As the Democrats ride triumphantly this week after the Thursday announcement of a House health care bill, the Republicans are entangled in a civil war within its own party.

Conservatives within the party are waiting in the wings to crush any bipartisan support for health care. Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, a moderate Republican, voted in favor of the Democratic version of the health care bill in the Senate Finance Committee. She was the first and only Republican to support the president’s healthcare plan two weeks ago.

For this, Snowe, the senior senator in her state, was lauded with praise by Democrats but scorned by Republicans. Conservatives within the Republican Party view Snowe as a sellout. In the words of Newsweek columnist Howard Fineman, ‘the GOP has no intention of helping [Obama] pass any legislation.’

Snowe should not be criticized for her actions, but should be seen as a builder of her party. The Republicans simply cannot sustain their reputation as the ‘Party of No.’ This reputation has been garnered through blocking the Obama administration’s policies at every turn instead of trying to work together to forge legislation.

It is becoming increasingly rare to see a moderate Republicans like Snowe in action. What is left after the 2008 election is a core group of conservative Republicans on the national level with a smaller moderate fringe. This is a dangerous mix.

Even Democrats like David Plouffe, President Obama’s campaign manager recognize the fact that the Republicans are battling each other.

Plouffe discussed the contentious election in the 23rd Congressional district of New York. The moderate Republican candidate Dierdre Scozzafava was ousted from the race in favor of the more conservative Doug Hoffman. What followed is a true political mess. The moderate Scozzafava was originally endorsed by the likes of House Minority Leader John Boehner, RNC Chairman Michael Steele and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Scozzafava was panned for not being ‘conservative’ enough.

She was discounted because the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glen Beck, Sarah Palin, Steve Forbes, Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota (2012 presidential hopeful) and Texas Gov. Rick Perry attempted to purge the party of a moderate in New York’s 23rd Congressional District, and endorsed Hoffman. Boehner, Steele and Gingrich quickly switched their endorsements for Hoffman as Scozzafava bowed out.

Plouffe said it brilliantly: ‘Sarah Palin, the other Republican candidates who are likely to run, the Limbaughs and the Becks of the world are basically hanging a ‘moderates need not apply’ sign outside the Republican National Committee headquarters.’

If the members of the Republican Party at the national level keeps holding on to pure ideological conservatism by refusing to cooperate with the Democrats, they are assured to lose by tremendous margins in 2010 and 2012.

The great issues of our day, the economy, health care and energy require collaboration and compromise. Newsweek editor John Alter summarizes this point nicely: ‘Conservatives are noisy, but irrelevant, and moving right to please them is not smart politics.’ Only by working with Democrats can the Republicans hope to survive.

The Republican Party needs to get its act together, quickly. Sen. Snowe remarked that the reason why she voted in favor of the healthcare plan was that ‘When history calls, history calls.’ History is calling for moderate Republicans to work with the Democrats on the big issues, not for conservatives to purge the entire Party.

Andrew Swab is a sophomore magazine and international relations major. His columns appear weekly. He can be reached at ajswab@syr.edu.

Published on October 31, 2009 at 12:00 pm