Republicans on the Trajectory Towards Politicide

Although the idiom  "one Robin does not a spring make" may apply to my following story, I wonder if the man who came to my door was a "canary in the coal mine" for the Republican Party.

Maine's Sagadahoc County is in the midst of a special election for state senator. A door-to-door campaign for ballot signatures brought a well spoken young man, who said his profession was a social worker, to my front porch. He was on a quest to obtain five dollars from a particular number of registered voters, to meet the requirement to qualify as a clean election candidate. 

In other words, the door-to-door prospective candidate must obtain enough signatures, with $5 from each person who signs, to be eligible for state election funds to pay for running for the open senate seat. 

Naturally, I asked  what political party he represented? I winced when he gave me a hyphenated name (I may not get this precisely correct), something like "I'm a conservative Independent Green Party Social Liberal", he said. (Ahhhhh, what's that?)

Of course, I followed up.  "Does your party support the conservative, right wing,Tea-Party?," I asked.  Well, as a matter of fact, he reluctantly responded, "Yes".

Well, by God, a duck by any other name still waddles.  

He could have said he was with the Wikileaks Party and received a more welcome reception.  Rather, he got a piece of my mind, which left him nearly falling backward off the front porch.  

"Oh, I see you've already made up you mind," he said, while he couldn't get away from me fast enough.

Why didn't he just say what political party he belonged to?  In fact, he's a Conservative Republican who is sympathetic to the right wing Tea Party.  He didn't deny this when confronted.

Although this is an isolated incident (one Robin doesn't make a spring), I suspect this ambitious young man might be an omen for the Republicans, especially the right wing bunch of it. 

Is he a canary in the coal mine?

By not admitting to being a Conservative Republican with right wing Tea-Party beliefs, this wanna-be candidate was obviously in denial about his own political identity. If you can't stand up for the political party you believe in, it's likely you're ashamed. At least, that's the way I see it. This candidate who was on my porch might be a harbinger of Republican politicide - meaning, the GOP is a political system in demise.  

The canary may have stopped singing.

It appears some GOP have stopped identifying with Republicans because, at least for this particular candidate, the party is too liberal for them. I've heard others mourning the passing of the old Republican Party, talking about the way it "used to be", whatever that means.  

To get $5, I suspect this man made up the name of an independent political party. Assuming he legitimately filed for election forms to qualify as a "clean" candidate, he surely had to prove he wasn't an alien Martian to do so. Otherwise, it's possible he's more eligible for being convicted of election fraud than qualifying as a clean election candidate. 

My point is, the presumptive state candidate didn't stand tall to claim being Republican.  

In my opinion, this "canary" is a symbol of Republican politicide.

Nevertheless, a dying social order can cause horrible collateral damage by fanning the incendiary ashes causing its demise. Tragically, one can look at the ravages of the American South during the Civil War to realize what complete devastation it took to demolish the tenacious institution of slavery. Apparently, the Republican party of Abraham Lincoln is now spiraling out of existence, like a star that's lost it's axis, while some members won't even claim our martyred president's legacy anymore.

Perhaps Democrats should take some solace in knowing that our political rivals are completely lost in a dark place without 
a light to show them the way out. Unfortunately, like an army or social movement in defeat, the GOP defenders, led by Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul of Kentucky, are entrenched in their intractable beliefs and unwilling to admit they're on a trajectory towards politicide.  

Instead, these two men and their zealous followers are using up whatever oxygen they have left to suck the progress out of good social policies our government has stood for in the past. 

Right wing extremists like McConnell and Paul want to dismantle social safety nets like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Unemployment Compensation, Food Stamps and Veterans Health and Retirement Benefits, for no reason except they want to save tax money. Rather than share the wealth created by capitalism, these zealots prefer to let the rich to get richer at the expense of the poor, widening the income disparity gap.  

Perhaps it's time to allow Republicans to launch their trajectory toward politicide.  Meanwhile, some traditional Grand Old Party patriots must find a credible political philosophy to fill the politicide gap and create a loyal opposition to the Democrats.   

In my opinion, the GOP could possibly save itself from politicide if the Tea Party were required to file as an Independent Party. 

Meanwhile, right wing extremists are polarizing their own Republican colleagues while forcing politicide on voters who know how Democracy thrives on political choice between reasonable alternatives. Politicide is clearly balkanizing the GOP. In so doing, they're destroying America's two party system.  

Let's hope they don't drag all of us into the political abyss, as well.