Reagan used his communication skills and conservative starvation for power to knit-together three groups that have little, if anything, in common. it worked for a while, but McCain’s 70% finishes in five out of the last five primaries are evidence to the fact that the coalition Reagan put together is finished.
So what is next for the Republican Party?
Will it cling to Tom Tancredo‘s “explicitly authoritarian, religio-nationalistic brand of conservatism that would seek to cleanse the nation of foreign influences, expand the police powers of government and wage unremitting war against Islam?”
Or will it take on Ron Paul‘s conservatism that “would largely subsume conservatism within libertarianism by withdrawing from Iraq, avoiding other foreign entanglements, drastically scaling back government, axing the federal income tax, repealing the Patriot Act and ending the war on drugs?”
Or will it be Mitt Romney‘s plan to “transform conservatism into a business creed that puts social issues in second place?”
One thing is sure, there will be gallons of blood on the floor before the Republicans get to where they are going.