The
Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary
political parties in the
United States of America, along with the
Democratic Party. It is often referred to as the
Grand Old Party or the
GOP. It is the younger of the two major U.S. political parties, and the second oldest active political party in the United States.
The current
U.S. President,
George W. Bush, is the 18th Republican to hold that office. After losses in the
2006 Congressional elections, Republicans fill a minority of seats in both the
United States Senate and the
House of Representatives, hold a minority of
state governorships, and control a minority of
state legislatures. It is currently the second largest party with 55 million registered members, roughly one third of the electorate.
Founded in 1854 by anti-slavery expansion activists and modernizers, the Republican Party rose to prominence with the election of
Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president. The party presided over the
American Civil War and
Reconstruction and was harried by internal factions and scandals towards the end of the 19th century. Early in the 20th century,
Theodore Roosevelt's presidency briefly associated the GOP with
progressivism, but by the
Roaring Twenties, the party's economic ideology had developed into the pro-business model seen today. Today, the Republican Party supports a pro-business platform, with further foundations in
economic libertarianism,
nationalism, and a brand of
social conservatism increasingly based on the viewpoints of the
Religious Right.
Current structure and composition
The
Republican National Committee (RNC) is responsible for promoting Republican campaign activities. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. Senator
Mel Martinez of Florida is the Republican Party's current General Chairman, and
Mike Duncan is the chairman of RNC. The chairman of the RNC is chosen by the President when the Republicans have the White House or otherwise by the Party's state committees. The RNC, under the direction of the party's presidential candidate, supervises the
Republican National Convention, raises funds, and coordinates campaign strategy. On the local level there are similar state committees in every state and most large cities, counties and legislative districts, but they've far less money and influence than the national body.
The Republican House and Senate caucuses have separate
fund raising and strategy committees. The
National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) assists in House races, and the
National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) in Senate races. They each raise over $100 million per election cycle, and play important roles in recruiting strong state candidates. The
Republican Governors Association (RGA) is a discussion group that seldom funds state races.
Current ideology
The Republican Party includes large numbers of
fiscal conservatives,
social conservatives, and
libertarians.
The Republican Party is the more socially
conservative and economically
libertarian of the two major parties. The party generally supports lower taxes and limited government in some economic areas, while preferring government intervention in others. In the 1980s, the Republican Party was more strongly conservative than before. In his 1981 inaugural address, Republican President
Ronald Reagan summed up his belief in limited government when he said, "In this present crisis, government isn't the solution to our problem; government is the problem." Since 1980, the GOP has contained what
George Will calls "unresolved tensions between, two flavors of conservatism -- Western and Southern." The Western brand, wrote Will, "is largely libertarian, holding that pruning big government will allow civil society -- and virtues nourished by it and by the responsibilities of freedom -- to flourish." The Southern variety, however, reflects a religiosity based in
evangelical and
fundamentalist churches that's less concerned with economics and more with moralistic issues, such as opposition to
abortion and
same-sex marriage. Noting the waning influence of libertarian philosophy on contemporary Republican ideology, Will describes the current Republican Party as "increasingly defined by the ascendancy of the religious right."
Separation of powers and balance of powers
The Republican Party believes that making law is the province of the legislature and that judges, especially the
Supreme Court, shouldn't "legislate from the bench." Most Republicans point to
Roe v. Wade as a case of
judicial activism, where the court overturned most laws restricting abortion on the basis of a
right to privacy derived from the
Bill of Rights and the
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Some Republicans have actively sought to block judges who they see as being
activist judges and they've sought the appointment of judges who will practice
judicial restraint. Other Republicans, though, argue that it's the right of judges to extend the interpretation of the constitution and judge actions by the legislative or executive branches as legal or
unconstitutional on previously unarticulated grounds.
The Republican party has supported various bills within the last decade to strip some or all federal courts of the ability to hear certain types of cases, in an attempt to limit judicial review. These
jurisdiction stripping laws have included removing federal review of the recognition of same-sex marriage with the
Marriage Protection Act, the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance with the
Pledge Protection Act, and the rights of detainees in Guantanamo Bay in the
Detainee Treatment Act. These limitations were overruled by the Supreme Court in
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, which held that the precedent of
Marbury v. Madison on the federal courts'
original jurisdiction to review the constitutionality of laws overruled the Congress' ability to make exceptions in .
Compared with Democrats, many Republicans believe in a more robust version of
federalism with greater limitations placed upon
federal power and a larger role reserved for the
States. Following this view on
federalism, Republicans often take a less expansive reading of congressional power under the
commerce clause, such as in the opinion of
William Rehnquist in
United States v. Lopez. Many Republicans on the more libertarian wing wish for a more dramatic narrowing of
commerce clause power by revisiting among cases,
Wickard v. Filburn, a case which held that growing wheat on a farm for consumption on the same farm fell under congressional power to
"regulate commerce ... among the several States..."
President
George W. Bush is a proponent of the
unitary executive theory and has cited it within his
signing statements about legislation passed by Congress. The administration's interpretation of the unitary executive theory was called seriously into question by
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, where the Supreme Court ruled 5-3 that the President doesn't have sweeping powers to override or ignore laws through his power as commander in chief, stating "the Executive is bound to comply with the Rule of Law that prevails.". Following the ruling, the Bush administration has sought Congressional authorization for programs started only on executive mandate, as was the case with the
Military Commissions Act, or abandoned illegal programs it had previously asserted executive authority to enact, in the case of the
National Security Agency domestic wiretapping program.
Economic policies
Republicans emphasize the role of corporate and personal decision making in fostering economic prosperity. They favor
free-market policies supporting business,
economic liberalism, and limited regulation.
A leading economic theory advocated by modern Republicans is
supply-side economics. Some fiscal policies influenced by this theory were popularly known as "
Reaganomics," a term popularized during the Presidential administrations of
Ronald Reagan. This theory holds that reduced income tax rates increase
GDP growth and thereby generate the same or more revenue for the government from the smaller tax on the extra growth. This belief is reflected, in part, by the party's long-term advocacy of tax cuts, a major Republican theme since the 1920s. Republicans believe that a series of income
tax cuts since 2001 have bolstered the economy. Many Republicans consider the income tax system to be inherently inefficient and oppose graduated tax rates, which they believe are unfairly targeted at those who create jobs and wealth. They believe private spending is usually more efficient than government spending.
Most Republicans agree there should be a "safety net" to assist the less fortunate; however, they tend to believe the private sector is more effective in helping the poor than government is; as a result, Republicans support giving government grants to faith-based and other private charitable organizations to supplant welfare spending. Members of the GOP also believe that limits on eligibility and benefits must be in place to ensure the safety net isn't abused. Republicans strongly supported the
welfare reform of 1996, which limited eligibility for welfare and successfully led to many former welfare recipients finding jobs.
The party opposes a single-payer
universal health care system, such as that found in Canada or in most of Europe, sometimes referring to it as "
socialized medicine" and is in favor of the current personal or employer-based system of insurance, supplemented by Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the poor. The GOP has a mixed record of supporting the historically popular
Social Security,
Medicare and
Medicaid programs, all of which Republicans initially opposed. On the one hand, congressional Republicans and the Bush administration supported a reduction in Medicaid's growth rate. On the other hand, congressional Republicans expanded Medicare, supporting a new drug plan for seniors starting 2006.
Republicans are generally opposed by
labor unions and have supported various legislation on the state and federal levels, including
right to work legislation and the
Taft-Hartley Act which gives workers the right not to participate in unions, as opposed to a
closed shop which prohibits workers from choosing not to join unions in workplaces. Republicans generally oppose increases in the minimum wage, believing that the minimum wage increases unemployment and discourages business.
Environmental Records
The Conservative party, a legacy behind the conservation of the environment, is major a supporter of the protection and aid towards wildlife and wilderness. “Our physical health, our social happiness, and our economic well-being will be sustained only by all of us working in partnerships thoughtful, effective stewards of to natural resources.” Many amendments have been passed and lost to help hold on to our natural surroundings. A good example, from the 2006 scorecard is the bill by Rep. Charles Bass. Rep. Bass suggested to have the Wild River Wilderness In New Hampshire set aside, or as written in the scorecard, “designated”. They believe that the wild and beautiful landscapes are critical to the conservative ideals, in their eyes this wilderness “ fosters self reliance”, and “reinforces faith”.
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The REP has embraced the idea of having a strong conservation and environmental stewardship as America’s ecological challenges increase. Richard Pombo placed a bill that “authorized oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.” The REP opposed this bill to protect the Arctic Refuge’s “unparalleled wildness”, and “wildlife habitat.”
Social policies
A majority of the GOP's national and state candidates oppose
abortion on religious or moral grounds, oppose the legal recognition of
same sex marriage, and favor
faith-based initiatives. There are some exceptions, though, especially in the
Northeast and Pacific Coast states. They support welfare benefit reductions and oppose
racial quotas, and are generally dubious of the desirability of
affirmative action for women and minorities. Most of the GOP's membership favors
capital punishment and stricter punishments as a means to prevent crime. Republicans generally strongly support constitutionally protected
gun ownership rights.
Most Republicans support
school choice through
charter schools and
education vouchers for private schools; and many have denounced the performance of the public school system and the teachers' unions. The party has insisted on a system of greater accountability for public schools, most prominently in recent years with the
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
The religious wing of the party tends to support
organized prayer in public schools and the inclusion of teaching
creationism or
intelligent design alongside
evolution. Some even advocate the teaching of Creationism exclusively. Although the GOP has voted for increases in government funding of scientific research, many members actively oppose the federal funding of
embryonic stem cell research because it involves the harvesting and destruction of human
embryos (which many consider ethically equivalent to
abortion), while arguing for applying research money into
adult stem cell or amniotic stem cell research. The stem cell issue has garnered two rare vetoes on research funding bills from President Bush, who said the research "crossed a moral boundary."
National defense and security
The Republican Party has always advocated a strong national defense; however, up until recently they tended to disapprove of interventionist foreign policy actions. Republicans opposed Woodrow Wilson's intervention in
World War I and his subsequent attempt to create the
League of Nations. Many Republicans opposed the creation of
NATO. Even in the 1990s, although
George H.W. Bush orchestrated the
Gulf War, Republicans opposed the intervention of the United States in Somalia and the Balkans. In 2000, somewhat ironically,
George W. Bush ran on a platform that opposed these types of involvement in foreign conflicts.
Today, the Republican party supports
unilateralism in issues of national security, believing in the ability and right of the United States to act without external or international support in its own self-interest. In general, Republican defense and international thinking is heavily influenced by the theories of
neorealism and
realism, characterizing the conflicts between nations as great struggles between faceless forces of international structure, as opposed to the result of individual leaders, their ideas and their actions. The realist school's influence shows in Reagan's
Evil Empire stance on the Soviet Union and George W. Bush's
Axis of Evil.
Republicans secured gains in the 2002 and 2004 elections with the
War on Terror being one of the top issues favoring them. Since the
September 11, 2001 attacks, the party supports
neoconservative policies with regard to the
War on Terror, including the
2001 war in Afghanistan and the
2003 invasion of Iraq.
The doctrine of
pre-emptive war, wars to disarm and destroy military foes before they can act, has been advocated by prominent members of the Bush administration, but the civil war within Iraq has undercut the influence of this doctrine within the Republican Party.
Rudy Guliani, a prominent Republican presidential candidate, has stated that Republicans must keep America "on the offensive" against terrorists, stating his support of that policy.
The Bush administration supports the position that the
Geneva Conventions don't apply to
unlawful combatants, using the premise that they apply to soldiers serving in the armies of
nation-states and not
terrorist organizations such as
Al-Qaeda. The Supreme Court overruled this position in
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, which held that the Geneva Conventions were legally binding and must be followed in regards to all enemy combatants.
Other international policies
Republicans support attempts for the democratization of Middle-Eastern countries currently under the rule of dictatorships. However, as the Republican Party favors an international policy based on realism, the President has taken seemingly hypocritical steps in forging strong alliances with dictatorships such as
Pakistan and
Uzbekistan in an effort to further the United States' foreign policy goals.
The party, through former U.N. Ambassador
John Bolton, has advocated reforms in the
UN to halt corruption such as that which afflicted the
Oil-for-Food Program. Some Republicans oppose the
Kyoto Protocol (although there's a section which supports it within the party), claiming that the treaty would hurt America's economy and do nothing to stop warming from major competitors such as
China. The party strongly promotes
free trade agreements, most notably
NAFTA,
CAFTA and now an effort to go further south to
Brazil,
Peru and
Colombia.
Republicans are divided on how to confront
illegal immigration between a moderate business-friendly platform that allows for migrant workers and easing citizenship guidelines, and a harsher enforcement-only nationalist approach. The Bush administration has made appeals to immigrants a high priority long-term political goal, but that goal isn't a high priority in most local GOP entities. In general, pro-growth advocates within the Republican Party support more immigration, and traditional or populist conservatives oppose it. In 2006, the White House supported and Senate passed comprehensive immigration reform that would eventually allow millions of illegal immigrants to become citizens, but the House, taking an enforcement-only approach, refused to go along.
Voter base
Business community. The GOP garners major support from traditional "smokestack industries."
Gender. Since 1980 a "gender gap" has seen slightly stronger support for the GOP among men than among women. In the 2006 House races, women voted 43% GOP while men voted 47%.
Race. Since 1964, the GOP has been weakly represented among
African Americans, winning under 15% of the Black vote in recent national elections (1980 to 2004). The party has nominated African American candidates for senator or governor in Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland, but they all lost. More recently, President Bush has pushed for
Hispanic votes, winning 35% in 2000 and 44% in 2004. In 2004, 44% of
Asian Americans voted for George W. Bush. In the 2006 House races, The GOP won 51% of white votes, 37% Asian votes, and 30% Hispanic votes, while winning only 10% of
African American votes.
Family status. In recent elections, Republicans have found their greatest support among whites from married couples with children living at home. Unmarried and divorced women were far more likely to vote for Kerry in 2004.
Income. The differences in voting among income groups are small, though the poorest voters favor the Democratic Party. Bush won 41% of the poorest 20% of voters in 2004, 55% of the richest twenty percent, and 53% of those in between. In the 2006 House races, the voters with incomes over $50,000 were 49% Republican, while those under were 38%.
Education. In 1988, the elder Bush got 52% of the total vote, but won 62% of voters with a bachelor's degree (but no higher degree). In 2004, the younger Bush got 52% and the college graduate vote was split in the 2006 mid-term elections. Among voters with a Masters' degree or higher, in 1988 the elder Bush won 50% while in 2004 the younger Bush received 42%. Compensating for this drop were the gains George W. Bush made among voters with 12 to 15 years of school.
Age. The Republicans and Democrats are about equally strong in different age groups, with Democrats doing slightly better among younger Americans and Republicans among older Americans. In 2006, the GOP won only 38% of the voters aged 18-29.
Religion. Religion has always played a major role for both parties but, in the course of a century, the parties' religious compositions have changed. Religion was a major dividing line between the parties before
1960, with Catholics, Jews, and the Protestant white South heavily Democratic, and Northeastern Protestants heavily Republican. Most of the old differences faded away after the realignment of the late 1960s that undercut the
New Deal coalition. Voters who attend church weekly gave 61% of their votes to Bush in
2004; those who attend occasionally gave him only 47%, while those who never attend gave him 36%. 59% of Protestants voted for Bush, along with 52% of Catholics (even though
Kerry was Catholic). Since 1980, large majorities of evangelicals have voted Republican; 70-80% voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004, and 70% for GOP House candidates in
2006. Jews continue to vote 70-80% Democratic. Democrats have close links with the African American churches, especially the
National Baptists, while their historic dominance among Catholic voters has eroded to 50-50. The main line traditional Protestants (Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians) have dropped to about 55% Republican (in contrast to 75% before 1968). Their church membership have dropped in that time as well, and the conservative evangelical rivals have grown.
Region. Since 1980, geographically the Republican "base" ("
red states") is strongest in the
South and
West, and weakest in the Northeast and the Pacific Coast. The
Northeast actually does well for the GOP in state contests (with GOP governors like (formerly)
Mitt Romney in states like
Massachusetts) but not in presidential ones (except
New Hampshire). The
Midwest has been roughly balanced since 1854, with
Illinois becoming more Democratic due to the City of Chicago and
Minnesota &
Wisconsin more Republican since 1990. Since the 1930s the Democrats have dominated most central cities, the Republicans now dominate rural areas, and the majority of suburbs.
The South has become solidly Republican in national elections since 1980, and has been trending Republican at the state level since then at a slower pace. In 2004 Bush led Kerry by 70%-30% among Southern whites, who comprised 71% of the Southern electorate. Kerry had a 70-30 lead among the 29% of the voters who were black or Hispanic. One-third of these Southern voters said they were white evangelicals; they voted for Bush by 80-20; but were only 72% Republican in 2006. the Republican party trails the democrats by 17 million registered members.
Two approaches to projecting future trends give opposite results. Emphasizing geography, some commentators point to the growth of suburbs, particularly in the
Sun Belt where the Republicans dominate politics, and the population decline of the historically liberal
Rust Belt cities of the Northeast. (Population shifts gave Bush six more electoral votes between 2000 and 2004.) President Bush's victory in 2004 in ninety-seven of the hundred fastest-growing counties in the country was solid evidence of Republican strength in quickly growing
exurbs and in the booming metropolitan areas of the South. By
2010, the Census projections show that states that voted for President Bush in 2004 will gain six Congressional seats and electoral votes, while states that voted for John Kerry will lose six.
Democratic commentators
Ruy Teixeira and
John Judis, on the other hand, say non-geographic social indicators show a trend toward Democrats. They point to the rapid increase in college graduates (who are trending Democratic), and the possible decrease in white and rural Republican bases. They also point to an increasing Democratic presence in formerly Republican strongholds such as Montana, which as of the November 2006 elections has two Democratic senators, a Democratic governor, and Democratic control of the state senate.
Despite the 2004 election results, the
2006 midterm elections signaled a shift toward favoring the Democratic Party as they won the House for the first time since 1994 and gained a one-seat majority in the Democratic caucus in the Senate. Some factors leading to this shift were opposition to the
Iraq War and Republican corruption and scandals involving
Tom DeLay,
Mark Foley, and
Jack Abramoff. The split inside the GOP on immigration policy further hurt the party, and modest economic conditions were unable to save the Republicans from losing their majority.
Skeptics ask whether the Republican Party can simultaneously contain both
libertarians and
social conservatives, or whether it can contain both elements that want to remove
illegal immigrants, a business community that uses them as necessary employees, and
Hispanic voters which typically have more liberal views on immigration. Republican optimists also point to the success of Roosevelt's Democratic coalition, which held together even more disparate elements. For the most part until 2007, the Republican Party has remained fairly cohesive, as both strong
economic libertarians and strong
social conservatives are opposed to the Democrats, who they see as both the party of bigger and more secular, progressive government. Yet, libertarians are increasingly dissatisfied with the party's social policy, which some believe has grown increasingly restrictive of personal liberties.
Historical trends
» For more detailed history & bibliography until 1980, see History of the United States Republican Party.
Third party system: 1854–1896
Establishment
The Republican Party was established in 1854 by a coalition of former
Whigs,
Northern Democrats, and
Free-Soilers who opposed the expansion of
slavery and held a vision for modernizing the United States.
John C. Frémont ran as the first Republican nominee for President, using the slogan: "Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, Frémont." Although Frémont lost, his party showed a strong base. It dominated in
New England, New York, and the northern Midwest, and had a strong presence in the rest of the North. It had almost no support in the South, where it was roundly denounced in 1856-1860 as a divisive force that threatened civil war.
From 1860 to 1912, the Republicans took advantage of the association of the Democrats with "Rum, Romanism and Rebellion." Rum stood for the liquor interests and the tavern keepers, in contrast to the GOP, which had a strong dry element. "Romanism" meant
Roman Catholicism, especially the Irish, who staffed the Democratic Party in the large cities, and whom the Republicans denounced for political corruption. "Rebellion" stood for the Confederates who tried to break the Union in 1861, and the
Copperheads in the North who sympathized with them.
Demographic trends aided the Democrats, as the German and Irish Catholic immigrants were mostly Democrats, and outnumbered the British and Scandinavian Republicans. During the 1880s, elections were remarkably close. The Democrats usually lost, but won in
1884 and
1892. In
the 1894 Congressional elections, the GOP scored the biggest landslide in its history, as Democrats were blamed for the
severe economic depression 1893-1897 and the violent coal and railroad strikes of 1894.
Political commentators, trying to explain how Reagan had won by such a large margin, coined the term "
Reagan Democrat" to describe a Democratic voter who had voted for Reagan in 1980 and 1984 (and for
George H.W. Bush in 1988), producing their landslide victories. They were mostly white,
blue-collar, and were attracted to Reagan's social conservatism on issues such as abortion, and to his hawkish foreign policy.
Stan Greenberg, a Democratic pollster, concluded that Reagan Democrats no longer saw Democrats as champions of their middle class aspirations, but instead saw it as being a party working primarily for the benefit of others, especially
African Americans and social liberals.
Reagan reoriented American politics. He claimed credit in 1984 for an economic renewal—“It's morning in America again!” was the successful campaign slogan. Income taxes were slashed 25% and the punitive rates abolished. The frustrations of
stagflation were resolved, as no longer did soaring inflation and recession pull the country down.
Deregulation, handled in bipartisan fashion, removed the last traces of the
New Deal, with the exception of
Social Security. Working again in bipartisan fashion, the Social Security financial crises were resolved for the next 25 years.
In foreign affairs, bipartisanship wasn't in evidence. Most Democrats doggedly opposed Reagan's efforts to support the
Contra guerrillas against the
Sandinista government of
Nicaragua, and to support the
dictatorial governments of
Guatemala,
Honduras and
El Salvador against
Communist guerrilla movements. He took a hard line against the
Soviet Union, alarming Democrats who wanted a nuclear freeze, but he succeeded in increasing the military budget and launching the
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)—labeled "Star Wars" by its opponents—that the Soviets couldn't match. When
Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in Moscow, many conservative Republicans were dubious of the growing friendship between him and Reagan. Gorbachev tried to save communism in
Russia first by ending the expensive arms race with America, then (1989) by shedding the
East European empire. Communism finally collapsed in
Russia in 1991. President
George H. W. Bush, Reagan's successor, tried to temper feelings of triumphalism lest there be a backlash in Russia, but the palpable sense of victory in the
Cold War was a success that Republicans felt validated the aggressive foreign policies Reagan had espoused. As
Haynes Johnson, one of his harshest critics admitted, "His greatest service was in restoring the respect of Americans for themselves and their own government after the traumas of
Vietnam and
Watergate, the frustration of the
Iran hostage crisis and a succession of seemingly failed presidencies." Yet the restoration of faith in the government was an ironic twist for the man who was strongly against government.
Capture of the House and Senate in 1994
After the election of Democratic President
Bill Clinton in 1992, the Republican Party, led by House Republican Minority Whip
Newt Gingrich campaigning on a
Contract With America, elected majorities to both houses of Congress in the
Republican Revolution of 1994. It was the first time since 1952 that the Republicans secured control of both houses of
U.S. Congress, which, with the exception of the Senate during 2001-2002, was retained through 2006. This capture and subsequent holding of Congress represented a major legislative turnaround, as Democrats controlled both houses of Congress for the forty years preceding 1995, with the exception of the 1981-1987 Congress in which Republicans controlled the Senate.
In 1994, Republican Congressional candidates ran on a platform of major reforms of government with measures such as a
balanced budget amendment and
welfare reform. These measures and others formed the famous Contract with America, which represented the first effort to have a party platform in an off-year election. The Republicans passed some of their proposals, but failed on others such as
term limits. Democratic President
Bill Clinton opposed some of the social agenda initiatives but he co-opted the proposals for
welfare reform and a balanced federal budget. The result was a major change in the welfare system, which conservatives hailed and liberals bemoaned. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives failed to muster the two-thirds majority required to pass a Constitutional amendment to impose
term limits on members of Congress. In 1995, a budget battle with Clinton led to the brief shutdown of the federal government, an event which contributed to Clinton's victory in the
1996 election. That year, the Republicans nominated
Bob Dole, who was unable to transfer his success in Senate leadership to a viable presidential campaign.
Ross Perot ran again (this time on the
Reform Party ticket), once again draining away a large percentage of the Republicans' support.
Since 2000
With the victory of
George W. Bush in the close
2000 election against the Democratic candidate, Vice President
Al Gore, the Republican Party gained control of the Presidency and both houses of Congress for the first time since 1952, only to lose control of the Senate by one vote when
Vermont Senator
James Jeffords left the Republican party to become an independent in 2001 and chose to vote with the Democratic
caucus. In the 2000 presidential election, George W. Bush lost the popular vote to Al Gore by a margin of 543,816 votes, marking the first time since 1888 that a candidate who didn't receive a majority of the popular vote received the majority of the
United States Electoral College.
In the wake of the
September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Bush gained widespread political support as he pursued the
War on Terrorism that included the
invasion of Afghanistan,
USA PATRIOT Act, and the
invasion of Iraq. In March 2003, Bush ordered the
invasion of Iraq alleging the possession of
weapons of mass destruction. Bush had near-unanimous Republican support in Congress plus support from many Democratic leaders; however, in the absence of the alleged weapons that Iraq was said to possess, many members of Congress have since retracted their support for the invasion.
The Republican Party fared well in the 2002
midterm elections, solidifying its hold on the House and regaining control of the Senate, in the run-up to the war in Iraq. This marked the first time since 1934, 1902, and the
civil war that the party in control of the White House gained seats in a midterm election in both houses of Congress. Bush was renominated without opposition as the Republican candidate in the
2004 election, and titled his political platform
"A Safer World and a More Hopeful America" (
PDF). It expressed Bush's optimism towards winning the War on Terrorism, ushering in an
Ownership Era, and building an innovative economy to compete in the world.
On
November 2 2004, Bush was re-elected, while Republicans gained seats in both houses of Congress. Bush won the election with 286
electoral votes, with Senator
John Kerry receiving 251. Bush also received 62 million popular votes to 59 million for Kerry. With 51% of the popular vote, Bush achieved the first popular majority since his father was elected in 1988.
Bush told reporters "I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it. It is my style." He announced his agenda in January 2005, but his popularity in the polls waned and his troubles mounted. His campaign to add
personal savings accounts to the
Social Security system and make major revisions in the tax code were postponed. He succeeded in selecting conservatives to head four of the most important agencies,
Condoleezza Rice as
Secretary of State,
Alberto Gonzales as
Attorney General,
John Roberts as
Chief Justice of the United States and
Ben Bernanke as
Chairman of the Federal Reserve. He failed to win conservative approval for
Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, replacing her with
Samuel Alito, whom the Senate confirmed in January 2006. He secured additional tax cuts and blocked moves to raise taxes. Through 2006, Bush strongly defended his policy in Iraq, saying the
Coalition was winning. He secured the renewal of the
USA PATRIOT Act.
In the November 2005 off-year elections, New York City, Republican mayoral candidate
Michael Bloomberg won a landslide re-election, the fourth straight Republican victory in what is otherwise a Democratic stronghold. In California, Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger failed in his effort to use the ballot initiative to enact laws the Democrats blocked in the state legislature.
Scandals prompted the resignations of Congressional Republicans
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay,
Duke Cunningham,
Mark Foley, and
Bob Ney. In the
2006 midterm elections, the Republicans lost control of both the House of Representatives and Senate for the
110th Congress to the Democrats. Exit polling suggested that corruption was a key issue for many voters.
In the Republican leadership elections that followed the general election, Speaker Hastert didn't run and Republicans chose
John Boehner of Ohio for
House Minority Leader. Senators chose whip
Mitch McConnell of Kentucky for
Senate Minority Leader, and chose their former leader
Trent Lott as
Senate Minority Whip by one vote over
Lamar Alexander, who assumed their roles in January, 2007.
Presidential tickets
2008 nomination
Current President
George W. Bush will be constitutionally ineligible to seek another term and current Vice President
Dick Cheney has announced that he won't seek the Republican presidential nomination. This leaves the field wide open for the nomination.
The following names have all announced their candidacies for the Republican presidential nomination:
Candidates who have withdrawn from the race include:
Kansas Senator Sam Brownback
Former Governor of Virginia Jim Gilmore
Former Governor of Wisconsin Tommy Thompson
Giuliani usually leads most national opinion polls for the 2008 Republican nomination. However, the nomination is less clear when looking at state-by-state polls for the 2008 Republican nomination. Giuliani polls ahead of all other candidates in a majority of states including the delegate-rich states of California, New York and Florida. Thompson shows strength in southern states such as Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina (which is a key early state), Georgia, Tennessee (which he served as U.S. Senator) and Alabama (his birthplace). Romney shows strength in the key early states of Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, and is also polling well in Michigan (which may be a key early state), Utah and Idaho.
Symbols and name
The term Grand Old Party is a traditional nickname for the Republican Party, and the acronym G.O.P. is a commonly used designation. According to the Oxford English Dictionary the first known reference to the Republican Party as the "grand old party" came in 1876. The first use of the abbreviation G.O.P. is dated 1884.
The mascot symbol, historically, is the elephant. A political cartoon by Thomas Nast, published in Harper's Weekly on November 7, 1874, is considered the first important use of the symbol. In the early 20th century, the usual symbol of the Republican Party in Midwestern states such as Indiana and Ohio was the eagle, as opposed to the Democratic rooster. This symbol still appears on Indiana ballots.
After the 2000 election, the color red became associated with the GOP although it hasn't been officially adopted by the party. On election night 2000, for the first time ever, all major broadcast networks utilized the same color scheme for the electoral map: red states for George W. Bush (Republican nominee) and blue states for Al Gore (Democratic nominee). Although the color red is unofficial and informal, it's widely recognized by the media and the public to represent the GOP. Partisan supporters now often use the color red for promotional materials and campaign merchandise.
Lincoln Day, Reagan Day, or Lincoln-Reagan Day, is the primary annual fundraising celebration held by many state and county organizations of the Republican Party. The events are named after Republican Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan.
State Parties
Alabama Republican Party (External Link)
Republican Party of Alaska (External Link)
Arizona Republican Party (External Link)
Republican Party of Arkansas (External Link)
California Republican Party (External Link)
Colorado Republican Party (External Link)
Connecticut Republican Party (External Link)
Republican State Committee of Delaware (External Link)
Republican Party of Florida (External Link)
Georgia Republican Party (External Link)
Hawaii Republican Party (External Link)
Idaho Republican Party (External Link)
Illinois Republican Party (External Link)
Indiana Republican Party (External Link)
Republican Party of Iowa (External Link)
Kansas Republican Party (External Link)
Republican Party of Kentucky (External Link)
Republican Party of Louisiana (External Link)
Maine Republican Party (External Link)
Maryland Republican Party (External Link)
Massachusetts Republican Party (External Link)
Michigan Republican Party (External Link)
Republican Party of Minnesota (External Link)
Mississippi Republican Party (External Link)
Missouri Republican Party (External Link)
Montana Republican Party (External Link)
Nebraska Republican Party (External Link)
Nevada Republican Party (External Link)
New Hampshire Republican State Committee (External Link)
New Jersey Republican State Committee (External Link)
Republican Party of New Mexico (External Link)
New York Republican State Committee (External Link)
North Carolina Republican Party (External Link)
North Dakota Republican Party (External Link)
Ohio Republican Party (External Link)
Oklahoma Republican Party (External Link)
Oregon Republican Party (External Link)
Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania (External Link)
Rhode Island Republican Party (External Link)
South Carolina Republican Party (External Link)
South Dakota Republican Party (External Link)
Tennessee Republican Party (External Link)
Republican Party of Texas (External Link)
Utah Republican Party (External Link)
Vermont Republican Party (External Link)
Republican Party of Virginia (External Link)
Washington State Republican Party (External Link)
West Virginia Republican Party (External Link)
Republican Party of Wisconsin (External Link)
Wyoming Republican Party (External Link)
External results
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