Republican Party (United States)

Republican Party (United States)

] supports increased Federal investment into the development of clean alternative fuels such as ethanol as a way of helping the U.S. achieve energy independence. McCain supports the cap-and-trade policy, a policy that is quite popular among Democrats but much less so among other Republicans. Most Republicans support increased oil drilling in currently protected areas such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a position that has drawn sharp criticism from many environmental activists.

ocial policies

The 2004 Republican platform expressed support for the Federal Marriage Amendment to the United States Constitution to define marriage as exclusively between one man and one woman. A majority of the GOP's national and state candidates are pro-life and oppose abortion on religious or moral grounds, and favor faith-based initiatives. There are some exceptions, though, especially in the Northeast and Pacific Coast states. They are generally against affirmative action for women and minorities often describing it as a quota system, believing that it is not meritocratic and that is counter-productive socially by only further promoting discrimination. [ [http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/01/15/bush.affirmativeaction/ CNN.com - Bush criticizes university 'quota system' - Jan. 16, 2003 ] ] [cite news |last=Eilperin |first=Juliet |title=Watts Walks a Tightrope on Affirmative Action |publisher=The Washington Post |date=1998-05-12 |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/affirm/stories/aa051298.htm |accessdate=2007-01-22] Most of the GOP's membership favors capital punishment and stricter punishments as a means to prevent crime. Republicans in rural areas generally support gun ownership rights and oppose laws regulating guns, although Republicans in urban areas sometimes favor limited restrictions on the grounds that they are necessary to protect safety in large cities.

Most Republicans support school choice through charter schools and school vouchers for private schools; many have denounced the performance of the public school system and the teachers' unions. The party has insisted on a system of greater accountability for public schools, most prominently in recent years with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Many Republicans, however, opposed the creation of the United States Department of Education when it was initially created in 1979.

The religious wing of the party tends to support organized prayer in public schools and the inclusion of teaching creationism or intelligent design alongside evolution. Although the GOP has voted for increases in government funding of scientific research, some members actively oppose the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research because it involves the harvesting and destruction of human embryos (which many consider ethically equivalent to abortion), while arguing for applying research money into adult stem cell or amniotic stem cell research. The stem cell issue has garnered two once-rare vetoes on research funding bills from President Bush, who said the research "crossed a moral boundary."

National defense and military spending

The Republican Party has always advocated a strong national defense; however, up until recently they tended to disapprove of interventionist foreign policy actions. Republicans opposed Woodrow Wilson's intervention in World War I and his subsequent attempt to create the League of Nations. Many Republicans opposed the creation of NATO. Even in the 1990s, although George H. W. Bush orchestrated the Gulf War, Republicans opposed the intervention of the United States in Somalia and the Balkans. However, in 2000, George W. Bush ran on a platform that opposed these types of involvement in foreign conflicts.

Today, the Republican Party supports unilateralism in issues of national security, believing in the ability and right of the United States to act without external or international support in its own self-interest. In general, Republican defense and international thinking is heavily influenced by the theories of neorealism and realism, characterizing the conflicts between nations as great struggles between faceless forces of international structure, as opposed to the result of individual leaders, their ideas, and their actions. The realist school's influence shows in Reagan's Evil Empire stance on the Soviet Union and George W. Bush's Axis of evil.

Republicans secured gains in the 2002 and 2004 elections with the "War on Terrorism" being one of the top issues favoring them. Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, the party supports neoconservative policies with regard to the "War on Terror", including the 2001 war in Afghanistan and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

The doctrine of preemptive war, wars to disarm and destroy military foes before they can act, has been advocated by prominent members of the Bush administration, but the war within Iraq has undercut the influence of this doctrine within the Republican Party. Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York during the time of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and a once prominent Republican presidential candidate for the 2008 presidential election, has stated that America must keep itself "on the offensive" against terrorists, stating his support of that policy.

The Bush administration supports the position that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to unlawful combatants, using the premise that they apply to soldiers serving in the armies of nation states and not terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda. The Supreme Court overruled this position in "Hamdan v. Rumsfeld", which held that the Geneva Conventions were legally binding and must be followed in regards to all enemy combatants.

Other international policies

Republicans support attempts for the democratization of Middle Eastern countries currently under the rule of dictatorships.

The party, through former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, has advocated reforms in the United Nations to halt corruption such as that which afflicted the Oil-for-Food Programme. As previously stated, some Republicans including Bush oppose the Kyoto Protocol (although there is a section that supports it within the party). The party strongly promotes free trade agreements, most notably NAFTA, CAFTA and now an effort to go further south to Brazil, Peru and Colombia.

Republicans are divided on how to confront illegal immigration between a moderate business-friendly platform that allows for migrant workers and easing citizenship guidelines, and enforcement-first nationalist approach. The Bush administration has made appeals to immigrants a high priority long-term political goal, but that goal is not a high priority in most local GOP entities. In general, pro-growth advocates within the Republican Party support more immigration, and traditional or populist conservatives oppose it. In 2006, the White House supported and Senate passed comprehensive immigration reform that would eventually allow millions of illegal immigrants to become citizens, but the House, taking an enforcement-first approach, refused to go along. [cite news |last=Blanton |first=Dana |title=National Exit Poll: Midterms Come Down to Iraq, Bush |publisher=FOX News |date=2006-11-08 |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,228104,00.html |accessdate=2007-01-06]

Political status of Puerto Rico

The Republican Party has expressed its support for Puerto Ricans to exercise their right to decolonization. The following are the appropriate section from the 2004 and 2008 party platforms:

Republican Party 2008 Platform

We support the right of the United States citizens of Puerto Rico to be admitted to the Union as a fully sovereign state after they freely so determine. We recognize that Congress has the final authority to define the constitutionally valid options for Puerto Rico to achieve a permanent non-territorial status with government by consent and full enfranchisement. As long as Puerto Rico is not a state, however, the will of its people regarding their political status should be ascertained by means of a general right of referendum or specific referenda sponsored by the U.S. government. [ [http://www.gopplatform2008.com/2008Platform.pdf gopplatform2008.com 2008 platform] ]

Republican Party 2004 Platform

We support the right of the United States citizens of Puerto Rico to be admitted to the Union as a fully sovereign state after they freely so determine. We recognize that Congress has the final authority to define the Constitutionally valid options for Puerto Rico to achieve a permanent non-territorial status with government by consent and full enfranchisement. As long as Puerto Rico is not a state, however, the will of its people regarding their political status should be ascertained by means of a general right of referendum or specific referenda sponsored by the United States government. [ [http://www.gop.com/media/2004platform.pdf gop.com 2004 platform] ]

Voter base

"Business community". The GOP is usually seen as the traditionally pro-business party and it garners major support from a wide variety of industries from the financial sector to small businesses. This may relate to the fact that Republicans are about 50 percent more likely to be self-employed, and are more likely to work in the area of management. [Fried, Joseph, "Democrats and Republicans — Rhetoric and Reality" (New York: Algora Publishing, 2008), 104–5, 125.]

"Gender". Since 1980 a "gender gap" has seen slightly stronger support for the GOP among men than among women. In the 2006 House races, 43% of women voted for GOP, while 47% of men did so.cite web |title=Exit Polls |publisher=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2006/pages/results/states/US/H/00/epolls.0.html |date=2006-11-07|accessdate=2006-11-18]

"Race". Since 1964, the GOP has been weakly represented among African Americans, winning under 15% of the black vote in recent national elections (1980 to 2004). The party has recently nominated African American candidates for senator or governor in Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland, though none were successful. The Republican Party supported the abolition of slavery under Abraham Lincoln, and from the Civil War until the Great Depression of the 1930s, blacks voted for Republican candidates by an overwhelming margin; in the Southern states, they were often not allowed to vote, but received Federal patronage appointments from the Republicans. The majority of black Americans switched to the Democratic Party in the 1930s when the New Deal offered them governmental support for civil rights. In the South, blacks were able to vote in large numbers after 1965, when a bipartisan coalition passed the Voting Rights Act, and ever since have formed a significant portion (ranging from 20% to 50% depending on the state) of the Democratic vote in that region. [ Harvard Sitkoff, A New Deal for Blacks (1978). ]

In recent decades, the party has been more successful in gaining support from Hispanic and Asian American voters than from African Americans. George W. Bush, who campaigned significantly for Hispanic votes, received 35% of their vote in 2000 and 44% in 2004. In 2004, 44% of Asian Americans voted for Bush.cite web |title=Exit Polls |publisher=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/US/P/00/epolls.4.html |date=2004-11-02|accessdate=2006-11-18] The party's strong anti-communist stance has made it popular among some minority groups from current and former Communist states, in particular Cuban Americans and Vietnamese Americans. In the 2006 House races, the GOP won 51% of white votes, 37% of Asian votes, and 30% of Hispanic votes, while winning only 10% of African American votes.

For decades, a greater percentage of white (caucasian) voters self-identified as Democrats, rather than Republicans. However, since the mid-1990s whites have been more likely to self-identify as Republicans than Democrats. [Fried, Joseph, "Democrats and Republicans — Rhetoric and Reality" (New York: Algora Publishing, 2008), 321.]

"Family status". In recent elections, Republicans have found their greatest support among whites from married couples with children living at home. [ [http://blog.vdare.com/archives/2005/05/08/affordable-family-formation-the-neglected-key-to-gops-future/ Affordable Family Formation–The Neglected Key To GOP’s Future] by Steve Sailer] Unmarried and divorced women were far more likely to vote for Kerry in 2004. [ [http://www.wvwv.org/docs/WVWV_2004_post-election_memo.pdf Unmarried Women in the 2004 Presidential Election] (PDF). Report by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, January, 2005. Page 3: "The marriage gap is one of the most important cleavages in electoral politics. Unmarried women voted for Kerry by a 25-point margin (62 to 37 percent), while married women voted for President Bush by an 11-point margin (55 percent to 44 percent). Indeed, the 25-point margin Kerry posted among unmarried women represented one of the high water marks for the Senator among all demographic groups."]

"Income". Poorer voters tend favor the Democratic Party while wealthier voters tend to support the Republican Party. Bush won 41% of the poorest 20% of voters in 2004, 55% of the richest twenty percent, and 53% of those in between. In the 2006 House races, the voters with incomes over $50,000 were 49% Republican, while those under were 38%.

"Military". Republicans hold a large majority in the armed services, with 57% of active military personnel and 66% of officers identified as Republican in 2003.cite web|url=http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:GDeFkKSDCpoJ:www.lewrockwell.com/ips/lobe43.html+army+percent+Republican&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us|title=Lobe, J. (January 1, 2004). Military More Republican, Conservative Than Public — Poll. "LewRockwell.com".|accessdate=2007-07-11]

"Education". Self-identified Republicans are significantly more likely than Democrats to have 4-year college degrees. The trends for the years 1955 through 2004 are shown by gender in the graphs below, reproduced with permission from "Democrats and Republicans — Rhetoric and Reality", a book published in 2008 by Joseph Fried. [Fried, Joseph, "Democrats and Republicans — Rhetoric and Reality" (New York: Algora Publishing, 2008), 74–5.] These graphs depict results obtained by Fried from the National Election Studies (NES) data base.

Regarding graduate-level degrees (masters or doctorate), there is a rough parity between Democrats and Republicans. According to the Gallup Organization: " [B] oth Democrats and Republicans have equal numbers of Americans at the upper end of the educational spectrum — that is, with post graduate degrees..." [Frank Newport, "Who are the Democrats?," "The Gallup News Service"(August 11, 2000), as cited in Joseph Fried, "Democrats and Republicans — Rhetoric and Reality" (New York, Algora Publishing, 2008) 74.] Fried provides a slightly more detailed analysis, noting that Republican men are more likely than Democratic men to have advanced degrees, but Democratic women are now more likely than Republican women to have advanced degrees. [Fried, Joseph, "Democrats and Republicans — Rhetoric and Reality" (New York: Algora Publishing, 2008), 76–7.]

Republicans remain a small minority in academia, with 15% of full-time faculty identifying as conservative.cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8427-2005Mar28.html|title=Kurtz, H. (March 29, 2005). College Faculties A Most Liberal Lot, Study Finds. "The Washington Post".|accessdate=2007-07-02]

"Age". The Democrats do better among younger Americans and Republicans among older Americans. In 2006, the GOP won only 38% of the voters aged 18–29.

"Sexual Orientation". Exit polls conducted in 2000, 2004 and 2006 indicate that 23–25% of gay and lesbian Americans voted for the GOP. In recent years, the party has opposed same-sex marriage, adoption by same-sex couples, inclusion of sexual orientation in hate crimes laws, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, while supporting the use of the don't ask, don't tell policy within the military. [web cite|url=http://www.ontheissues.org/Republican_Party.htm#Civil_Rights Republican Party on the Issues |title=Civil_Rights Republican Party on the Issues |accessdate=2007-02-21] The opposition to gay rights found in the Republican Party largely comes from the very religious and socially conservative portion of the party. [web cite|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2091413/|title=A Common Missed Conception:Why religious people are against gay marriage.]

"Religion". Religion has always played a major role for both parties but, in the course of a century, the parties' religious compositions have changed. Religion was a major dividing line between the parties before 1960, with Catholics, Jews, and Southern Protestants heavily Democratic, and Northeastern Protestants heavily Republican. Most of the old differences faded away after the realignment of the late 1960s that undercut the New Deal coalition. Voters who attend church weekly gave 61% of their votes to Bush in 2004; those who attend occasionally gave him only 47%, while those who never attend gave him 36%. 59% of Protestants voted for Bush, along with 52% of Catholics (even though Kerry was Catholic). Since 1980, large majorities of evangelicals have voted Republican; 70–80% voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004, and 70% for GOP House candidates in 2006. Jews continue to vote 70–80% Democratic. Democrats have close links with the African American churches, especially the National Baptists, while their historic dominance among Catholic voters has eroded to 50-50. The main line traditional Protestants (Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians) have dropped to about 55% Republican (in contrast to 75% before 1968). Their church membership have dropped in that time as well, and the conservative evangelical rivals have grown. [Robert Booth Fowler et al, "Religion and Politics in America: Faith, Culture, and Strategic Choices" (2004)]

"Region". Since 1980, geographically the Republican "base" ("red states") is strongest in the South and West, and weakest in the Northeast and the Pacific Coast. The Northeast actually does well for the GOP in state contests but not in presidential ones (except New Hampshire). The Midwest has been roughly balanced since 1854, with Illinois becoming more Democratic due to the City of Chicago and Minnesota and Wisconsin more Republican since 1990. Since the 1930s the Democrats have dominated most central cities, the Republicans now dominate rural areas, and the majority of suburbs.cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/US/P/00/epolls.0.html|title=CNN.com Election 2004|accessdate=2007-06-01]

The South has become solidly Republican in national elections since 1980, and has been trending Republican at the state level since then at a slower pace. [Earl Black and Merle Black. "Politics and Society in the South" (2005)] In 2004 Bush led Kerry by 70%-30% among Southern whites, who made up 71% of the Southern electorate. Kerry had a 70-30 lead among the 29% of the voters who were black or Hispanic. One-third of these Southern voters said they were white evangelicals; they voted for Bush by 80-20; but were only 72% Republican in 2006.

The Republican Party's strongest focus of political influence lies in the Great Plains states, particularly Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota and in the western states of Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah (Utah gave George W. Bush more than 70% of the popular vote in 2004). These states are sparsely populated, have very few urban centers, and have overwhelmingly White populations, making it extremely difficult for Democrats to create a sustainable voter base there. Unlike the South, these areas have been strongly Republican since before the party realignments of the 1960s. The Great Plains states were one of the few areas of the country where Republicans had any significant support during the Great Depression. However, these areas also have very few electoral votes or House seats, making them of limited political utility relative to more populous states. On the other hand, these Great Plains and Mountain West states provide the Republican Party with a solid electoral base in Presidential elections on which to build.

"Conservatives and Moderates". The Republican coalition is quite diverse, and numerous factions compete to frame platforms and select candidates. The "conservatives" are strongest in the South, where they draw support from religious conservatives. The "moderates" tend to dominate the party in New England, and used to be well represented in all states. From the 1940s to the 1970s under such leaders as Thomas E. Dewey, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Nelson Rockefeller, and Richard Nixon, they usually dominated the presidential wing of the party. Since the 1970s they have been less powerful, though they are always represented in the cabinets of Republican presidents. In the 2006 elections, Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee, arguably the last moderate-to-liberal Northeastern Republican of major prominence, lost his re-election bid. New Hampshire's two Republican congressmen lost to their Democratic opponents. In Vermont, Jim Jeffords, a Republican Senator became an independent in 2001 due to growing disagreement with President Bush and the party leadership.

Since the 1980s, talk radio audiences and successful hosts have tended to be conservative, and typically favor the Republicans. Some well known radio hosts include Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Neal Boortz, Laura Ingraham, Michael Reagan, Howie Carr, and Michael Savage.

Future trends

Republican Karl Rove and other commentators had speculated about a permanent political realignment in favor of the GOP along the lines of the presidential election of 1896, in which Mark Hanna helped William McKinley construct a Republican majority that lasted for the next 36 years. While the American political sphere is relatively evenly divided in terms of ideology,Gould (2003)] the Republican Party trails the Democrats by 17 million registered members.

Democratic commentators Ruy Teixeira and John Judis, [cite news |last=Judis |first=John B. |coauthors=Teixeira, Ruy |title=Movement Interruptus |publisher=The American Prospect |date=2005-01-04 |url=http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewPrint&articleId=8955 |accessdate=2006-11-18] on the other hand, say non-geographic social indicators show a trend toward Democrats. They point to the rapid increase in college graduates (who are trending Democratic), and the possible decrease in white and rural Republican bases. They also point to an increasing Democratic presence in formerly Republican strongholds such as Montana, which as of the November 2006 elections has two Democratic senators, a Democratic governor, and Democratic control of the state senate.

Skeptics ask whether the Republican Party can simultaneously contain both libertarians and social conservatives, or whether it can contain a business community that may use illegal immigrants as employees, and Hispanic voters. Republican optimists also point to the success of Roosevelt's Democratic coalition, which held together even more disparate elements. For the most part until 2007, the Republican Party has remained fairly cohesive, as both strong economic libertarians and strong social conservatives are opposed to the Democrats, whom they see as both the party of bigger and more secular, progressive government. [ Wooldridge, Adrian and John Micklethwait. "The Right Nation" (2004).] Yet, libertarians are increasingly dissatisfied with the party's social policy and support for corporate welfare and national debt, which some believe has grown increasingly restrictive of personal liberties, and with the Bush Administration greatly increasing the federal debt. [cite web|url=http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2730251|title=Evans, B. (December 15, 2005). Ex-Rep. Barr Quits GOP for Libertarians. "The Associated Press".|accessdate=2007-07-11] Someweal|date=August 2008 social conservatives are also growing increasingly dissatisfied with the party's support for economic policies that they see as contradictory to their moral values. Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has remarked that "If it was all about the money ... then we might as well put the presidency up on eBay." [http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/12/huckabees_rebellion.html How Huckabee Scares the GOP] . By E. J. Dionne. Real Clear Politics. Published December 21, 2007. Accessed August 22, 2008]

History

The Republican Party was created in 1854 in opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act that would have allowed the expansion of slavery into Kansas. Besides opposition to slavery, the new party put forward a progressive vision of modernizing the United States — emphasizing higher education, banking, railroads, industry and cities, while promising free homesteads to farmers. In this way, their economic philosophy was similar to the Whig Party's. Its initial base was in the Northeast and Midwest. The Party nominated Abraham Lincoln and ascended to power in the election of 1860. The party fought for the Union in the American Civil War and presided over Reconstruction.The party rejected Lincoln for the election of 1864. Lincoln ran under the National Union Party; the Republican Party had chosen John C. Fremont as its presidential candidate.The party's success spawned factionalism within the party in the 1870s. Those disturbed by Ulysses S. Grant ran Horace Greeley for the presidency against him. The Stalwarts defended the spoils system; the Half-Breeds pushed for reform of the civil service. The GOP supported big business generally, hard money (i.e., the gold standard), high tariffs, and generous pensions for Union veterans, and the annexation of Hawaii. The Republicans supported the Protestants who demanded Prohibition. As the Northern post-bellum economy boomed with heavy and light industry, railroads, mines, fast-growing cities and prosperous agriculture, the Republicans took credit and promoted policies to sustain the fast growth. But by 1890, the Republicans had agreed to the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Interstate Commerce Commission in response to complaints from owners of small businesses and farmers. The high McKinley Tariff of 1890 hurt the party and the Democrats swept to a landslide in the off-year elections, even defeating McKinley himself.

After the two terms of Democrat Grover Cleveland, the election of William McKinley in 1896 is widely seen as a resurgence of Republican dominance and is sometimes cited as a realigning election. McKinley promised that high tariffs would end the severe hardship caused by the Panic of 1893, and that the GOP would guarantee a sort of pluralism in which all groups would benefit. The Republicans were cemented as the party of business, though mitigated by the succession of Theodore Roosevelt who embraced trust-busting. He later ran of a third party ticket of the Progressive Party and challenged his previous successor William Howard Taft. The party controlled the presidency throughout the 1920s, running on a platform of opposition to the League of Nations, high tariffs, and promotion of business interests. Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover were resoundingly elected in 1920, 1924, and 1928 respectively. The Teapot Dome scandal threatened to hurt the party but Harding died and Coolidge blamed everything on him, as the opposition splintered in 1924. The pro-business policies of the decade seemed to produce an unprecedented prosperity — until the Wall Street Crash of 1929 heralded the Great Depression.

The New Deal coalition of Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt controlled American politics for most of the next three decades, excepting the two-term presidency of Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower. African Americans began moving toward favoring the Democratic Party during Roosevelt's time. After Roosevelt took office in 1933, New Deal legislation sailed through Congress at lightning speed. In the 1934 midterm elections, 10 Republican senators went down to defeat, leaving them with only 25 against 71 Democrats. The House of Representatives was split in a similar ratio. The "Second New Deal" was heavily criticized by the Republicans in Congress, who likened it to class warfare and socialism. The volume of legislation, and the inability of the Republicans to block it, soon made the opposition to Roosevelt develop into bitterness. Conservative Democrats, mostly from the South, joined with Republicans led by Senator Robert Taft to create the conservative coalition, which dominated domestic issues in Congress until 1964.

The second half of the 20th century saw election of Republican presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush. The Republican Party, led by House Republican Minority Whip Newt Gingrich campaigning on a "Contract with America", were elected to majorities to both houses of Congress in the Republican Revolution of 1994. Their majorities were generally held until the Democrats regained control in the mid-term election of 2006. In the 21st century the Republican Party is defined by social conservatism, an aggressive foreign policy attempting to defeat terrorism and promote global democracy,Fact|date=June 2008 a more powerful executive branch, tax cuts, and deregulation and subsidization of industry.

Name and symbols

The party's founding members chose the name "Republican Party" in the mid-1850s in part as an homage to Thomas Jefferson (it was the name initially used by his party). [cite book | author=Appleby, Joyce | title=Thomas Jefferson | year=2003 | page=4] [cite book | author=Rutland, Robert Allen | title=The Republicans: From Lincoln to Bush | year=1996 | page=2] The name echoed the 1776 republican values of civic virtue and opposition to aristocracy and corruption. [cite book | author=Gould, Lewis | title=Grand Old Party: A History of the Republicans | year=2003| page=14–15] It is the second-oldest continuing political party in the United States.

The term "Grand Old Party" is a traditional nickname for the Republican Party, and the initialism "G.O.P." (or "GOP") is a commonly used designation. According to the Republican Party, the term "gallant old party" was used in 1875. [ [http://staging.gop.com/About/AboutRead.aspx?AboutType=5 Origin of the GOP] ] According to the "Oxford English Dictionary", the first known reference to the Republican Party as the "grand old party" came in 1876. The first use of the abbreviation GOP is dated 1884. Some media have stopped using the term GOP because they think it's confusing. [ [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/12/03/politics/main531460.shtml What Does 'GOP' Stand For? Major Newspaper Says It Believes Many People Don't Know] ] More facetiously, the abbreviation is sometimes held to stand for "God's own party", in reference to the party's constituency of conservative evangelical Christians. [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/01/AR2006040100004.html How the GOP Became God's Own Party] ] In 2008, the new Washington state top two primary had Republican candidates competing against GOP candidates in the same races. [ [http://wei.secstate.wa.gov/osos/en/candidatefiling/Pages/Candidateswhohavefiled.aspx Washington Secretary of State: 2008 Primary Candidates Who Have Filed] ] [ [http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/davidpostman/2008/06/primary_ballot_allows_candidates_to_rebrand.html Primary ballot allows candidates to re-brand] ]

The traditional mascot of the party is the elephant. A political cartoon by Thomas Nast, published in "Harper's Weekly" on November 7, 1874, is considered the first important use of the symbol. [ [http://www.harpweek.com/09Cartoon/BrowseByDateCartoon.asp?Year=2003&Month=November&Date=7 Cartoon of the Day: "The Third-Term Panic"] . Retrieved on 2007-02-21.] In the early 20th century, the usual symbol of the Republican Party in Midwestern states such as Indiana and Ohio was the eagle, as opposed to the Democratic rooster. This symbol still appears on Indiana ballots.

After the 2000 election, the color red became associated with the GOP, although it has not been officially adopted by the party. That election night, for the first time, all of the major broadcast networks used the same color scheme for the electoral
George W. Bush were colored red, and states won by Democratic nominee Al Gore were colored blue. Although the assignation of colors to political parties is unofficial and informal, they have come to be widely recognized by the media and the public to represent the respective political parties "(see Political colour and Red states and blue states for more details)".

Lincoln Day, Reagan Day, or Lincoln-Reagan Day, is the primary annual fundraising celebration held by many state and county organizations of the Republican Party. The events are named after Republican Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan.

tate and territorial parties

*Alabama Republican Party [http://www.algop.org]
*Republican Party of Alaska [http://alaskarepublicans.com/]
*Arizona Republican Party [http://www.azgop.org/]
*Republican Party of Arkansas [http://www.arkansasgop.org/]
*California Republican Party [http://www.cagop.org/]
*Colorado Republican Party [http://www.cologop.org/]
*Connecticut Republican Party [http://www.ctgop.org/]
*Republican State Committee of Delaware [http://www.delawaregop.com/]
*Republican Party of Florida [http://www.rpof.org/]
*Georgia Republican Party [http://www.gagop.org/]
*Hawaii Republican Party [http://www.gophawaii.com/]
*Idaho Republican Party [http://www.idgop.org/]
*Illinois Republican Party [http://www.ilgop.org/]
*Indiana Republican Party [http://www.indgop.org/]
*Republican Party of Iowa [http://www.iowagop.org/]
*Kansas Republican Party [http://www.ksgop.org/]
*Republican Party of Kentucky [http://www.rpk.org/]
*Republican Party of Louisiana [http://www.lagop.com/]
*Maine Republican Party [http://www.mainegop.com/]
*Maryland Republican Party [http://www.mdgop.org/]
*Massachusetts Republican Party [http://www.massgop.com/]
*Michigan Republican Party [http://www.migop.org/]
*Republican Party of Minnesota [http://www.mngop.com/]
*Mississippi Republican Party [http://www.msgop.org/]
*Missouri Republican Party [http://www.mogop.org/]
*Montana Republican Party [http://www.mtgop.org/]
*Nebraska Republican Party [http://www.negop.org/]
*Nevada Republican Party [http://www.nevadagop.org/]
*New Hampshire Republican State Committee [http://www.nhgop.org/]
*New Jersey Republican State Committee [http://www.njgop.org/]
*Republican Party of New Mexico [http://www.gopnm.org/]
*New York Republican State Committee [http://www.nygop.org/]
*North Carolina Republican Party [http://www.ncgop.org/]
*North Dakota Republican Party [http://www.ndgop.com]
*Ohio Republican Party [http://www.ohiogop.org/]
*Oklahoma Republican Party [http://www.okgop.com/]
*Oregon Republican Party [http://www.orgop.org/]
*Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania [http://www.pagop.org/]
*Rhode Island Republican Party [http://www.rigop.org/]
*South Carolina Republican Party [http://www.scgop.com/]
*South Dakota Republican Party [http://www.southdakotagop.com/]
*Tennessee Republican Party [http://www.tngop.org/]
*Republican Party of Texas [http://www.texasgop.org/]
*Utah Republican Party [http://www.utgop.org/]
*Vermont Republican Party [http://www.vtgop.org/]
*Republican Party of Virginia [http://www.vagop.com/]
*Washington State Republican Party [http://www.wsrp.org/]
*West Virginia Republican Party [http://www.wvgop.org/]
*Republican Party of Wisconsin [http://www.wisgop.org/]
*Wyoming Republican Party [http://www.wygop.org/]
*Republican Party of American Samoa
*District of Columbia Republican Committee [http://www.dcgop.com/]
*Guam Republican Party
*Northern Mariana Islands Republican Party
*Republican Party of Puerto Rico [http://www.goppr.org/index.php.en]
*Republican Party of the Virgin Islands [http://www.virepublicanwomen.com/id2.html]

ee also

*List of United States Republican Party presidential tickets
*List of African American Republicans
*Political party strength in U.S. states
*2008 Republican National Convention
*Real Politics Union

Footnotes

References

*"American National Biography" (20 volumes, 1999) covers all politicians no longer alive; online at many academic libraries.
*Aistrup, Joseph A. "The Southern Strategy Revisited: Republican Top-Down Advancement in the South" (1996)
*Barone, Michael, and Grant Ujifusa, "The Almanac of American Politics 2006: The Senators, the Representatives and the Governors: Their Records and Election Results, Their States and Districts" (2005).
*Black, Earl and Merle Black. "The Rise of Southern Republicans" (2002)
*Brennan, Mary C. "Turning Right in the Sixties: The Conservative Capture of the GOP" (1995)
*Crane, Michael. "The Political Junkie Handbook: The Definitive Reference Books on Politics" (2004) covers all the major issues explaining the parties' positions
*Donald, David. "Lincoln" (1999)
*Ehrman, John, "The Eighties: America in the Age of Reagan" (2005)
*Frank, Thomas. "What's the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America" (2005)
*Frum, David. "What's Right: The New Conservative Majority and the Remaking of America" (1996)
*Gould, Lewis. "Grand Old Party: A History of the Republicans" (2003)
*Jensen, Richard. "Grass Roots Politics: Parties, Issues, and Voters, 1854–1983" (1983)
*Judis, John B. and Ruy Teixeira. "The Emerging Democratic Majority" (2004) two Democrats project social trends
*Kleppner, Paul, et al. "The Evolution of American Electoral Systems" (1983), applies party systems model
*Lamis, Alexander P. ed. "Southern Politics in the 1990s" (1999)
*Mayer, George H. "The Republican Party, 1854–1966." 2d ed. (1967)
*Perlstein, Rick. "Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus" (2002) broad account of 1964
*Reinhard, David W. "The Republican Right since 1945" (1983)
*Rutland, Robert Allen. "The Republicans: From Lincoln to Bush" (1996)
*Sabato, Larry J. "Divided States of America: The Slash and Burn Politics of the 2004 Presidential Election" (2005)
*Sabato, Larry J. and Bruce Larson. "The Party's Just Begun: Shaping Political Parties for America's Future" (2001) textbook.
*Schlesinger, Arthur Meier, Jr. ed. "History of American Presidential Elections, 1789–2000" (various multivolume editions, latest is 2001). Essays on the most important election are reprinted in Schlesinger, "The Coming to Power: Critical presidential elections in American history" (1972)
*Shafer, Byron E. and Anthony J. Badger, eds. "Contesting Democracy: Substance and Structure in American Political History, 1775–2000" (2001), long essays by specialists on each time period:
**includes: "'To One or Another of These Parties Every Man Belongs;": 1820–1865 by Joel H. Silbey; "Change and Continuity in the Party Period: 1835–1885" by Michael F. Holt; "The Transformation of American Politics: 1865–1910" by Peter H. Argersinger; "Democracy, Republicanism, and Efficiency: 1885–1930" by Richard Jensen; "The Limits of Federal Power and Social Policy: 1910–1955" by Anthony J. Badger; "The Rise of Rights and Rights Consciousness: 1930–1980" by James T. Patterson; and "Economic Growth, Issue Evolution, and Divided Government: 1955–2000" by Byron E. Shafer
*Shafer, Byron and Richard Johnston. "The End of Southern Exceptionalism" (2006), uses statistical election data & polls to argue GOP growth was primarily a response to economic change
*Steely, Mel. "The Gentleman from Georgia: The Biography of Newt Gingrich" Mercer University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-86554-671-1.
*Sundquist, James L. "Dynamics of the Party System: Alignment and Realignment of Political Parties in the United States" (1983)
*Wooldridge, Adrian and John Micklethwait. "The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America" (2004).

External links

* [http://www.gop.com/ Republican National Committee]
* [http://src.senate.gov/ Senate Republican Conference]
* [http://www.gop.gov/ House Republican Conference]
* [http://www.nrsc.org/ National Republican Senatorial Committee]
* [http://www.nrcc.org/ National Republican Congressional Committee]
* [http://www.rga.org/ Republican Governors Association]
* [http://www.rslc.com/ Republican State Leadership Committee]
* [http://www.republicansabroad.com/ Republicans Abroad International]
* [http://www.yrnf.com/ Young Republican National Federation]
* [http://www.crnc.org/ College Republican National Committee]
* [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/papers_pdf/78545.pdf 2008 National Platform] (PDF), * [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=78545 HTML version]
* [http://www.gop.com/media/2004platform.pdf 2004 National Platform] (PDF), * [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25850 HTML version]
*


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