican president than a Republican because he would not be influenced by the hard right.

Likewise, an Obama administration will probably be the most bi-partisan in history, and any Republicans in it will be from the center, not the right. If those moderates can claim co-ownership of success, they can gain the leverage to recapture the Republican base from a newly-marginalized right wing.

But can moderate Republicans make the case to their friends in the next few days? “A vote for Obama is a vote for the future of the GOP.” It’s a tough sell, but it just may be true.