How the GOP really works

New Republic columnist Jonathan Chait wrote a terrific piece in the New York Times magazine. Though it is partly tongue-in-check, it's nutshell but accurate description of how the Republican party machinery really operates.

"The Republican Party’s presidential-nominating process has always been run by elites. Oh, the voters have their brief moments of triumph, hoisting up an unelectable right-winger (i.e., Pat Buchanan) or an uncontrollable moderate (John McCain, the circa-2000 version). But the establishment always wins. Meeting in their K Street offices and communicating through organs like George Will’s column and National Review, the main financers and organizers settle upon a useful frontman, a reliable vessel for the party’s agenda who — and this is the crucial part — is blessed with the requisite political talent. Democrats have been known to mess that last part up and nominate a dweeb, but Republicans have generally understood that an agenda tilted toward the desires of the powerful requires a skilled frontman who can pitch Middle America. Favorite character types include jocks, movie stars, folksy Texans and war heroes."

This time around, the GOP elite will have to settle for Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty or Jon Huntsman (if he runs). None fit the preferred Republican archetype. Then again, neither did Richard Nixon (who won anyway, twice). Then again, Nixon didn't have to face Tea Party or Palinite radicals, either.