GOP Needs New Leadership

I’ve been a Republican all of my adult life but didn’t actually get involved in party politics until the age of 46 because someone invited me to attend the precinct reorganization meeting. I’m sure many other life-long Republicans have never been encouraged to get involved in the party organization.
What I soon learned from the inside is that the party tends to be a top-down organization. I saw people ostracized and even expelled for offering dissent. The South Carolina Republican Creed even contains the clause, “I choose to think and act for myself.” Most Republicans are thoughtful and choose to stand on principle.
The rise of the Tea Party movement in 2009 made it clear that there are two main factions within the Republican Party – the moderates, who are more concerned with maintaining political power than adhering to the Republican Party Platform, and the Liberty Republicans, who put the platform first.
As a leader of the FairTax movement in South Carolina, I was a forerunner to the Tea Party movement. My involvement was chronicled in a 2007 feature in the daily newspaper on grassroots leaders, and an unnamed Republican Party leader was quoted as saying, “These people (FairTax supporters) will not take over our party.” There was never any attempt to take over a political party, simply to promote economic liberty.
The recent announcement by Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) that he will resign from Congress highlighted the difference between the two factions. Approximately 40 Representatives opposed the accession of Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif) to Speaker. Rep. McCarthy chose to end his bid for Speaker based on the heavy opposition by the conservatives, many of whom are in the House Freedom Caucus.
Moderate Rep. Peter King (R-NY) responded to the Liberty Republican uprising by stating, “This is unprecedented to have a small group, a tiny minority, hijack the party and blackmail the House.” That top-down mentality is a large reason why a recent Fox News polls indicates that 62 percent of Republicans feel betrayed by their party’s leadership. This dissatisfaction with leadership has given rise to outsider candidates like Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson.
Among the grievances Liberty Republicans have with Boehner, McCarthy, and others in the Leadership are their support for amnesty for illegal aliens and their refusal to defund programs like the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Planned Parenthood. Opposition to the ACA and excessive federal spending are major reasons why voters gave Republicans the majority in the House in 2010 and the Senate in 2014. Voters expect the leaders to stand on principle.
One of the bellwether election upsets in 2014 occurred in Virginia when college professor Dave Brat defeated House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the Republican primary. Rep. Brat notes that Freedom Caucus members are frustrated with the crisis management style in the House Leadership, passing massive Continuing Resolution spending bills rather than debating and passing spending bills through the normal committee process.
The race to replace Speaker Boehner appears to be wide open. Some of the candidates being mentioned are Budget Chair Tom Price (R-GA), Ways and Means Chair Paul Ryan (R-WI), Freedom Caucus Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH), former Florida House Speaker Daniel Webster, and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT). Article I of the Constitution doesn’t require the Speaker to be a member of the House, so former Speaker Newt Gingrich has also been mentioned as a candidate.
Republicans currently hold 247 of the 435 seats in the House. It takes a majority of Representatives (218) to get elected Speaker. I hope that the election is deliberative, with plenty of time for members to hear from their constituents and debate the merits of the candidates. Most Republican voters want to see an end to the top-down leadership style and want their Representative to have input into legislation.
I love the Republican Party Platform and want to see our leaders adhere to it. The platform calls for securing our borders and enforcing existing immigration laws. It calls for limiting federal spending, zero-based budgeting and balanced budgets. And it calls for limiting the tax burden on individuals and businesses so America can enjoy growth and prosperity. I hope our next Speaker will respect the principles valued by rank-and-file Republican voters.
John Steinberger is the former chairman of the Charleston County Republican Party, a leading Fair Tax advocate, and a West Ashley resident. He can be reached at John.steinberger@scfairtax.org.