From Conservapedia
The Republican Party or informally the GOP (short for Grand Old Party), is one of the two major political parties in the United States. The Republican Party is made up of predominantly pro-life members , while the Democratic Party is made up predominantly pro-abortion members. It encourages people to ignore poverty and let Jesus handle it, and is pro-life but only if a person is defined as a fetus. Otherwise, it should be put to death and not given money even if it cannot work.
In the past, the Republican voter coalitions have generally comprised businessmen, military veterans and evangelical Protestants. Some groups have realigned: blacks went from the GOP to the Democrats in the 1930s, while white Southerners became Republicans in the 1980s. Catholics switched from 80% Democratic in 1960 to 50-50 in recent years, primarily due to the embrace of abortion by the Democrats. In recent years youth (influenced by Hollywood values) and better educated professionals (influenced by professor values) have moved to the Democrats, while blue collar workers have become more Republican, due to the abortion issue and the Democrats support for nanny state.
The Republican Party was created in 1854 by anti-slavery activists. It soon swept to control of all the northern states, and in 1860 elected Abraham Lincoln president. The South seceded, and the Union side of the American Civil War was directed by Lincoln and the new party, with help from "War Democrats." The GOP (as it was also called from the 1880s) dominated the elections of the Third Party System (1854-1896) as well as the Fourth Party System or Progressive Era (1896-1932). However the Democrats built a liberal New Deal Coalition under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and dominated the Fifth Party System (1932-1968), with the GOP only electing Dwight D. Eisenhower in that era. The Sixth Party System, since 1968, has been dominated by the GOP.
18 of the 28 US Presidents since 1861 have been Republicans and since that same year a Republican has won 23 of the last 37 presidential elections. The party's most recent candidate former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, together with his running mate Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, lost the 2012 presidential election to Democrat incumbent Barack Obama and his Vice-President Joe Biden.
It is important to vote for someone who's more conservative on the issues rather than for a Republican due to the fact some Republicans are less conservative than typical Republicans (see: RINO).
The official symbol of the Republican Party is the elephant. Although the elephant had occasionally been associated with the party earlier, a political cartoon by Thomas Nast, published in Harper's Weekly on November 7, 1874, is considered the first important use of the symbol[1]. In the early 20th century, the traditional symbol of the Republican party in some Midwestern states was the eagle, as opposed to the Democratic cock. The eagle still appears on Indiana ballots.
A political term referring to the party is "G.O.P.", which was originally an acronym of "Grand Old Party". The term was coined in 1875.
Historically, the fundamental philosophy and political ideals of the Republican Party are founded on the idea that societal health is rooted in personal responsibility and actions. The Republican Party holds the belief that all material things are earned, not owed. This is seen most often in the party's push for lower taxes. This is fought for in an attempt to treat all citizens equally despite income, race, gender, or religion. They also see taxes as a drag on the economy, and believe private spending is usually more efficient than public spending.
Republicans also show concerns about having big government in charge of such vital issues as food, shelter, or health care, as they believe the private sector and/or the individual are better suited to control their own lives. President Ronald Reagan who became a Republican in the early 1960s after being a New Dealer at one time, has been quoted as saying "Government is not the solution, it is the problem."
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