Wayne Besen

Anything But Straight

The Achilles heal of the modern GOP is that it is a “movement” rather than a traditional political party. While this arrangement serves as a campaign advantage because it instills message discipline, it leads to habitual overreaching when the Republican Party assumes the mantle of power. Political pragmatism is a strong check on unfettered power, while movements are designed by nature to simply want more.

A chest-thumping Republican Party seems intent on following Newt Gingrich’s path to oblivion by threatening to shut down the government if it doesn’t get its way. Instead of listening to the American people, it is listening to “movement conservatives” who wrongly believe the GOP is strong enough to ram through unpopular ideas.

What the Democrats need to do is strategically lure Republicans into a trap that makes them choose between their base and the American people. Power-drunk on red state wine, the GOP seems ripe to fall from grace.

The way to help end Republican power is to push a series of highly controversial issues at the same time, which will undoubtedly bring all the fanatics out of the woodwork. The issues the Democrats should capitalize on are:

• Easy terrorist access to firearms, thanks to the NRA and their congressional allies
• Pushing for the repeal of Article 2, Section 1 of the 22nd Amendment to allow Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to run for president

• Bush’s efforts to subvert the New Deal by undermining Social Security

• The GOP’s attempt to shut down the government by eliminating the filibuster

This week, the General Accounting Office released a report that showed over a nine-month period, officials approved 47 of 58 gun applications from terror suspects. This ought to make the hair stand up on the neck of anyone afraid of terrorism, including conservative Democrats, moderate Republicans and independent swing voters.

Currently, records of gun purchases by terror suspects must be destroyed within 24 hours. This is a direct result of a change in the law last year that was mandated by Congress and supported by the Bush administration. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., has sponsored a bill that would change the law so records on gun purchases by suspected terrorists will be kept for a minimum of ten years.

The Democrats ought to forcefully advocate Lautenberg’s bill, thus putting the GOP leadership in the tough spot of having to choose between national security and the NRA. I would place my bet with the GOP supporting the NRA which would create a huge opening the Democrats could capitalize on to expand their credibility on national security issues.

I know this sounds counterintuitive, but the Democrats should aggressively push for the repeal of Article 2, Section 1 of the 22nd Amendment, which only allows a natural born citizen to be eligible for the presidency. Sure, this would clear the path for California Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to run for president. However, his ascendance is a much greater threat to the Republican Right than it is to Democrats.

By pushing hard for repeal, Democrats can appear bipartisan and support common sense legislation. It will also, once again, put the conservative GOP leadership in a painfully awkward position. They know if they support repeal, there is a good chance that the moderate Schwarzenegger will be the Republican frontrunner in 2008.
Schwarzenegger, as the nominee, is completely unacceptable to the Tom DeLay wing of the party. With their backs against the wall, conservatives will thwart a repeal effort, thus appearing obstructionist and alienating mainstream voters in their own party. Trust me, Conan will never make it past the congressional barbarians.

It is clear that Bush’s attempt to undermine Social Security by replacing the safety net with a risky privatization scheme has backfired. Bush will dig his own grave if only the Democrats will stop looking intransigent. On Meet the Press, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said that private accounts are off the table.

What he should say is “the Democrats will support private accounts the very moment the president credibly shows that these accounts will address solvency.” The Democrats should steadfastly avoid saying that anything is “off the table” because it makes Bush appear like the reasonable problem solver, rather than a huckster with a cruel plan.

The final issue in the trap is Sen. Bill Frist’s, R-Tenn., threat to go “nuclear” and take away the Democrats right to filibuster judicial nominees. This would be an unprecedented, anti-American power-grab by the GOP. Democrats should portray such a move as a “government shutdown” to make the GOP seem petty and dictatorial.

Movements are great during campaigns because the faithful readily take marching orders. But governing by ideological movement decree can also lead a party to march off a cliff.

Wayne Besen is a columnist and author of the book "Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth."