Townhall
Why the GOP is So Divided
Steve Deace
May 10, 2014

The following is an excerpt from the new book “Rules for Patriots: How Conservatives Can Win Again.”

Several times during the 2012 campaign I had newspaper reporters from across the country contact me for my take on what Mitt Romney has to do to rally his base for the general election. I always told them they were asking the wrong question.

The question isn’t whether or not Romney would be able to successfully rally his base—the question is whether or not he actually wants to.

His people demanded Republican National Committee members sign some ham-fisted “loyalty pledge” that smacks of a George Orwell plot device. His people tried to alter the party rules to stifle the increasing Tea Party/liberty influence. If this was Romney wanting to woo us, he had a funny way of showing it. Romney wouldn’t even eat a chicken sandwich with his base.

Ladies, imagine for a second the guy you’re interested in rarely if ever calls, takes no initiative to show you he cares, but then turns around and demands you give him the attention he desires whenever the mood suits him. After a while your girlfriends would urge you to salvage whatever shred of dignity you had left and admit that “he’s just not that into you.”

Let me share with you what I have learned fighting the Republican Party establishment through two presidential primary cycles, and what I shared with these reporters.

At best the Republican Party establishment views its grassroots base as what kids today would refer to as a hook-up or a booty call. At worst they outright hate us, because we’re the reason GOP cronyists don’t get away with pillaging and plundering the public trough for their buddies with the same reckless abandon as the Democrats...

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