GOP Party Politics

After leading in the polls just weeks before November’s election, Matt Fong came in a close second to Barbara Boxer. The same happened with Chris Mitchum in his race with Hannah-Beth Jackson. And Dr. William A. Anderson feels the Republican Central Committee need to pursue two avenues if it wants to right its sinking ship: minorities and outreach (“GOP’s County-Level Leadership to Blame for Party’s Losses,” Ventura County Perspective, March 28).

Whoever said hindsight is always 20 / 20 obviously never sat in on any Republican Party “leadership” meetings.

Dr. Anderson, rekindling memories of the party of Abraham Lincoln, the emancipator, and Frederick Douglass, the abolitionist, is poignant inasmuch as either of these American heroes would surely win by overwhelming margins today by virtue of their philosophies of inclusion, tolerance and personal freedom. But leaning on past greatness to push fashionable “outreach” policies while training a blind eye on the real reason behind his party’s demise is an exercise in futility beyond compare.

The GOP has been perceived as the party of intolerance and exclusion for good reason, having sold its Lincoln / Douglass-based soul for a pocketful of Christian Coalition votes.

The Libertarian Party (self-proclaimed fiscal conservatives who inhaled) is predominantly disgruntled Republicans, most of whom lost faith in their party when it got so interested in what they were doing in the privacy of their own homes. Hopes for a government that does only for the people what they cannot do for themselves and a profound want of personal liberty attracted members to its ranks (8% of the total vote and climbing).

And there’s the Reformers. Though successful in Minnesota with Jess “The Governor” Ventura, the Reform Party lost its status in California because of poor performance. There will undoubtedly be another registration drive by those loyal to Ross Perot and, like their Libertarian kin, not thrilled by the GOP’s newfound interest in their personal lives.

Most Americans still want something other than a high-tax, union-run welfare state, but many find this to be a lot less threatening to their individual freedoms than the perceived intolerance and self-righteousness of today’s Republican Party. And while some may feel schmoozing ethnicity may garner them a few votes, the Republican Party might better serve itself by listening to the comments of its departing members.

BRUCE ROLAND, Ojai