The Fate of the GOP
During the Presidential Race of 2016, many people are wondering what the Republican candidates, such as Donald Trump, really stand for. Trump has no economic plan, but has strong conservative beliefs. If America follows in Trumps footsteps and forget about their fiscal values, our economy will have no hope.
The Republican party, often referred to as the GOP (Grand Old Party), is one of America’s oldest political parties. According to Andrew Walter in his article “Political Parties: An Overview”, the current Republican party was established in 1856 to oppose the extension of slavery into the territories, became a major party in 1860 with the election of Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln as president.
The Civil Rights Act of 1954 and 1964 turned the South against the Democrats. The South gradually became home to the Republican Party, while the North became home to the Liberal party, according to Enten.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a piece of legislation that made it illegal to discriminate against somebody based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. With the passage of this law, many African-Americans in the south joined arms with Republicans because most democrats opposed equality among races.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed following a 5 month long filibuster by Southern Democrats. Six Republicans voted with the Dixiecrats, and one was Barry Goldwater of Arizona, who was that year's GOP nominee for president. One of the filibuster leaders was Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who switched to the Republican party and backed Goldwater for president.
Social conservatism can be defined as a political party involving beliefs which preserve traditional beliefs in the face of social progression. Most socially conservative Republicans oppose many principles such as abortion and same-sex marriage. Social Republicanism is a very Conservative party who often base their views of off religion or family values. President Ronald Reagan was the first to reach out to Christianity and invite Christians to join the Republican Party, which led way to the Christian Evangelical beliefs of Social Conservatism.
Fiscal Republicans seek to reduce taxes, spending, and fixing national debt. Fiscal Libertarians are primarily focused on financial issues rather than moral issues. “To me, fiscal conservatism means balancing budgets – not running deficits that the next generation can't afford.” Being a Fiscal Republican means being prepared for an economic downturn, and based off of much evidence, a downturn is inevitable. (Bloomberg).
Social and Fiscal Republicans differ in the sense that Fiscal Republicans are more business and economically motivated and believe in a smaller government. Social conservatives are more emotionally motivated by morals than Fiscals.
GOP candidate Donald Trump does not believe in open trade, so he should not be considered a Fiscally conservative Republican. Trump has many socially conservative views, such as being pro-life, placing no limit on gun control, and opposing same-sex marriage. Trump is Conservative and his political decisions are morally-based; therefore, he can be viewed him as a Social Republican.
Fiscal Republicanism will become more and more popular as the national debt begins to increase. Fiscal is is necessary for our country to create better international relationships and to minimize debt. As the world becomes more liberal, especially following the legalization of same-sex marriage, I see the future of Social Conservatism drawing to an end in the future. Liberalism is becoming a much more common belief, and I do not see our country being ran off of biblical morals any longer.
If Trump becomes the Republican nominee I imagine most Fiscal Republicans will vote for the Democratic nominee, considering Trump has yet to introduce any economic policies.
The Republican will grow more Liberal as the times change, growing acceptance to many issues such as abortion and gay marriage. The GOP is not going anywhere and will remain to be to oldest political party, but will get a 21st century makeover as the world modernizes.
