George Will advises that the "Republican party has diversity" (Video/transcript LINK). What Will was referring to by "diversity" is diversity of thought "what liberals are supposed to admire... but don't, diversity in thought". Will then brought up previous splits in the GOP-Roosevelt/Taft and Goldwater/Rockefeller to illustrate his point.
His point, as far as it goes, is totally valid and whether this ideological split plays out like Roosevelt's, with the creation of a third party or like Goldwater's which, over time shifts the ideological ground to the right remains to be seen. However, there is a diversity which Will did not refer to, and that is one that tilts the future more likely towards the Roosevelt scenario.
The Conservative Republican Party which if a complete fracture occurs might be better called, as Governor Palin suggested, the "Freedom Party" is a party divorced from the image of the Establishment GOP. It is the party of inclusion of Hispanics-an undeniable fact with highly prominent conservatives including Governor Martinez and Senators Cruz and Rubio.
The Conservative Republican Party is the party of women- no "war on women" jibe is possible towards the party of Palin, Bachmann Ayotte and a host of other women prominent in their leadership of the party in county, state, congressional, organizational and so many other aspects of public life. Further diversity and a woman's voice is of course seen with Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina whose Asian Indian voice is added to that of Governor Jindal's
The Conservative Republican Party is the home of a wealth of talent from vibrant new voices, notably many of them being female, from the Black community.
The Twitterverse/Blogosphere is awash with with the voices and thoughts from such as Adrienne Ross, "The Black Republican" (which links to Black conservative thought) and so many others.The only Black Senator is the conservative Republican Tim Scott with recent Congressman Allen West another, amongst many like Dr.Ben Carson, outspoken Black conservative voices.
The various elements amongst the Teddy Roosevelt supporters in the Republican party of 1912 that broke away from the staid Establishment forces of President Taft and created the Progressive (or "Bull Moose") Party also represented a huge diversity of ideas and peoples. Times, people and ideas are of course different today, but there is no getting away from the fact that the basic premise, then and now, of a diverse, progressive it its own way conservatism at breaking point with an Establishment Republicanism (that has lost two elections in a row in the modern version) is very real.
If the GOP can remain a "big tent' with the progressive and Establishment elements holding together for 2016, with as I have suggested at The American Thinker LINK a ticket that has, for example a Palin-Bush combination, then with its tremendous diversity including, ethnicity and gender (andprominent Gay/lesbian voices) the stage is set for such a revised, mass appeal structure to win big against an out of date Democratic party. If a split does occur that need be no barrier to a truly conservative party winning in the Electoral College as I set out previously LINK if not in a few further elections once the split has bedded in. Whatever hapens the leftist charge that the conservatives represnt " rich old white men" is utterly destroyed, and in fact was so when Governor Palin was nominated for vice-president in 2008.
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