Hoover Institution: Uncommon Knowledge With Peter Robinson- Nelson Polsby & Newt Gingrich: 'The Grand Ole Party: The Future of The Republican Party'

Source:Hoover Institution- California Berkeley Political Science Professor Nelson Polsby.

"The presidential election of 2000 highlighted the significant demographic divisions between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The strength of the Republicans lies in the South and in the middle of the country. But the voters that carried those regions for George W. Bush, mostly white and Protestant, are shrinking as a proportion of the overall United States population. Are these demographic changes a serious problem for the Republicans? If so, what can they do to bring groups that have traditionally been Democratic—Hispanics, blacks, and Catholics, for example—into the Republican Party?" 

From the Hoover Institution

The Republican Party was as its height of power from 1953-93, when they won 7-11 presidential elections and were competitive in Congress. And even Congress for two years from 1953-55 and held the Senate a total of eight years from 1953-55 and 1981- 87. Some might say the height of the Republican Party was from 1953-2007, 9-15 presidential elections and held Congress for fourteen years and the Senate for eighteen years. 

But I believe the Republican Party started to decline post-Reagan in 1989 and I'll explain that later. Even though they controlled the House from 1995-2007, the Senate from 1995-2001 and 2003 to 2007 and the White House from 2001-2009. Because the base of the Republican Party are Anglo-Saxon-Protestant, rural, male voters. And the Democratic Party essentially owns most of the racial minority groups and the non-Protestant-Christian ethnic groups. 

Also the three largest or 3-4 largest European ethnic Groups in America (German, Irish and Italian) tend to be Democratic as well. The Democratic Party tends to believe in the big tent theory, that if you include as many groups as possible in your party. But you share a common political ideology or political goals and you believe in progress, that gives Democrats the best chance to be competitive across the country. 

And with the current Republican base actually shrinking, for them to be competitive in the future they are going to have to reach out to ethnic and racial minorities, two groups that currently vote overwhelmingly Democratic right now. And they can do that I believe if they go back to the future so to speak, because Asian, African, and Latin-Americans tend to be pro-business and free enterprise which has been Republicans dominant message since the 1930s and 40s. 

This can be done if they were to drop this Christian-Conservative message that they've been on for the past twenty years or so. And trying to use government to tell people how to live their lives. And actually start welcoming new people to their party instead of telling them they are Un-American.

The Republican Party used to be a party that was about classical conservatism, protecting constitutional rights, and individual liberty. Instead of trying to use government to tell people how to live their lives and trying to criminalize things that they don't like just because they don't personally don't like them. And a real free enterprise party that was against things like corporate welfare and cowboy economics. 

This is the politics that brought them back into power in the 1950s and where they stayed in power from 1953-93, except for 61-69 and 77-81. This was when the Republican Party was the Grand Ole Party but the track they are headed down now is becoming the Grand Old Party . With a base that is dying off if they don't expand it.