How the Party of Lincoln Forgot About Lincoln

[babylonsister]

How the Party of Lincoln Forgot About Lincoln

by John Avlon


On Abe’s 200th birthday, it seems everyone wants a piece of the Great Emancipator. Except the Republicans, that is, who have wiled away the legacy of their one-time standard-bearer.



Today is the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln and rarely has Honest Abe been in such demand.

Our nation's first African-American president—also a self-made lawyer from Illinois—rarely loses an opportunity to compare himself to the Great Emancipator. There are new documentaries like Looking for Lincoln on PBS and best-selling biographies like Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals that inform our political debates. Lincoln looms large because his wisdom, integrity, and humility are always in short supply among politicians.

But for the Republican Party this anniversary is at best bittersweet. Lincoln was, of course, the first Republican president—and the GOP has called itself with justifiable pride "the Party of Lincoln" ever since. And, yes, just weeks ago they elected the first African-American chairman of their party, marking a considerable step towards reclaiming their roots.

Since the civil rights era there have been only three African-American Republicans elected to Congress, while there have been 93 Democrats.

But the Party of Lincoln has really become the Party of Reagan in instinct and self-conception. It is ideologically conservative and traditionalist—whereas Lincoln's Republican Party was the progressive party of its day. It finds philosophical structure in federalism and states' rights, concepts that comforted southern Democrats of the John C. Calhoun variety. And perhaps not coincidentally, the party's strongest support now comes from the states of the former Confederacy.

But the most obvious sign that the GOP might have lost Lincoln is the diversity gap between the two parties. Think back to the difference between the crowds at Chicago’s Grant Park on election night and those clustered at the Biltmore in Arizona. It's a contrast that grows more stark when seen through the eyes of history.

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http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-02-12/how-the-party-of-lincoln-forgot-about-lincoln/

[salguine]

1. It really is long past time to put this "party of Lincoln" shit to rest. If Lincoln were

here today, he wouldn't touch the GOP with a goddamn fence rail.

[Two Americas]

2. 100 years ago

The Republican party became the reactionary party over 100 years ago.

[struggle4progress]

3. And -- their most recent VP candidate seems to be a secessionist. Go figure!