Bitch Girls posts an article on the North Carolina Republican Party refusing to allow the Log Cabin Republicans to set up a booth at this weekend's state convention.

The chairman of the state party says that the North Carolina Republican Party and the Log Cabin Republicans "do not seem to share the same agenda." However, the leader of the state LCR responds by pointing out that it "believes in low taxes, limited government, strong defense, free markets, personal responsibility, and individual liberty." Sounds like a South Park Republican to me. And a damn good one too.

Without 9/11, I truly believe the Republican Party would be in a full-blown crisis. The Christian Right and the South Parkers have put aside their differences to support the efforts in Iraq and elsewhere. But make no mistake, the differences do exist and they are serious. If you're a Republican, you're going to have to decide what's more important: individual liberties or traditional family values, small government or drunken spending, gun rights or the "war on drugs". Right now, Bush transcends these differences because of his personal leadership, but sooner or later he won't be there to hold the party together.

I can already picture the Republican National Convention in 2008. After a bitter primary season, a traditional Christian conservative wins the nomination. He delivers an acceptance speech reminiscent of Pat Buchanan in '96. The speech will fire up his core supporters but sicken Republicans with a libertarian bent. These Republicans will feel abandoned by the party and will either cast protest votes for a third party candidate, stay away from the polls in droves or hold their noses and vote for one of the major party candidates, perhaps even the Democratic nominee, if it's someone like John Edwards.

Jkhat asked why John Edwards would even be interested in being Kerry's running mate. I think it's because he's looking to 2008. Being on the national ticket now would give him a huge leg up on his primary primary opposition, Hilary Clinton. And, unlike Clinton, Edwards doesn't have a built in base of people that would do anything to defeat him. Mrs. Clinton has a dedicated group of voters outside of the coasts that will go to polls specifically to vote against her.

I see the situation in North Carolina as a sign of what's to come. I hope I'm wrong. I hope that the leaders of the Republican Party can come up with a platform that represents a livable compromise between these two factions. Actually, that's not true. I really hope that small government, big freedom Republicans can make the rest of the party see the light. And soon.