Curious Parallel

Ezra Klein at The Washington Post draws a parallel between what's happening in the NY-23 contest to the Barry Goldwater nomination:

It's not so much that Republicans are mistaking the enthusiasm of a rump faction for the preferences of the electorate -- the Republican Party tried to back Scozzafava, after all -- as they're powerless to resist.

All of which suggests that the right historical analogue may not be Ronald Reagan but Barry Goldwater. And though Goldwater's campaign led to Reagan's later rise, it also led to a historic pickup for the Democrats and the creation of Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, PBS, food stamps, welfare ...

I'm with Sullivan a bit on this. I'm not sure that this little contest is indicative of a nationwide trend just yet. But if it does indeed smell like one, it's not about the redefining of the Republican Party. Remember, the candidate endorsed by Palin, Limbaugh, and Beck is running as a third party candidate. This is indicative of what I predicted not long after the presidential election last year:

Attempting to turn New Testament theology into political power will further marginalize the Christianists and result in the eventual splintering of the Republican Party into at least two, perhaps three distinct segments: the radical theocons, the socially moderate low-tax corporate class, and perhaps a group that tries to take the best from both worlds.

I've amended that prediction once or twice, but essentially the splintering is underway, starting with this little congressional contest. Whether Hoffman wins or Owens does, the movement to define Republicanism as intolerant Christianism combined with neoconservative war-mongering and cults of personality has begun. May they be successful beyond their wildest imaginings!