October 23, 2008 [LINK / comment]

GOP divisions in Iowa

Out here on the Great Plains, it appears that the Republican Party is plagued with nearly as much factionalism as has been the case in Virginia in recent years. It may well be a nationwide phenomenon, and it's not a good omen for the McCain campaign as the Moment of Truth approaches. The Sioux City Journal recently reported on a deep rift within the local GOP. After the 2006 general election, when the Democrats won control of the Iowa governorship and both legislative houses, then-chairman of the Woodbury County GOP, Steve Salem, blamed the party's right wing for discouraging voter turnout. His words rang very familiar to me:

If things keep going the way things are going locally and statewide, it is going to be more and more difficult for Republicans to recruit candidates. We have elements of the party who are moral absolutists, who take the approach that if you don't take my position every step of the way, not only will I not support you, but I will destroy you.

Salem was later voted out as chairman of the local party unit, and said that "Christian fascists" had taken over the Republican Party. Those are some very strong words, and well worth listening to...

NOTE: For you folks in Rio Linda, especially Barack Obama smile, Sioux City is in Iowa and Sioux Falls is in South Dakota.