Tom Friedman recently argued that we need a third political party. In this article he changed his mind and argued that we need to replace the GOP, which has become a radical party, with a true conservative party like we had under Eisenhower, Reagan and the elder Bush. That party is the one that conservatives today call the RINO party. That is, conservative in name only.
Friedman provides a devastating description of the current GOP which has been made apparent by their current nomination battle. They have cultivated a hard core of supporters as a result of the "southern strategy" initiated by Richard Nixon that has helped them to capture the southern states and much of rural America. In order to win the primary campaign the candidates are forced to appeal to the prejudices of this base which they have carefully cultivated. In the general election the nominee will tone down the rhetoric and attempt to broaden its support. It will be well funded by the real elite of the party which views this base as pawns in its battle to capture the power of government to serve their own economic needs. In a sense, it is much like what we see in third world countries where an economic elite employs similar tactics to achieve a similar goal.
The political base that Friedman describes has always been with us. It used to vote democrats into office who represented the Dixiecrat wing of the party. The solid democratic south has been transformed into the solid GOP south that stands for the same values. The GOP is not likely to abandon their strategy, so it will be with us for some time in some form or another. Moreover, we already have a third party. We call them independents. They don't identify with the social values used by the GOP to capture its "no nothing" base, but they don't support many democratic initiatives either. They are essentially apolitical, and they like things pretty much as they are. They wish that both parties would tone down their rhetoric. The independent party holds the key to power. Neither party can win a general election without capturing their vote.
Friedman is absolutely correct in his assessment of the GOP, and he understands that we face challenges that will be difficult to deal with given its ability block whatever proposals that the democrats come up with. His view of our challenges have not changed either. He accepts globalization along with the challenges and opportunities that it presents. He acts as cheerleader and tells us that we can win the globalization battle by being better educated and more imaginative. This is a gross simplification of the problems presented by globalization. The corporations than win in competition with other corporations have no nationality. The nation states have not figured out a way to assist their domestic corporations in the battle while protecting their own domestic interests. Globalization has, and will continue to cause dislocations and changes that nation states are not prepared to deal with.
The other challenges that Friedman presents are very real and important but he offers no new solutions. He pretends that a GOP that is more like the GOP in the good old days will provide competition with the democrats on solutions to the challenges of providing for our energy needs sustainably. This is an international issue that will require international cooperation and leadership. An enlightened GOP is not the solution. He also plays lip service to the problems that we face in funding entitlements. He suggests that a solution must include changes to entitlements along with tax increases. He wont find many who object to that except for the current leaders in the GOP who want to cut taxes further. The real problem is in the details, and any solution must contain the means for reducing the prices that we pay to the providers of healthcare services. No political party has come up with a way to deal with healthcare price inflation which is our biggest entitlement cost issue.
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