Three new entries in The Conservative Primer for Children today! SPECIAL REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION ISSUE Click here to be taken to the primer and read  "N is for No Child Left Behind," "P is for Preemption," and "U is for USA PATRIOT Act"

A few weeks ago, Republicans derided the Democrats for attempting to portray themselves as moderates despite an offering of ultra-liberal prime-time speakers.  In carefully scripted and censored speeches, staunch liberals like Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Al Sharpton, Howard Dean, and Ted Kennedy carefully highlighted their so-called moderate records in an effort to gain as many undecided votes as possible.  Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry even spent more time discussing his Vietnam record than his legislative record, a decision he may now regret given the harsh spotlight that has been shined onto his war record.  Sean Hannity even quipped that the Democrats had held a “reinvention convention.”

Late last week the Republicans unveiled their own prime-time lineup of convention speakers, and it would appear that they are attempting a similar masquerade, albeit not quite as blatantly as the Democrats.  Unlike the liberals who were paraded out on stage to deliver moderate speeches, the Republican party has chosen to focus their prime-time audience on their more liberal members rather than the conservative ones that largely appeal to their base.  This is slightly less disingenuous than the Democrats, but not by a large amount.

The Republican speakers include California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, current New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and current New York Governor George Pataki.  These men, while Republicans, do not represent the conservative Republican base that comprises the majority of Republican voters.  Even more astonishing, the keynote speaker for the convention – a spot normally reserved for up-and-coming stars of the political party – has been reserved for retiring Georgia Senator and Democrat Zell Miller.  A Democrat!  The Republicans are hoping to use Miller’s speech as a slap against Kerry since the senator is endorsing the Republican candidate, but Miller’s prime-time presence reveals something else.

This moderate parade is political subterfuge that disguises the problem that the Republican party has: there are no rising conservative stars to counter the rising liberal star of Barack Obama.  On conservatism, the poll numbers are very clear.  When Bush has taken strong, principled, and conservative stands on issues, his poll numbers have remained steady and moderately strong.  The approval polls slipped only after supporting big government measures like the prescription drug benefit in Medicare or when he stopped defending the Iraq war and stopped showing the tremendous success that has occurred in that country.  Unsurprisingly, the electorate prefers firm, decisive leadership.  Ever since the anti-war liberals started gaining traction by portraying the Iraq war as a failure and a quagmire, and Bush refused to come to the defense of our troops that were being similarly derided as failures, his poll numbers have sagged.  The fact is, there are plenty of positive things happening in Iraq that Bush could use to counter the public’s increasingly negative view of the war if he would simply stand up and defend it.

The selection of Zell Miller demonstrates the weakness of the modern Republican party and the impending problem that Republican leaders seem incapable of countering.  Like him or hate him, Illinois Senate candidate Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention revealed a likable, eloquent speaker who demonstrated that, if Kerry loses, there is actually a liberal in the Democratic party capable of running for president in 2008 whose surname isn’t Clinton.

The Republicans are well aware of their lack of conservative rising stars, and their only response is to disguise and hide this sorry fact by parading out moderates to focus on the present and hope for some miracle in the future instead of even giving some young conservative member a chance.  In an odd reversal of the parties’ normal world-views, the Democrats are focusing more on the long-term benefits of their party while the Republicans are the ones focusing on the immediate response of the electorate and the short-term gains to be had by blatantly pandering to the middle.

In November the 2008 presidential campaign begins.  Assuming that President Bush wins November 2, the Democrats will have a Clinton-Obama ticket to tap.  In four years, what will the Republicans have?  A vice president who has little chance of getting elected even if he chose to run?  A Democrat from Georgia who will be pushing eighty?  And what else?  Unfortunately, the convention lineup demonstrates that whether Bush wins or loses November 2, there’s no strong Republican who can start campaigning November 3.

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