Bob Dole told Chris Wallace on Sunday that they “ought to put a sign on the National Committee doors that says ‘Closed for Repairs.'” He went on to say that the party needed to come up with some ideas and positive agendas. ?He is not alone. Only 23% of Americans think that the Republican Party is in touch with the concerns of most people. He also chided the Republicans on Capitol Hill for their “obstructionist behavior” saying,?It seems almost unreal that we can’t get together on a budget or legislation.” He didn’t let the President off the hook though. He believes that President Obama didn’t do enough in his first term to cultivate those relationships, but Senator Dole’s most scathing remarks were directed at his own party. On whether he could have made it in today’s GOP:
?I doubt it. Reagan wouldn’t have made it, certainly Nixon wouldn’t have made it, because he had ideas. We might have made it, but I doubt it,” and??Somebody has to stand up and say, ?We’re not going to do this.'” (Source: Washington Post)
Bob Dole is not the first Republican to publicly criticize the party’s shift to the extreme right. The New York Daily News quotes Jeb Bush:
“Ronald Reagan would have – based on his record of finding some degree of common ground, as would my dad – they would have a hard time if you define the Republican Party ? as having an orthodoxy that doesn’t allow for disagreement, doesn’t allow for finding some common ground.”
Edited/Published by: SB
