Some Republican leaders believe they can capitalize on Obama’s woes in the coming months to rebuild their party after a disappointing performance in last November’s election – with an eye toward taking back control of the Senate in 2014.
But the national party has shifted so far to the right in recent years that even President Ronald Reagan would have trouble today finding a home in the GOP, former Republican senator Bob Dole said Sunday.
“Reagan couldn’t have made it,” Dole said during an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” adding that he, too, would probably be deemed too moderate and unacceptable by today’s Tea-Party conservative standards. “Certainly, Nixon couldn’t have made it, ’cause he had ideas,” said Dole, a decorated World War II veteran who overcame serious wounds to go on to a highly successful career in politics.
A central criticism is whether the party will be able to lure the Hispanic vote by embracing immigration reform. The party leadership is in favor of it - mostly - but the rank and file is not, jeopardizing the party's chance to gain traction with the fastest growing segment of the population.
Not a new observation.
