Are We Experiencing the End of Today's GOP?

"The country is so given up to the spirit of party, that not to follow blindfold the one or the other is an inexpiable offence." So wrote John Quincey Adams about 1803. The country was in the throes of extreme partisanship between the Federalists, led by Hamilton and the Republicans, led by Jefferson. The partisanship was about to come to an end, however.

Jefferson, the strict constructionist, was about to step away from his long held constitutional views to make a move that would bring down the Federalist Party. A typical Virginia planter, he was always on the lookout for more land, and the lands west of the Mississippi beckoned. His scientific and geographical interests also came into play as he wondered what those mysterious lands held. Like others of his day, he felt that there might be mammoths still roams the western lands. Then there was, of course, the desire to find a water route to the Pacific.

Jefferson engaged his younger friend and neighbor, Meriwether Lewis to begin planning an exploratory trip though the west. In the midst of planning an unexpected wind blew Jefferson's way in the form of an offer to sell what became known as the Louisiana Purchase to the United States. Jefferson was ecstatic. The Federalists were not. Like the modern day Republicans, they immediately opposed something that was ultimately for the good of the country and its people. Unfortunately for the Federalists, the American people did not agree with them.

A couple of weeks ago the president signed into law a comprehensive health care reform plan. The Republicans, as we all know, vehemently opposed the plan along with those least likely to benefit from it, the health care and insurance industries. Although, as we know, the reform bill included the Republican idea to have mandatory health care. Mitt Romney proposed it in MA and Scott Brown voted for it. It may very well be that the Republicans have ultimately sounded their own death knell. It may also be that they have suddenly realized that. In the last few days Republicans seem to have begun to distance themselves from Sarah Palin and her anti-health reform Teabaggers, the openly racist and extreme wing of the Republican Party.

The Republicans vehemently opposed Medicare at its inception. Now of course, everyone looks forward to the day when their medicare kicks in, especially those with expensive and poor health insurance coverage. There are millions in this country today without health care. Do the Republicans really think that these people are going to vote them into office, if there is a chance that they may have affordable health insurance soon? Of course not. My guess is that the Republicans may have a surprise awaiting them in a few months. They may very well find themselves fighting for their political lives in many states around the country.