How 'tribal war' and a 'standard of impossible purity' have rendered the GOP unable to govern: conservative

24 October 2023

Three weeks after far-right Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) triggered a "motion to vacate" and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California) was ousted as House speaker, Republicans have yet to get a replacement confirmed. Seven Republicans are competing for the nomination, but it remains to be seen if any of them can get enough votes to be confirmed.

Conservative Rich Lowry, best known for his work for the late William F. Buckley's National Review, laments the chaos that has been plaguing the GOP's House majority in an essay/op-ed published by the New York Times on October 24. "Purity" tests and tribalism, according to Lowry, have rendered the party unable to govern.

"With the rise of the Tea Party," Lowry argues, "the tendency of the right flank of the House Republican caucus to make the life of the party leadership miserable became more pronounced. This was especially true in spending fights. The pattern was that the right, associated with the House Freedom Caucus after its founding in 2015, would hold out a standard of impossible purity, and then — when leaders inevitability failed to meet it — denounce them as weak and traitorous."

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The conservative journalist continues, "There are, of course, legitimate disagreements about tactics and priorities, and the leadership doesn't always make the right calls. But some of these members consider the legislative process in and of itself corrupt, and refuse to participate even if they can increase the negotiating leverage of their own side or move spending deals marginally in their direction."

Lowry has plenty of policy differences with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California), but he argues that because she was an "institutionalist," Pelosi was able to "get things done" — unlike Gaetz.

"There's no dealing with the likes of Mr. Gaetz because he's operating on a different dimension from someone like Mr. McCarthy, a pragmatist and coalition-builder who is trying to move the ball incrementally," Lowry argues. "It's the difference between politics as theater and politics as the art of the possible; politics as individual brand-building and politics as team sport."

Lowry adds, "In the last Congress, Nancy Pelosi had a slim majority like Mr. McCarthy and a restive handful of members on her left flank, the so-called Squad. Yet she held it together…. The situation in the Republican House caucus has now developed into a sort of tribal war, where memories of real or alleged wrongs committed by the other side lead to more conflict and more bad feelings."

Read Rich Lowry's full New York Times essay/op-ed at this link (subscription required).

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