Viewing the thorough repudiation of reactionary Republican principles and policy positions in the national election, a prominent Republican Senator had this to say:
"Unless the Republican Party is delivered from its reactionary leadership and reorganized with its one time liberal principles, it will die like the Whig Party of sheer political cowardice". If you guessed AZ Senator John McCain, IL Senator Mark Kirk, KY Senator Rand Paul or FL Senator Marco Rubio, you'd be mistaken. That quote was uttered by Idaho Senator William Borah, assessing the 1934 mid term election which saw the GOP Senatorial contingent shrink from 35 to 25 at the height of GOP opposition to New Deal policies that were saving capitalism from the capitalists. It took 18 long years before a Republican walked through the White House doors as President.
Today, the civil war raging in the GOP has brought new assessments that a Whig Party fate beacons the once proud party of Abe Lincoln of Illinois. Today's GOP, while only dropping from 47 to 45 Senators, is arguably in worse shape than the 1934 GOP which was not controlled by the racists, homophobes, global warming deniers, assault weapon fanatics, religious extremists and misogynists that are waging an ideological donnybrook with the greedy rich who make up the Grand Old Party's historical base.
And once again a progressive visionary, like FDR, may be the inspiration to save the American Experiment from an utterly dysfunctional party that seems obsessed with stamping out every vestige of American decency.
