The Right Is on the Wrong Track

"We're on the path to socialism in America," or so says the Republican National Committee, which in a special emergency session Wednesday wrestled with a resolution condemning the Democrats' "march to socialism." On the bright side, Republicans backed off a move to rebrand Democrats as a "socialist" party. But it seems the damage has already been done.

However, even the seeming prospect of punch-line status cannot divert Republicans from their current path of political marginalization and self-parody.

In the last weeks of the 2008 presidential election, as the McCain-Palin ticket spouted charges of socialism and embraced 15-minute celebrities like Joe the Plumber, it seemed that the GOP had become a rudderless ship, devoid of new ideas for how to govern the country. Only a crushing defeat at the polls could shake the party from its slumber.

But since November, the GOP has doubled down on the same unbending style of conservative sloganeering. The results speak for themselves - Republican Party identification stands at a measly 22 percent, and the party is losing ground among virtually every major demographic group and region of the country. Noted conservative jurist Richard Posner has gone so far as to claim that "conservative intellectuals" no longer have a political party.

The continued ascent of the GOP's fringe elements - and their unwillingness to embrace any sort of political compromise - are bringing the sort of political marginalization that Obama's victory only hinted at.

The recent abandonment of the party by Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter provided ample evidence that moderates no longer felt welcome in an increasingly dogmatic GOP. But word that Jon Huntsman, the pragmatic Republican governor of Utah (and a rumored presidential contender in 2012) was joining the Obama administration as ambassador to China is a far more troubling sign. Not only does it speak to the alienation of nondoctrinaire conservatives, but it also suggests that, among the party's rising stars, there is little hope for a near-term renewal.

It's little wonder: The RNC even considered meaningless resolutions calling Democrats "socialists," and the Obama administration is reaching across the aisle to moderate Republicans.

The contrast between the two parties is even more conspicuous on television, where former Vice President Dick Cheney is now a ubiquitous presence, preaching daily that the Obama administration is weakening the country's security. Yet in the age of Obama, it's hard to imagine a more unappealing spokesman - inflexible, overly partisan, negative and pessimistic. Cheney is the anti-Obama.

But the problems go beyond mere political visuals: 40 years of railing against taxes and decrying activist government have placed Republicans in an ideological straitjacket. Any move by President Barack Obama to confront the downturn - or serious policy challenges like health care and climate change - by increasing the role of government has been met by charges of socialism and worse. The party has become so wedded to its basic ideology, it has become nearly impossible for it to adapt to changing circumstances (and voter preferences) and advocate any policy prescription beyond cutting taxes or cutting spending.

These moves are providing Obama with an unmatched opportunity to capture the political middle. As long as he doesn't move too far to the left, Obama can rest assured that the unyielding conservatism of the Republican Party will, practically by default, cast him as a political moderate.

But beyond Obama's political prospects, there are also serious policy ramifications. Policies that once might have seemed too liberal now look tame in comparison to conservative orthodoxy. When the choice is no government vs. some government, is it any surprise that most Americans prefer the latter? With Republicans basically absenting themselves from the field - by falling back on the same tired conservative rhetoric that has driven the movement for four decades - Obama has a unique opportunity to build a new progressive governing strategy for the country.

Many conservatives have seemingly convinced themselves that the November election was a temporary correction and that the country will soon return to its natural equilibrium of center-right politics. But the more Republicans adhere to an inflexible conservatism that offers little hope to "nonbelievers," the better the possibility that a temporary shift may become a lasting realignment. In fact, if present trends are any indication, it may already be occurring.