by Lowman S. Henry | August 24, 2005

Fight begins for heart and soul of the GOP

Is the Republican Party in Pennsylvania really a conservative party, and does it merit the continued support of movement conservatives? That question is perhaps the most politically significant of the many raised amidst the growing furor over the recent legislative pay grab.

The Republican Party has historically been seen as the best vehicle for enacting a conservative public policy agenda. But, the record of the Pennsylvania General Assembly over the past two and a half years has cast doubt upon that long held belief. Conservatives have watched massive tax hikes, skyrocketing budgets, gambling, and now a pay raise all enacted by a legislature under Republican control.

Conservative voters have helped to build the current Republican majorities in both houses of the General Assembly. For many years the selling point to secure these votes was that a bigger Republican majority in the state Senate, coupled with a take-over of the state House from Democrats would yield the type of government policies advocated by the state’s conservative voters.

Republicans now hold 30 seats in the state Senate and 110 seats in the state House, far more than a majority. Enough Republicans have been seated that, even allowing for the rare liberal in GOP ranks, the votes should be there to reign in state spending and move state government in a more rightward direction.

But it hasn’t happened.

This is all the more dismaying because the growth of Republican representation in the legislature has largely come from the more conservative areas of western and central Pennsylvania, while Democrats have made considerable inroads into the GOP’s base in the southeastern counties outside of Philadelphia – an area where even Republicans tend to be more liberal.

A number of factors are contributing to this summer of conservative unrest. First, having worked for Republican majorities and gotten them, conservatives who have been around for a while feel they have been sold a bill of goods. Second, as a result of the 2004 Pat Toomey campaign, a new generation of young conservatives has been spurred into action. They do not intend to wait for the situation to change – they are going to take action to change it.

Many legislators, including those who have aided conservatives on occasion, cannot understand the uproar over the pay raise. The answer is simple. The pay raise is, as one of my colleagues put it, the tipping point. It is an easy to understand illustration of all that is wrong in state government today.

During the Ridge Administration many conservative initiatives, such as school choice, faltered supposedly because Republicans did not have enough legislative control. Now that the control is there, we have gotten the second largest tax increase in state history and out-of-control budgets. Also important is what hasn’t happened: no meaningful property tax reform, no movement on Right-to-Work and other proposals to improve Pennsylvania’s stagnant business climate.

So what are conservatives going to do next? The Democrat Party is too liberal and therefore not an option. Third parties, such as the Libertarian and Constitutional party are attractive ideologically, but in terms of practical politics are not effective vehicles.

The Republican Party remains the best path for conservatives, but it is in need of a serious course adjustment. The emergence of the Pennsylvania Club for Growth, the Young Conservatives of Pennsylvania, and various web sites energized by the pay raise vote all point to a renewed and more effective conservative activism.

As we move into next year’s elections, look for that activism to have a harder edge. Conservative patience with the Republican Party has evaporated. The primary election season next year will be the first battleground in what is likely to be a sustained civil war over the ideological heart and soul of the Grand Old Party.