In your own family, among your spouse and your children, there is never perfect agreement on everything all the time, yet you all get along and present a united front when facing outsiders.
In the Republican Party, however, it seems we find reasons not to get along, and not to present a united front in the face of our opponents. Instead, we need to find reasons to get along and move this party forward regardless of our differences.
That's what Ronald Reagan did -- as Ronald Reagan, citizen; as Ronald Reagan, governor of California; and as Ronald Reagan, president of the United States of America. He had his views on certain issues, but he didn't take your opposite view and string you up with it and say he'd never support you because he disagreed with you on a single issue.
My dad always looked at the glass as being half full, and never as half empty as so many of us do nowadays. And until we get back to a positive message about moving this country forward, and find a way to unite ourselves, we'll never be able to unite the nation behind our party.
We are further Balkanized by becoming a party of personalities. We are attaching ourselves to certain individuals, and as a result we have become a party of people and not a party of principles. We are Romney-ites, or Huckabee or Giuliani devotees, or McCain-ites, or supporters of Gov. Sarah Palin -- when we need to be just plain Republicans.
In the Balkans, warfare between factions was the status quo. As Republicans, if we continue to Balkanize and fail to unite, then fighting one another will be our party's status quo. |