Self-hating Republicans

Democrats weren’t the only ones attacking themselves then, nor are Republicans now. (Witness Democrat Blanche Lincoln’s dueling health-care commercials in Arkansas.) But the notion that the 2008 Republican nominee and a guy that has an inside track on the 2012 nomination would need to run against their old political identities is revealing.

What happened? Well, for one thing, we know that primary campaigns force unorthodox politicians to become more orthodox. The presence of two tricky races—the GOP primary in Arizona for McCain; the 2012 presidential primary for Romney—has forced both men to hew even closer to the party line.

But there’s an interesting difference. Gore and Kerry were contorting themselves by rejecting liberal positions they felt might be too liberal for the general electorate. McCain and Romney are rejecting liberal positions they feel might be too liberal for Republicans. Self-hating Democrats, you might say, worry they will be rejected by rest of America. Self-hating Republicans worry they will be rejected by their closest friends.