Traditionally the platform for the Republican party is that the government should have little regulation on businesses or citizens’ lives, they prefer a small government. They are usually pro-life and believe marriage should be between a man and woman. This separation in the party is called the Tea Party movement. In recent years the Republican Party has been having inner party conflict. Some Republican have been shifting towards more conservative politics, leaving moderate Republicans hanging. There are several small differences in party platform between conservative and moderate Republicans. Conservative Republicans don’t like to compromise and don’t like to raise taxes; the conservative party feels like the rest of the party is straying away from its core values. Moderate Republicans tend to compromise with the Democrats to get this accomplished. One of the things Republicans might compromise on is taxes. The House of Representatives is a place to see the Republicans fight against each other. With regard to, for instance, the spending bill for 2014, or refusing to pass a bill because of ObamaCare.
This conflict was seen in the last presidential election. Mitt Romney was having trouble appealing to the conservative base, but also to the general American public. Many people questioned if Romney was going to get the nomination because he didn’t have support from the conservative portion of the party. The Republican Party has problems when it comes to the polls as well, so that makes it even harder for conservative Republicans to get voter support. The Republican Party has trouble appealing to women, African Americans and young adults. These groups of people were key in the last election which is one of the problem Romneys had.
When you split the vote between two Republican candidates and one Democratic candidate, the Democrat will almost always come out on top due to infighting in the Republican party. When vote is split between two Republicans, neither will have the majority to win the vote. The election of 1912 would exemplify an instance when this took place. Theodore Roosevelt split the Republican Party, creating the Progressive Party better known as the Bull Moose Party. There were three main parties in the election, Woodrow Wilson (Democrat), Theodore Roosevelt (Progressive) and William Taft (Republican). William Taft or Theodore Roosevelt would have had a better chance to win if the vote weren’t split between them. Wilson received 41 percent of the vote. While Taft and Roosevelt were very close to each other, Roosevelt receiving 27 percent, and Taft receiving 23 percent.
The awaited 2016 presidential election would be a good place to watch the Republican divide. One candidate on the 2016 ballot could be Chris Christie, and most people would say Christie is a moderate Republican. Will he gain support from the conservative side of the party? Or will a conservative candidate like Marco Rubio or Rand Paul beat out Chris Christie for the nomination?
