Trendy Politics and the GOP

As for now, the Democratic Party holds a numerical dominance in Congress, plus the Presidency. With the failure of the McCain campaign, the tarnished legacy of Bush, and the Democratic take over of Congress in 2006, we can conclude old the Republican Party of Reagan is now over. With a two party system, it is utterly impossible for the Democrats to stay in complete power for very long, even with the GOP completely vanquished. This early into Obama's Presidency, the Republican Party has not shown many signs of reformation that will lead to it's return. However, Congressman Aaron Schock of Illinois' 18th district may be a clue as to what the Republican Party will look like in a few years. Schock is the youngest member of Congress at age 27, having taken office last January. He is a fiscal conservative, having voted against Obama's stimulus package in February, and a moderate social conservative to generalize his policies. He has also been known to reach out to groups which are not typically Republican. More importantly, Schock has a growing celebrity status based on his youth, having been caught in paparazzi clips on TMZ as if he were a hollywood actor. This is similar to the celebrity status surrounding Obama as well. Policy aside, the importance of image in American politics cannot be denied. While Obama's policies were generally favorable to voters, it cannot be denied that his charismatic image and bridging of popular culture and politics gave him a great advantage. What the emergence of Aaron Schock could strangely mean is that one of the forms the GOP may return in is the "hip" domain pioneered and occupied by Democrats only. The charisma of the Republican politically incorrect grandfather figure like Reagan and McCain has clearly lost much of it's appeal. The age old hardliner old man image of the GOP that goes back even beyond Theodore Roosevelt, may finally be over, or atleast heavily augmented. While Schock will not even be old enough to challenge Obama in four years, nor has he shown a strong desire to be a lifelong politician, he could stur up enough dust to change the face of the GOP. If more celebrity like Republicans enter the public eye, there could be a Republican Obama figure in the future who would change the face of the party forever, and lead to it's return.