Marlow’s Listener

What does it mean to be a Republican? Do Republicans support laissez-faire or nationalized banking? Do Republicans support a balanced budget or half-trillion-dollar deficits? Do Republicans want a ‘humble foreign policy’ like George W. Bush, or preventive war against countries that pose no threat, like, umm, George W. Bush? Are Republicans the party of limited government or a vast Medicare prescription drug benefit? Are they wary of Big Brother or eager to expand warrantless wiretaps? Do they support Christian values or torture? Are they the party that believes that cutting-edge technology can shoot a missile out of the sky or the party that believes humans and dinosaurs walked the earth simultaneously?

To adopt a football analogy, if the Republican Party were a football team, it would be losing the Superbowl 48-0 late in the fourth quarter with a veteran starting quarterback who won’t be back next season, a rookie backup with some razzle dazzle but no ground game and a weak arm, over-the-hill linemen, and receivers and safeties with no speed. Carville and Begala are the retired head coaches of the opposing team giving their critique, harshly but not unfairly.

The Democrats are winning this contest not because the Republicans are weak and divided. The new champs could have played for the trophy with the storied Republicans of old. The Republicans aren’t losing because the opposition is so good.

The Republicans are losing to themselves because they no longer know who they are, so they can’t know who the country is.