What happened to the Republicans?

The Republicans seem to have lost their base in the political world. I know every major political analyst has been talking about it, but what happened? I guess this has been a long time in the making. The last time the Republican party was united was under Ronald Reagan. I know you probably say, but Will what about former President George W. Bush, how did he get elected? Well along with some voter fraud and a loss in the popular vote. He won the hearts of alot of the Independents and Democrats at the time. Well, I'm being too fair to him. It was more of a situation of "best of 2 evils". I don't think anyone would go against me in saying that Al Gore, and John Kerry weren't good candidates. Al Gore who seemed like he had no voice except for Global Warming (which is an important and admirable cause) was about as exciting as a colonoscopy. Democrats were already hurting after the continuous scandals with President Clinton, and having a weak forerunner wasn't going to get it done. And John Kerry is the President of the FlipFlop Association and I'm not speaking of the sandals on your feet. This guy offered no idea of his "policies" and even when he did, you could easy catch him a couple days latter offering something totally conflicting. He may be the worst political figure in awhile after Richard Nixon, which I have a "whole nother" post which I will dedicate to him. Ok, back to the issue at hand the Republican party and where it went. So, we have Reagan who would be classified somewhere around moderate Republican. His principles were pretty short simple and well supported by the party. Of course, anti-communism (the Cold War was still going on not as prevalent but there), free market supporter, lowering taxes, and Laissez-Fare (I think that's spelled right) government. Problem is his own views were flawed. Standing against unions and firing the air traffic controller in that debacle is in itself a crash against the free market. Unions are a product of that market and level the playing field for workers. But that's a totally different story. Then comes Daddy President George H.W. Bush who stands on a totem not really trademark of Republicans. He takes stances on political issues that would be considered government intervention. Pushing the ideas Pledge of Allegiance, prayer in schools, capital punishment, gun rights, and his opposition to abortion. This whole state pushed alot of what would be considered liberal Republicans out of there. Then comes the Clinton years which though marked by economic growth were overshadowed by the scandals at the beginning and end of his Presidency. (Yeah he had one at the beginning too look it up if you don't believe me.) Already briefly discussed this part. Well then comes Son President George W. Bush, and he screws the party up more. 9/11 and the War on Terror, WMDs, Economic woes, and nothing is looking better. The party is now pissed. Strong national defense has turned into meddling in other people's affairs mainly the Iraq War. The no taxes stance holds very little weight when people don't have jobs. So that view lost alot of weight too. Well now we have lost most of our "original" Republican tenets, so what's left to go on? With no major issues that they come out on top on, most politicians are left silent unless it's one of the "lesser" issues abortions, gun rights etc. Step in radical right wing! So with McCain having little or no voice and not really stirring the party for the 2008 elections, it's time for some Palin Power. Sarah Palin was just the doctor's orders. She was fired up about her radical right views and could get the party out and voting. Problem is the party isn't made up of those radicals, so now you have a spokewoman who doesn't speak for the people whom she is representing. Now, as the debates go on we see McCain trying to draw off of this energy that Palin brings and shows himself to be more of a radical right wing than most originally saw. But he failed to realize that the side he was not aligning himself with the majority rather the minority of radicals in the party. That's because radicals are the most outspoken and feel the strongest about their views, and this is why a vast majority of them are considered religious nuts or racists. They are against the "Power of No" that has become synomous with the Republican Party but is not their tenet but rather the tenet of conservatism in general.(Quick side note: There are conservatives on both sides of the bipartisan system, those that are happy with the status quote and rather than vote to change sit back and vote no. Special Thanks to Drew Boardman for this point) These radicals make themselves know, by speaking up and acting out! Recap time: The presidential candidate is slowly moving towards a extreme right view that doesn't hold for the majority of his party, thanks to his vice-president who is at best estimation an invalid. The extreme right are being shown to be the heart beat of the party, which at times has huge racist undertones. So what happened the party split! Thus resulting in the Tea Baggers, Tea Partiers whatever you want to call them. So who or what will reunite them that's another issue for another day. I have a final exam in an hour so til next time!