The GOP's Big Tent Is In Tatters. How About Obama's New One?

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Christine Bowman

The proverbial Republican GOP "Big Tent" collapsed. But there is good news: As the tent sprang leaks and continuously shrank, almost everybody slunk out from under its edges, with only a few extremists remaining inside.

Chip Saltsman, for example, is still in there. A Republican National Committee Chairman-wannabe from Tennessee, he sent every RNC member a recording that he thought was funny. "Barack the Magic Negro," written for the Rush Limbaugh show, was one featured tune, along with "Down on the Farm with Al Gore."  Chip apparently seeks to represent the neo-Confederate, racially insensitive subgroup of the current GOP.

Another RNC Chair-hopeful is Kenneth Blackwell, whose dubious actions in 2004 as Ohio's Secretary of State probably drove a number of voters to back Barack in 2008. Why not nominate Blackwell to represent the "Put Party First" contingency or the "Who's Counting Anyway?" category of GOP faithfuls?

Of course, Sarah Palin remains inside the GOP's sagging tent alongside Jeb Bush. Really, those two could just be crowned the GOP's Homecoming Queen and King instead of having to serve as the last great white hopefuls.

Bobby Jindal down in Louisiana is still huddled in the tent, wearing his hurricane slicker but feeling the damp just the same. Although a conservative, Jindal is young and smart, so there is still time for him to make his break. Bolting worked for the ambitious Texas Democrats who just couldn't go socially progressive with LBJ in the mid-Sixties -- ambitious guys like Jim Baker and John Connolly. Really, how long can a Brown guy be expected to linger in a flimsy GOP tent?

Certain right wingers felt the "Big Tent" was never good for the GOP to start with. They argued that "The Base" was all.  But did they mean the fiscally conservative base (anti-regulation, pro-corporatist, and gung-ho for pensioners putting their Social Security savings into stocks)? Or the hawk base (get Saddam, and bomb Iran)? Or the Evangelicals (Rick Warren)? It seems like that Hug-the-Base theory wasn't good for the GOP, either.

Now Barack Obama has set up a big tent, too. The tent is clearly a better fit for a progressive Democrat.* Obama is a listener and negotiator, not a sharp-elbowed ideologue or bully. He has a mighty powerful microphone, and that background in organizing people. Those facts should make it more comfortable for everyone inside the tent.

With so many now scurrying to seek shelter from the wild-eyed, ideology-driven GOP of recent years, Barack Obama's timing couldn't be better. Americans are singing "Gimme Shelter" -- hoping to escape from all the divisiveness, fear-mongering, and economic chaos that conservatives unleashed.

Here are some suggestions for the sensible people inside Obama's tent. First, give your neighbor a little elbow-room. Neighbors can be helpful if you don't get off on the wrong foot with each other.

Second, don't let your knee jerk, even though it's almost certainly in the habit. Besides, if you can keep both feet planted firmly on the ground, it will be harder for some goofball to knock you down.

Remember always that this tent's platform was built on progressive values. Reread Obama's own words. Listen to what his closest advisers* are saying. They are not going to do a surprise u-turn.

Finally, keep your guard up and your wits about you. Some pickpockets and scam-artists inevitably will weasel their way into the toasty tent. You owe it to yourself and others to point these out and shut them down.

Sure, it's just a tent, and the winds will blow and the rains will fall. But this time, at least, it belongs to the right party.

[*Yes, on Sunday morning, Obama advisor David Axelrod described Obama as a "progressive president." On the Rick Warren controversy: " ... the important point here is that you have a conservative evangelical pastor who's coming to participate in the inauguration of a progressive president, and this is a healthy thing and a good thing for our country. We have to be--we have to find ways to work together on the things on which we do agree, even when we profoundly disagree on other things. And that's how we are going to build bridges of understanding and move this country forward. And that's what Barack Obama promised as a candidate. That's what he's going to deliver as president. MR. GREGORY: But is--isn't the question for all those progressives, all of those new registrants to the Democratic Party, when you promised a progressive presidency with a progressive candidate, and then you get this. Pat Robertson, the televangelist who said in praise of Obama this week, "I am remarkably pleased with Obama. ... He's picked a middle-of-the-road Cabinet." Again, do you think Obama supporters would think that that's the kind of praise they want to hear? MR. AXELROD: David, we've got to get beyond this sort of politics where we're each on the jagged edge of a great divide, shaking our fists at each other. We do have a great Cabinet. We're proud of that Cabinet. It's diverse. It represents great talent and experience from inside Washington and outside Washington. It's going to move this country forward. And if that pleases people, whether they're from the right or the left, that's fine. But the, the bottom line is watch what we do, watch the policies that we implement. We're going to move this country forward. MR. GREGORY: Has Barack Obama become a moderate now that he's become president? MR. AXELROD: I think Barack Obama--one of the great virtues of Barack Obama is consistency. He is exactly who he's always been. He's always worked across ideological lines, partisan lines to try and achieve progressive goals, and that's what he's going to do as president."]

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

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