Rebuilding a Republican Majority
By: Don Sutherland
On November 7, voters colored the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate blue—Democratic Party blue. In the wake of the electoral outcome, it might be tempting for the pundits to argue that a seismic political shift is now underway that will culminate in a semi-permanent Democratic Party majority at all levels perhaps as early as after the 2008 elections. They might also assert that the Republican Party has been shattered into a number of hopelessly divided factions. Some might even suggest that the Republican Party has been marginalized into a predominantly regional Southern party. That bleak future for the Republican Party need not come to fruition. The Republican Party can rise again by rediscovering President Reagan’s fundamental governing philosophy.
President Reagan’s January 11, 1989 Farewell Address provides a powerful foundation on which the Republican Party can rebuild its future. That speech outlines an inherent trust in the people and a confident, pragmatic Realist foreign policy. It is a compelling vision that brings people together and offers hope for a better future.
In his speech, President Reagan recalled the American Revolution’s emphasis on securing the power of the people that was enshrined in the Constitution’s Preamble. He declared, “Ours was the first revolution in the history of mankind that truly reversed the course of government, and with three little words: ‘We the People.’ ‘We the People’ tell the government what to do; it doesn’t tell us. ‘We the People’ are the driver; the government is the car. And we decide where it should go, and by what route, and how fast. Almost all the world’s constitutions are documents in which governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which ‘We the People’ tell the government what it is allowed to do. ‘We the People’ are free. This belief has been the underlying basis for everything I’ve tried to do these past 8 years.”
The grave challenges of the Cold War did not shake President Reagan’s trust in the people. Transparency was the rule and his introducing the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) before the American people spoke volumes of that transparency. Under the rules de jour, SDI’s pursuit would never have been disclosed. The approach undertaken in the ongoing ideological struggle with radical Islamists is nothing less than a radical departure from the Reagan governing philosophy. Excessive secrecy has all too often been the norm. Republicans who were elected or re-elected need to set aside that veil of secrecy and restore sunshine. Then, they can begin to rebuild the public trust.
President Bush consistently denied the existence of a domestic surveillance program until news accounts made such denials impossible. Informing the people of the existence of such a program did not require any disclosure of sensitive sources and methods of Intelligence. Most recently, the Bush Administration filed a legal brief in federal court asserting that terrorist suspects should not be permitted to reveal the details of “alternative interrogation methods.” That overemphasis on secrecy must give way to trust in the American people. Republicans need to trust the people more than they fear terrorists.
Historic precedent strongly argues for the kind of openness that President Reagan embraced. Almost 60 years ago, the United States faced the threat of a fresh struggle with totalitarianism, this time from a rising Soviet Union. Fear of a preemptive Soviet atomic attack ran increasingly high. The victor in a race for more powerful thermonuclear weapons was far from certain. President Truman could well have been tempted to shroud the dark geopolitical realities and the American Government’s strategy for addressing those grim realities from an American people still weary from World War II. For President Truman, such an approach was out of the question.
Transparency trumped secrecy. The American people were viewed as vital to the outcome of the new ideological battle that was getting underway. Truman believed that their support was crucial to sustaining an effort that would likely stretch into the indefinite future. His Administration adopted policies based on that principle. “The whole success of the proposed program hangs ultimately on recognition by this Government, the American people, and all free peoples, that the cold war is in fact a real war in which the survival of the free world is at stake,” NSC-68, that defined his Administration’s policy, stated. “Essential prerequisites to success are consultations with Congressional leaders designed to make the program the object of non-partisan legislative support, and a presentation to the public of a full explanation of the facts and implications of the present international situation,” it continued.
When it comes to the “alternative interrogation methods,” those methods should be fully subject to judicial review. Court sessions can be closed to preclude the loss of sensitive information. However, if abuses occurred, those abuses should be fully and publicly disclosed and those responsible should be held to account. Only then can the American people be truly in charge of the levers of power as envisioned under the principle of limited government that was embraced by President Reagan.
In his Farewell Address, Reagan also spoke of a confident, open, and inclusive America. “I’ve spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don’t know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That’s how I saw it, and see it still.”
The challenges of the ongoing ideological struggle with radical Islamists do not justify a “wall around America” mentality. Indeed, such a perspective that seeks to fence off the U.S. border, curb the number of foreign students who wish to study in America, and transform American embassies and consulates into isolated and inaccessible fortresses is nothing more than naked appeasement of fear. A confident and strong nation does not run from the world. Rather, it reaches out to the world and proudly proclaims the principles for which it stands. Reagan would never accept an America that retreated in fear behind fences. Neither should Republicans accept such a surrender to fear.
That is the mentality that defines the radical Islamists’ push for a new totalitarian caliphate. The radical Islamists seek such an empire precisely because theirs is a worldview that is instinctively insecure. They understand that they can never hope to persuade the world’s peoples to freely accept their harsh vision. To advance their radical agenda, they must impose inhuman cruelty and demand unreasonable sacrifices from those who share their beliefs or fall under their rule. Otherwise, when contrasted with the alternatives available, their ideology would wither and die.
The United States has an enlightened story to tell. It can embrace the world’s democratic countries and its peoples of all ethnicities and religions who seek to live free and prosperous lives. It can support the world’s free peoples and those who resist subjugation without embarking on Neoconservative adventurism. Public diplomacy, economic assistance, and an attractive ideology have been its most potent means of creating a better future. The Military has been a means of protecting the Nation’s critical interests, not an instrument for bringing about geopolitical change. Alliances based on common values and shared decision-making, along the lines of NATO, have allowed the U.S. to augment its power and assure the security of freedom in the face of even the sternest challenges.
Reagan’s Presidency was founded on an inherent trust in the people. It involved applying the Nation’s economic, military, and ideological strength wisely. There was absolutely nothing “neo” about Reagan’s conservatism.
Now, Republicans must rally to the real thing if they wish to rise from their electoral setback. “We will not find ourselves by conforming to the status quo, but by returning to our Reagan roots,” former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, who helped bring about the Republican Congressional majority in 1994, advised. If Republicans return to the sound principles that guided President Reagan, they can restore the people’s trust, rebuild their governing majority, and lead the Nation to victory in its latest challenge with would-be totalitarians.
Don Sutherland has researched and written on a wide range of geopolitical issues.