Republicans, show the world you are not ‘fools’

By Ellen Ratner
We are one year away from the Republican National Convention. While it’s still early in the presidential race, from the candidates we’ve seen so far, the GOP may need to drop the "G" and go with "OP" for "Old Party," old as in "has been." This predicament has not gone unnoticed by Republican insiders and even the talk show hosts I argue with each day. The Republican Party is starting to get desperate.

Most party loyalists recognize that their best horse in a general election, Rudy Giuliani, has issues. Many Americans have similar issues, such as multiple wives in their past and "complicated" relationships with their offspring from those marriages. Most people can forgive Giuliani and even relate to his family dysfunction on some level. But what is unforgivable to the so-called Party "base" of right-wing Puritans is Giuliani’s stance on abortion, gay rights and, arguably, gun control – God, guns and gays.

Unlike the waffle brothers, Sen. McCain and Mitt Romney, Giuliani is unwilling to pander to the so-called Right in order to win over the Party’s base. The waffle brothers aren’t so appealing either. Picking a Republican nominee this year will be a bit like answering the question, "Which eye do you want poked out?"

The Republicans’ base used to be made up of pretty centrist Americans. Their core values could be boiled down to three words – less, less, more – less government, less taxes and more prosperity. The three words today are "no, no, no." No abortion, no gay rights and no immigrants; or perhaps, no, no, no, mo, as in more guns or more bombing. The problem is "no, no, no" isn’t very inspiring. Who wants to invest in no, no and no? This is why Republicans are in a cash-crunch for the first time in recent memory.

With party fundraising at low ebb, the Republican establishment has a real problem. In Arizona District One with the tainted Rick Renzi still in office, the party leadership would love to push him out, but word has it that the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee does not have enough money to mount a campaign to win a special election. Just this week, the Republican National Committee decided to get rid of their finance telephone solicitation staff. The RNC claims it is moving to an Internet-based fundraising operation. One person I know, who was earning $7.50 per hour soliciting cash, told me when calls were made from the RNC, little old ladies who would normally give $25 instead complained to solicitors about the war and immigration. The base might still support G.W. Bush, but little old ladies who fund the RNC have dried up. No wonder they are going to an Internet-based fundraising operation.

With Giuliani and the waffle brothers not cutting it for the base, the RNC has looked to someone with star power. If Ronald Reagan could resurrect the GOP, maybe Fred Thompson can bail the GOP out of their political pickle. He has some party-heavy hitters in his corner. Thompson has apparently gotten the support of former Sen. Howard Baker. More GOP stalwarts such as Ken Reitz will be advising Thompson. Retiz is a veteran of the Nixon era and is considered a well-tested PR guy. Thompson will most likely be joined by, U.S. Attorney Tim Griffin, a "mini me" of Karl Rove. Another name mentioned to play for Team Thompson is former RNC chair Ed Gillespie. So, the party machine has decided that another actor will be their pick.

The problem is political life is not what it used to be. Republicans love to anoint their candidates, but Thompson carries his own baggage. They are afraid of the Giuliani baggage, but Thompson may be much worse. He was a Washington lobbyist for 17 years and is married to a woman 25 years his junior after a divorce. As a radio personality in Tennessee said to me, "No one really knows who he is or his real views." But, the Republican operatives and the base are scared. They are scared that they can’t control Giuliani, and he may have too much of a social liberal streak in him. They are scared the base won’t come out to vote and will stay home on Election Day.

Times have really changed. From a position of hammering out a winning strategy in 1994 in Congress to getting out the vote in 2004, they are now in the position Democrats were in when they nominated Dukakis and McGovern. They are on a suicide mission, playing to what the party perceives as the base. Big mistake. Thompson may be the nominee, but he is not a winner. He is business as usual. If Thompson is the nominee, then there is a good chance Michael Bloomberg steps in as an independent, perhaps bringing Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel with him. Giuliani is the only candidate who has a chance. Republicans are fools if they don’t nominate him.