# Who is the face of the Republican party? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 16, 2009, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-face-of-the-republican-party/506622 "2009-08-16T14:29:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-face-of-the-republican-party/506622/21 "2009-08-17T13:08:47Z")
A related question, conservatives only need apply: who do you **want** to become the face of the Republican party, and why? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-face-of-the-republican-party/506622/22 "2009-08-17T15:05:18Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > A related question, conservatives only need apply: who do you **want** to become the face of the Republican party, and why? I want Oprah. Why? Because everyone loves her. But she’s going to be a tough nut to crack. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-face-of-the-republican-party/506622/23 "2009-08-17T15:16:34Z")
I’m not sure the Republican Party has a face. Did the Democrats have a face during most of the George W. administration? Maybe Hillary. Maybe Pelosi. Maybe Ted Kennedy. If any of those were the face, it was a blurry face. The Republicans are in a similar position now. They’re hoping for another Reagan. Folky, charismatic, self-assured. And if they give frequent lip service to Jesus and Jehovah that’s 20 bonus points. So there’s not much of a face, but the heart seems owned by Limbaugh, and Fox commentators. ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-face-of-the-republican-party/506622/24 "2009-08-17T15:44:47Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > I’m not sure the Republican Party has a face. > > Did the Democrats have a face during most of the George W. administration? Maybe Hillary. Maybe Pelosi. Maybe Ted Kennedy. If any of those were the face, it was a blurry face. That’s my answer as well. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-face-of-the-republican-party/506622/25 "2009-08-17T15:53:34Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > So there’s not much of a face, but the heart seems owned by Limbaugh, and Fox commentators. Interesting (and important distinction) you make. To draw an analogy, it’s kind of like the Queen of England is ostensibly the “face” of England, but Parliament is the heart. I’m not sure the parallel between the Repbulicans and Democrats stands at the moment, because the Democrats have consistently failed in cohesion and order. That is, even now there is a lack of overall unification. Granted, the Republican party isn’t a font of unity, but they are much more so than the Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-face-of-the-republican-party/506622/26 "2009-08-17T16:26:09Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > I would say Limbaugh serves as both face and ideological and slogan leader. Face, because he’s got rich white guy down pat; someone most representative of the Republican Party. Of course there are black, Latino, gay, and female Republicans, but I daresay (though please don’t ask for a cite) that the majority of the party is made up of rich white males. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Just that as a self-identifier, he’s got the right demographic look. A small correction. I think it is made up of rich white males and poor, stupid, whites of both sexes who’ve been sold a bill of goods that they are surely going to be rich someday so supporting tax cuts for the rich and not for them is in their best interest. Joe the Plumber is an excellent example. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-face-of-the-republican-party/506622/27 "2009-08-17T16:27:42Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > (An Accounting professor of mine once said 'the market you want is stupid rich people - unfortunately, its a really small and very competitive market, but if you gain a toehold in the stupid rich people market, its a great place to be." case of marketing - buying power, in the case of politics, just plain old power.) Your accounting prof is very wise. That was Bernie Madoff’s market exactly, and it made him a lot of money over a long time before he got caught. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-face-of-the-republican-party/506622/28 "2009-08-17T16:33:39Z")
Its something widely known by grifters: smart people are easier, because they trust their own intelligence and judgement. A dumb person usually knows they are dumb. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-face-of-the-republican-party/506622/29 "2009-08-17T16:42:23Z")
> [@](#): > > Of course there are black, Latino, gay, and female Republicans, but I daresay (though please don’t ask for a cite) that the majority of the party is made up of rich white males. This pretty much can’t be. First of all, even if each of those categories individually were a majority, the intersection of the three would be highly unlikely to be so. In particular, even if males are a majority of the Republican party, it’s a very slim one, so \ males, with almost any adjective at all, will not be. Second, most people aren’t rich, even in the Republican party. Rich wannabes, maybe, or even folks who think they would be rich if the evil liberals would just stop oppressing them, but most of them aren’t. Finally, whites are the majority in the Republican party, but then, they’re also the majority in the Democratic party, too, just by a smaller margin. And I don’t think it makes sense to say that the face of the Democratic party must necessarily be white for that reason. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-face-of-the-republican-party/506622/30 "2009-08-17T17:39:41Z")
I should have posted this sooner, but as soon as **Dangerosa** pointed out my foolishness in describing the Republican party as “rich,” I recognized my folly. I’ll be sitting over here with a dunce cap. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-face-of-the-republican-party/506622/31 "2009-08-17T17:47:00Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > I should have posted this sooner, but as soon as **Dangerosa** pointed out my foolishness in describing the Republican party as “rich,” I recognized my folly. I’ll be sitting over here with a dunce cap. You probably meant “rich” as in b-s, as in “that’s rich. Next time, why not try selling me a bridge or something.” You know, subconsciously that’s what you meant. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-face-of-the-republican-party/506622/32 "2009-08-17T17:57:21Z")
I have read a couple times that Newt Gingrich was instrumental in Palin quitting in Alaska. He wanted to get her more involved in national politics and rallying the party to its lowest common denominator. he must have felt the party needed her. He has 2 years to work with her. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-face-of-the-republican-party/506622/33 "2009-08-17T18:15:26Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > I have read a couple times that Newt Gingrich was instrumental in Palin quitting in Alaska. He wanted to get her more involved in national politics and rallying the party to its lowest common denominator. he must have felt the party needed her. He has 2 years to work with her. You know, of all the people I might have picked to play Henry Higgins in the Branson Playhouse version of _My Fair Lady_, Newt Gingrich is probably way down on the bottom of the list. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-face-of-the-republican-party/506622/34 "2009-08-17T18:18:52Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > I’m not sure the majority of the party is rich white males - rich white males is a pretty small demographic. Maybe so, but they call the shots in the GOP – and, to only slightly lesser extent, in American society as a whole. The way healthcare reform is going provides ample proof. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-face-of-the-republican-party/506622/35 "2009-08-17T18:34:18Z")
The face of the Republican party? You know Orwell’s _boot stamping on a human face forever_? Picture a flabby, balding, white man in that boot. And he’s clutching a bible while screaming incoherently. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-face-of-the-republican-party/506622/36 "2009-08-17T18:39:16Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > …while screaming incoherently. “Speaking in tongues”. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-face-of-the-republican-party/506622/37 "2009-08-17T18:56:31Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > A dumb person usually knows they are dumb. [Nope](http://www.apa.org/journals/features/psp7761121.pdf). (PDF) ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-face-of-the-republican-party/506622/38 "2009-08-18T01:23:04Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > If the two of them went toe-to-toe looking to secure influence and drum up audiences, who would come out on top? Something that strikes me as really interesting in the Birther movement is watching Free Republic (it’s like crack, I can’t help it) react every time someone on the right comes out against Birthers. It goes something like this: “O’Reilly is awesome. He’s so awesome. I love him.” \ “O’Reilly is such a fucking liberal. It’s so obvious he has always been in the bag for liberals. Glenn Beck is awesome, though. He’s the only one willing to tell it straight.” \ “What a RINO! There’s no one worth listening to except…” \<… says Birthers are loony\> “I’ve never liked him anyway!” O’Reilly, Ann Coulter, Beck, NRO, others I can’t remember. It all follows this same pattern. And Palin’s supporters do this exact thing with people who say anything about Palin. Johnny Isakson? RINO! Etc. I’m sure Rush gets the same treatment. Rush versus Palin? I think Rush wins that. But \ versus Palin? Palin. ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-face-of-the-republican-party/506622/39 "2009-08-18T17:10:59Z")
Are the nominations still open? Because I’d like to submit [the guy who assaulted a woman and tore up her poster of Rosa Parks](http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/08/13/rosa-parks-poster-destroyed-at-town-hall-meeting/) at a town hall meeting. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-face-of-the-republican-party/506622/40 "2009-09-23T21:03:32Z")
Well, according to Tom Delay, [No one](http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/09/delay_gop_is_leaderless_health_care_will_pass.php): > [@](#): > > Shaking his head with frustration, he added, “The Republican Party doesn’t have the organization or leadership to take advantage of this dire political situation that Obama is in now. We have these grassroots sprouting up, but not the party organization to use them.” > > "Republicans are leaderless,‘’ he went on, “so we’re just fighting each other instead of Obama’s radical policies. There’s no political leader of the party taking control. So, Republicans are just attacking each other for being too far right or too far left. Even Rush and Hannity are doing it.” > > So who does DeLay see as the GOP’s up-and-comers? “No one,” he replied in exasperation. “It’s all the same old guys who were in leadership with me, and those old guys aren’t the leaders the party needs.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-face-of-the-republican-party/506622.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-face-of-the-republican-party/506622.md?page=3)