What happened to the pillar of conservatism? Why are conservatives deserting the Republican Party? I've been rolling this around in my head for a while now and I think the pieces of the puzzle are beginning to fit together.
We can find a myriad of sources of information regarding the politics of Post WWII America through a simple Google search, so I won't go into the minutiae here, but JFK and his contemporary Democrats were, in many ways, to the right of where many so-called Republicans are today! The Republican Party has been forced to the middle because the Democrats have moved so far to the left that they are looking more and more like socialists...a position that is repulsive to all but the most progressive, and liberal individuals on their rolls. Case in point, Bernie Sanders: A man running for the White House as a Democrat and actually calling himself a Socialist! AND WE ARE OK WITH THIS???
So then, what happens to the disavowed? Where are they going to go? As Americans we like having an identity, so for many, registering as an Independent is not an option that sits well. The only other real choice, then, is registering Republican. The influx of moderates into the Republican Party has, by nature, watered down conservative platforms for the Republicans.
In response, true-blue, hard-line conservatives have been scrambling for a new identifier for their beliefs. Thus, the TEA Party. It isn't an official political party....yet. I believe that it is on the horizon and that conservatives (many of whom are now registered as Independents) will flock to it when it gains recognition as a viable conservative alternative. In the meantime, the Republicans need to get this figured out...in large part, they no longer represent the majority of conservatives.
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