In the New York Times the article “A Scandal-Scarred G.O.P. Asks, ‘What Next?” by Sheryl Gay Stoleberg, reveals the Republican Party’s struggle to demonstrate integrity. Republican Senator, Larry E. Craig pleaded guilty to soliciting sex in an airport restroom to an undercover cop. Following this guilty plea, Craig then denied his involvement of this misdemeanor of disorderly conduct and proceeded to insist that he was not gay.
Craig’s scandal is one out of five issues that are listed at the top of this article. However out of these five issues four of them were involving Republicans while only one involved a democrat. Is Stoleberg trying to build up the Democratic Party by showing that they have only had one issue over the summer while the Republicans seem to be a mess.
Stoleberg continues to remind us of the fact that the War in Iraq is undergoing major scrutiny from the U.S. citizens and adds to the party’s unpopularity because of the support from President Bush. According to CNN.com after a poll of 1,033 adults 35 percent said they were in favor of the war in Iraq while 61 percent says they oppose it. This recent poll is the highest opposition that CNN has found since the war began. These reports that show a lack of support from the Republican voters was acted out in the November 2006 election when the Republicans lost power in both the House and the Senate. If this dissatisfaction continues between the voters the outlook for a Republican president is looking slim. Republican politicians are expressing their frustration with how the party seems to be turning into a mockery. Leaders within the party are even showing their frustration. Mr. Perkins, quoted by Stoleberg, states, “There is an expectation that leaders who espouse family values will live by those values. And while values voters don’t demand perfection, I do believe they want leaders with integrity.” This article resurfaces the accounts that favor a lack of integrity in the Republicans.
Ultimately this lack of support and a continual build up of negative acts by Republicans is destroying any hope for a positive reputation for the Party. The Republican Party needs to clean up their act and represent this country in a positive way. As leaders of this country they are called to a higher standard. According to John C. Maxwell, “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” We need the leaders that are willing to take on this responsibility, it’s time for change.
4 comments:
I tend to agree with your thoughts on this issue. While the Republicans do seem to be getting a lot of negative attention lately, there does seem to be reason for the attention. It seems that the Republicans are not practicing what they preach. (or at least this is how the media is portraying them)
It is also important to remember that the media tends to get overexcited by scandal and occasionally the media over interprets facts and issues. And though this knowledge isn't going to change the majority/political opinion, it helps to keep this perspective when we are making personal judgments about these issues.
Definitely, changes need to happen, and fast. It's frustrating, as a Christian, to hear about all these scandals going on. Many associate Christians with Republicans (and vice versa) and as soon as another scandal pops up in the news, fingers start pointing to the church. I say that if you're going to take up the challenge of becoming a leader, you must face the fact that you're now a public figure and your actions are not only going to affect you, but also the hundreds of people you represent. We need real leaders to step up and represent their people, us, in a way that gets the job done, without scandals or other media goodies.
I have definitely been feeling the country, or at least the media's, sway towards the Democratic Party. It seems like someone has already decided that the next president will be a democrat, and the real election will be the democratic primary in February. I have heard so much about Clinton and Obama in the last few months, and I haven't seen much of any of the republican candidates. Is this all because of republican scandals and democratic promotions? Or are we just hearing one side of each argument because the sway is already on the blue side?
Being the final comment, I believe that if i further any of my thoughts it will be extremely repetetive. We all agree (i think) on both sides of the matter--the journalistic and the general public view. On the journalistic side it's frusterating to read about speculated scandal, and on the public sid it is dissappointing and unnerving to read about leaders who can not uphold personal respect or character. The media is bound to grab hold of scandal when it occurs, but in the meantime, is that really what we should be focusing on in the upcoming election year?
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