Do the Republicans need to learn to be more "bipartisan" among themselves?

These two articles give some reason to think so:

Paul Waldman, The GOP's Religious Litmus TomPaine.com 01/03/06:

The conservative coalition, while extraordinarily successful over the past few decades, has always contained the internal tensions that can explode when a period of absolute power is followed by a period of exile.

No time to heal by Sidney Blumenthal Salon 01/03/07:

Ford's [posthumous] condemnation [of the Cheney-Bush Iraq War policies] demonstrated the continued relevance of the contentious politics that enveloped his administration and revealed just how little healing has occurred among the divided Republican elites since Richard Nixon's fall. (my emphasis)

I'm reserving judgment on this until I see a significant bloc of Republicans in Congress outright oppose Cheney and Bush on key votes on important issues. We've heard predictions for years and years that Wall Street Republicans would soon have it out with the Christian Right/"Main Street" Republicans, but it hasn't happened yet. The Party factions have united and successfully torn Iraq apart, but not yet the Republican Party.

The last five years, we've heard a lot of talk from Republican "moderates" that sounded nice. But when it came time to cut legislative deals or vote on bills, they generally capitulated to the White House on the big issues. Seeing is believing when it comes to "moderate" Republicans.

Tags: christian right, religious right, republican party