The shrinking GOP base
Fiscal battles show divide in Republican Party
Washington's budget battles show a deep divide in the GOP between its Southern base and rest of country.
By Paul West, Washington Bureau, LA Times
January 5, 2013
WASHINGTON — The budget battles rocking the capital have exposed a deepening fault line within an already fractured Republican Party: the divide between the GOP's solid Southern base and the rest of the country.
That regional split became evident when members of the House of Representatives cast votes last week on a budget deal designed to avoid massive tax hikes and spending cuts: Almost 90% of Southern Republicans voted against the "fiscal-cliff" compromise. At the same time, a majority of Republican representatives from outside the South supported the deal, which was approved in large part because of overwhelming Democratic support.
The GOP's geographic schisms burst anew after House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) canceled an expected vote on a $60-billion disaster relief package for victims of Superstorm Sandy.
Rep. Peter T. King (R- N.Y.) accused his party of "cavalier disregard" toward New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, a potential 2016 GOP presidential contender, lashed out at what he called the "toxic internal politics" of his party's House majority, noting that Republicans had speedily approved support for storm relief in "Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, Alabama …"
(More here.)
By Paul West, Washington Bureau, LA Times
January 5, 2013
WASHINGTON — The budget battles rocking the capital have exposed a deepening fault line within an already fractured Republican Party: the divide between the GOP's solid Southern base and the rest of the country.
That regional split became evident when members of the House of Representatives cast votes last week on a budget deal designed to avoid massive tax hikes and spending cuts: Almost 90% of Southern Republicans voted against the "fiscal-cliff" compromise. At the same time, a majority of Republican representatives from outside the South supported the deal, which was approved in large part because of overwhelming Democratic support.
The GOP's geographic schisms burst anew after House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) canceled an expected vote on a $60-billion disaster relief package for victims of Superstorm Sandy.
Rep. Peter T. King (R- N.Y.) accused his party of "cavalier disregard" toward New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, a potential 2016 GOP presidential contender, lashed out at what he called the "toxic internal politics" of his party's House majority, noting that Republicans had speedily approved support for storm relief in "Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, Alabama …"
(More here.)
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