United Liberty

Former Congressman CA-11 Pete McCloskey, who switched his party affiliation from (R) to (D) last year after becoming disillusioned with the “new brand of Republicanism” (aka Neoconservatism) has decided to not only endorse Debbie Cook, the Democratic candidate in CA’s 46th District, but also write to 46th District Republicans explaining his rationale.

“Dear Republican,” the letter begins. “Like you, I was proud to be a Republican until the advent of Bush and the Neocons. My family have been active California Republicans since l859, the year before Lincoln was elected.” - Politicker.com

This is indicative of the collapsing of the Republican Party’s big tent that will become even more evident come a sweeping November loss for Republicans. Bush and his neoconservative surrogates have imploded the party and hopefully will suffer the political ramifications for doing so by losing influence with the rank and file party members. Look for the intra-party civil war to be fought mostly behind closed doors, but expect a significant increase in party dissent to leak into the public sphere over the coming months.