Former Senate Majority leader and presidential candidate, Bob Dole, has stated that he doesn’t think Richard Nixon or Ronald Reagan would have thrived in the current Republican party.
Dole explained that the party is too attack-orientated and conservative, stating, “They ought to put a sign on the National Committee doors that says ‘closed for repairs,’ until New Year’s Day next year and spend that time going over ideas and positive agendas.”
Dole told FOX News Sunday , “ Reagan couldn’t have made it. Certainly, Nixon couldn’t have made it, because he had ideas. We might’ve made it, but I doubt it.”
Dole went on to criticise President Obama too for not working with Congress to solve the country’s problems, stating, “I’m not a critic of the President, but I think one mistake he has made was not getting together more with Congress early on in his first administration. I think as a president, he lacks communication skills with his own party, let alone the Republican Party. And he’s on the road too much.”
Dole isn’t the first Republican to state that previous icons of the political party wouldn’t have prospered in the current climate. Jeb Bush has stated that his father, George Bush Snr., wouldn’t have been able to blossom in the party too.
Jeb Bush stated, “Ronald Reagan would have – based on his record of finding some degree of common ground, as would my dad – they would have a hard time if you define the Republican Party … as having an orthodoxy that doesn’t allow for disagreement, doesn’t allow for finding some common ground.”
Dole also offered advice on how the part could prospere in the future, stating, “We will not win elections by simply pointing out the failures of the other side. We must boldly paint the picture of … how incredibly bright America’s future can be.”
Do you agree with Dole’s statement?
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