Last year when Bruce Bartlett, a former senior adviser in both the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, wrote that Barack Obama, by relatively recent historical standards, was a center right politician, members of Mr. Bartlett's party made it clear that he was not welcomed under the not-so-big tent that has become the modern day GOP.
Mr. Bartlett, it appears, is not the only one wondering what happened to the Republican Party they long supported. Two cases in point are the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Retail Federation. These groups have problems with Republicans on issues including the government shutdown, the debt limit and immigration reform.
In interviews in recent months, the groups have made clear they may need to throw support behind candidates who are to the left of the Tea Party, the driving force in current GOP political action.
In an interview on C-SPAN in August, Thomas Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said, "Some of the people on the far right in the Republican Party have created an agenda that is detrimental to Republicans who are trying to make this economy stronger."
Speaking more specifically, Mr. Donohue added, "It is insane not to raise the debt ceiling. ... What that would do to the legitimacy of the American economic system and our global position financially and what it would do to the interest rates on the current debt that we have and the future debt that we will develop is just plain silly."
"We are looking at ways to counter the rise of an ideological brand of conservatism that, for lack of a better word, is more anti-establishment than it has been in the past," David French, the top lobbyist at the National Retail Federation, told The New York Times. "We have come to the conclusion that sitting on the sidelines is not good enough."
While traditional Republicans have lived in dread of being "primaried" by Tea Party candidates in districts gerrymandered to make it almost impossible for moderates to prevail, the question is whether voters disaffected by the events in Washington might be more inclined in the future to vote for candidates more interested in compromise than obstruction.
- Revenge of the Reality-Based Community - The American Conservative
- How Democrats Became Liberal Republicans - The Fiscal Times
- Newsmakers with Thomas Donohue - C-SPAN
- Top business groups vow more involvement in primaries - The Hill
- Business Groups See Loss of Sway Over House G.O.P. - The New York Times (tiered sub.)