Desire to defeat Obama could take GOP down same path as the
Whigs Campaigns are often won or lost because of party unity and
the consistency of message. However, there are times when
critical issues come to the forefront and a party must go down a
new path or face years in the wilderness and possible
extinction. For Republican candidates and party members there
may be a great temptation to lay into fellow candidates and even
attack different constituencies within the party, which is now
happening with regular frequency. For the 2012 election cycle
Republicans must understand what happened to a nearly forgotten
19th century American political party, the Whig Party.
Republicans, always reminded of Ronald Reagan’s 11th
commandment, “Thou shall not criticize a fellow Republican,”
often stray from that dictum, often with disastrous results.
However, it must not be forgotten that Reagan actively worked
and campaigned against others within the GOP. He even challenged
an incumbent Republican president, Gerald Ford, i