The Republican Divide: To Whom do Candidates Turn?

Recently, there has been much debate as to who will win the Republican vote. The party’s lost control of Congress in last year’s midterm election and offensive sex scandals by two well-known Republican Senators, has offended many Republican voters and left the current GOP presidential candidates the difficult task of convincing their own partisan voters to support their campaign. Specifically, the party is losing support from arguably its strongest voting bloc: the conservative, Christian right. Comprising roughly thirty-one percent of Republican voters, they play a significant role in determining the next Republican candidate.

The problem lies in the social conservatives’ debate as to which presidential candidate to support. First, although leading the Republican Party in nationwide polls (reported by The Gallup Organization), Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s more socially liberal position has angered many religious right voters (a picture of Giuliani campaigning in Washington can be seen on the right). This has resulted in negative attacks in the media regarding his campaign: a prominent group of evangelical leaders in Salt Lake City recently threatened to consider supporting a third-party candidate for president if a pro-choice nominee like Rudy Giuliani wins the Republican nomination. While this statement may be a plea for other Republican candidates to boost their conservative campaigns, it is nonetheless an illustration of the anger in which many Republicans have found themselves with today’s election.

Further, presidential candidate Fred Thompson (on left) of Tennessee is not winning conservative voters like expected. His failure to “rally support,” however, may to some extent be attributed to negative media as well. Prominent evangelical leader James C. Dobson spoke out against him, saying that Thompson could not "speak his way out of a paper bag" and that “he has no passion, no zeal, and no apparent 'want to'" (as reported in the Los Angeles Times). While it is no surprise that a celebrity is influencing a candidate’s campaign through his voice in the media (especially in the 2008 elections), the Republican Party candidates are suffering tremendously because of it.

Although Thompson and Giuliani represent just two key candidates disappointing the religious right, they illustrate the common trend that is influencing Republican voters’ mindset. John McCain’s speech on preferring a Christian president has been seen as more of a controversy than a campaign strategy, and the candidate Mitt Romney’s religious affiliation has unfortunately influenced his campaign as well. As a result of the extensive religious media attention, Republican candidates are being forced to seek new strategies in obtaining votes. In Iowa, for example, where religious conservatives are a large voting bloc for the GOP, Romney has increased television advertising (see a shot of his TV advertisement below), which the Los Angeles Times reports have “vaulted him to the front-runner's spot in polls there." Yet, in other, more moderate states, Romney has downplayed this same conservative campaign in favor of a more moderate attitude on social issues. This strategy, while popular among all presidential candidates, only further confuses (and divides) the partisan vote.

With the early primaries just a few months away, the need for a strong Republican leader is crucial. Especially with Democratic candidates constantly in the spotlight, Republicans must find a new way to revitalize partisan attention and appreciation. Whether turning inward to boost conservative votes or branching outward to independent voters, one thing is clear: the Republican candidates’ role in the media is more important today than ever before.