The Big Tent Returns to the GOP

The Republican Party has once again become the party of the Big Tent. The GOP was once known for this. But in recent decades the Grand Old Party has narrowed down to mostly far-right conservatives.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the GOP included large business interests, laborers and blacks. The black vote was primarily due to abolition of slavery as well as civil rights, which were supported by Republicans and opposed by Democrats.

But as the 20th century wore on, Democrats began pandering to different groups of people, introducing Americans to identity politics. They told blacks what they wanted to hear, once they obtained suffrage, told women what they wanted to hear, and more recently began telling Hispanics what they wanted to hear. To top it off, Democrats created a media bias so the news was mostly slanted their way. Watergate was a great help in pushing that media bias.

Democrats didn't tell each group the same thing. They catered to each group, so they ended up with a montage of promises, some of which contradicted others.

History tells us that parties with Big Tents tend to win more elections. The Democrats have been crafting their Big Tent for nearly a century, but with the re-election of Barrack Obama in 2008 and the presumed victory of Hillary Clinton this year, it appeared the left was close to permanent control of the Oval Office.

But 2016 became the year the progressive train fell off the tracks. Hillary was a candidate with so many scandals in her closet, pushing her past the voters could be a tough sell. But the media slanted their coverage heavily in her favor, and as a bonus, the pollsters nearly all missed the mark.

Then to top it all off, Hillary was running against Donald Trump.

???

This was supposed to be an easy win for Hillary. After all, they had the election rigged. While Democrats have been suspected of cheating for years. Wikileaks and James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas videos proved to Americans that Democrats cheat, and how they did it. The working class in the industrial Midwest were paying attention. States that had been blue for the past several Presidential elections were turning red. Pollsters missed it and the media didn't tell you.

The left failed to recognize the significance of how Trump annihilated 16 Republican opponents, including several quality candidates. Then during the general campaign, Trump filled nearly every venue he spoke at, often with thousands of people in the audience. Hillary and Tim Kaine sometimes only drew a couple dozen people to their rallies. At first I dismissed this as not being meaningful in the big picture of the election. But the same pattern repeated week after week, month after month. Then I realized Trump was going to win.

With the media regurgitating what the left told them and pollsters too lazy to dig out the older new voters Trump brought out in the primaries, you were told not only would Hillary win, but she would win in a landslide.

Didn't happen.

Instead, Trump destroyed Hillary just like he eliminated all of the other Republicans. Even after the conventions, many well-known Republicans came out publicly against Trump. The GOP was cracking in half, while the Democrats would be as strong as ever with Hillary's victory.

Since the elections, most Republicans (and many Democrats) have rallied behind Trump, while the Democrat Party teeters on no longer being a national party. Those Republicans who came over to Trump, like Nikki Haley and Mitt Romney, have realized the Republican Party has changed. It's not just for uber-conservatives anymore. The Big Tent is coming back. The GOP is now for conservatives, centrists, Democrats, Blacks, Hispanics, Cubans and anyone else who can vote, while the Democrats have been whittled down to the elitists.

Those Republicans who cannot see the big picture, such as the Bushes and Newt Gingrich, better understand the changes, or they will be left behind.