The United States’Republican Party is a staunchly conservative political group, whose philosophy rests entirely on resisting big governments and encouraging greater individual responsibility and accountability.

Many of the Republican Party’s most vocal supporters are members of what is known as the ’religious right’. This encompasses a wide group of conservative Christians whose presence is most pronounced in America’s ’Heartland’states, such as Kansas, Missouri and Iowa. They also have a large influence in other socially conservative states such as Texas, Oklahoma and Georgia.

The Republican Party is geared towards the American Christian community and as a result it embraces many Christian ideals. Most Republicans and Republican supporters oppose abortion, many oppose numerous aspects of gay rights legislations and an overwhelming majority believe in gun ownership as a constitutional right. However, over the years efforts have been made to try and move the party towards a more central or moderately conservative platform. This was evident during John McCain’s presidential campaign during 2008 as he tried to sway ’swing’voters (those who were unsure of whether to vote Republicans or the Democrats) and conservative Democrats to the Republican ballot.

McCain also tried to repair the damage caused by the Bush administration which lured many Americans to vote for the Democrats as a ’vote for change’. He highlighted the need to tackle global warming as one of the most important responsibilities of the US government, a stark contrast to Bush who refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol to reduce Red Diesel emissions. He also voiced his support for abortion, considering himself as ’pro-life’with regards to this issue, which again was very much against the general party line.

As a ’balancing’mechanism, he appointed ultra-Conservative Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential nominee. This, he felt was necessary if he was to attract religious right voters who would undoubtedly have issues with his stance on abortion in particular.

Palin announced in an interview that she was against abortion even in the cases of rape and incest - a view which only a minority of registered US voters would agree with. Palin’s support for oil-drilling in her home state Alaska and her somewhat ’awkward’interviewing style, however, ultimately determined the Republican Party’s defeat in the November elections.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 at 6:36 am and is filed under 1. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.