Republican Party (United States)

==== George W. Bush ====
{{Main|Presidency of George W. Bush}}
[[File:George-W-Bush.jpeg|thumb|upright|[[George W. Bush]], the 43rd president (2001–2009) and son of George H. W. Bush]]
Republican [[George W. Bush]] won [[2000 United States presidential election|the 2000]] and [[2004 United States presidential election|2004 presidential elections]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://prospect.org/api/content/6eed4c7a-00cb-50b3-b624-80f59403addb/|title=Movement Interruptus|first=John|last=Judis|date=December 20, 2004|website=The American Prospect|access-date=December 8, 2019|archive-date=February 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210222013505/https://prospect.org/features/movement-interruptus/|url-status=live}}</ref> He campaigned as a "[[compassionate conservative]]" in 2000, wanting to better appeal to immigrants and minority voters.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/147694/compassionate-conservatism-wont-back-anytime-soon|title='Compassionate Conservatism' Won't Be Back Anytime Soon|first=Graham|last=Vyse|magazine=New Republic|date=March 30, 2018|access-date=June 15, 2020|archive-date=January 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116021544/https://newrepublic.com/article/147694/compassionate-conservatism-wont-back-anytime-soon|url-status=live}}</ref> The goal was to prioritize drug rehabilitation programs and aid for prisoner reentry into society, a move intended to capitalize on President Clinton's tougher crime initiatives such as his administration's [[Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act|1994 crime bill]]. The platform failed to gain much traction among members of the party during his presidency.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/06/08/last-stand-law-and-order-republicans-306333|title=Is This the Last Stand of the 'Law and Order' Republicans?|first=Tim|last=Alberta|website=[[Politico]]|date=June 8, 2020|access-date=June 13, 2020|archive-date=February 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212073318/https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/06/08/last-stand-law-and-order-republicans-306333|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Republican Party remained fairly cohesive for much of the 2000s, as both strong [[economic libertarians]] and [[social conservatives]] opposed the Democrats, whom they saw as the party of bloated, secular, and liberal government.<ref name="Wooldridge">Wooldridge, Adrian and John Micklethwait. ''The Right Nation'' (2004).</ref> This period saw the rise of "pro-government conservatives"—a core part of the Bush's base—a considerable group of the Republicans who advocated for increased government spending and greater regulations covering both the economy and people's personal lives, as well as for an activist and interventionist foreign policy.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/how-bush-destroyed-the-republican-party-162234/|title=How Bush Destroyed the Republican Party|first=Sean|last=Wilentz|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=September 4, 2008|access-date=February 15, 2021|archive-date=November 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101053122/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/how-bush-destroyed-the-republican-party-162234/|url-status=live}}</ref> Survey groups such as the [[Pew Research Center]] found that social conservatives and free market advocates remained the other two main groups within the party's coalition of support, with all three being roughly equal in number.<ref>{{cite book|title=In Search of Progressive America|page=97|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0812209099|editor-first=Michael|editor-last=Kazin}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.people-press.org/2005/05/10/profiles-of-the-typology-groups/|title=Profiles of the Typology Groups |website=People-press.org|access-date=December 27, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170111215859/http://www.people-press.org/2005/05/10/profiles-of-the-typology-groups/|archive-date=January 11, 2017|url-status=live|date=May 10, 2005}}</ref> However, [[Libertarian Republican|libertarians]] and [[Libertarian conservatism|libertarian-leaning conservatives]] increasingly found fault with what they saw as Republicans' restricting of vital [[Civil liberties in the United States|civil liberties]] while [[corporate welfare]] and [[National debt of the United States|the national debt]] hiked considerably under Bush's tenure.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/righteous-anger-conservative-case-against-george-w-bush|title=Righteous Anger: The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush|publisher=[[The American Conservative]] ([[Cato Institute]] Re-printing)|date=December 11, 2003|access-date=May 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705025111/http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/righteous-anger-conservative-case-against-george-w-bush|archive-date=July 5, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> In contrast, some social conservatives expressed dissatisfaction with the party's support for economic policies that conflicted with their moral values.<ref name="scare">[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/12/huckabees_rebellion.html "How Huckabee Scares the GOP"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918153203/http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/12/huckabees_rebellion.html |date=September 18, 2008 }}. By [[E. J. Dionne]]. [[Real Clear Politics]]. Published December 21, 2007. Retrieved August 22, 2008.</ref>

The Republican Party lost its Senate majority in 2001 when the Senate became split evenly; nevertheless, the Republicans maintained control of the Senate due to the tie-breaking vote of Bush's vice president, [[Dick Cheney]]. Democrats gained control of the Senate on June 6, 2001, when [[Vermont]] Republican senator [[Jim Jeffords]] switched his party affiliation to Democrat. The Republicans regained the Senate majority in [[2002 United States Senate elections|the 2002 elections]], helped by Bush's surge in popularity following the [[September 11 attacks]], and Republican majorities in the House and Senate were held until the Democrats regained control of both chambers in [[2006 United States elections|the 2006 elections]], largely due to increasing opposition to the [[Iraq War]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rollcall.com/news/policy/senate-majorities-change-faster-than-the-rules|title=Today's Senate Roadblock Is Tomorrow's Safeguard|first1=Jason|last1=Dick|date=January 19, 2016|newspaper=Roll Call|access-date=December 8, 2019|archive-date=December 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201210090543/https://www.rollcall.com/news/policy/senate-majorities-change-faster-than-the-rules|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rollcall.com/news/opinion/house-republicans-came-back-from-being-written-off-before-they-can-again|title=House Republicans came back from being written off before. They can again|first1=David|last1=Winston|date=January 4, 2019|newspaper=Roll Call|access-date=December 8, 2019|archive-date=December 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191208185731/https://www.rollcall.com/news/opinion/house-republicans-came-back-from-being-written-off-before-they-can-again|url-status=live}}</ref>

In [[2008 United States presidential election|the 2008 presidential election]], Arizona Republican senator [[John McCain]] was defeated by Illinois Democratic senator [[Barack Obama]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny-ent-sarah-palin-john-mccain-funeral-20180829-story.html|title=Sarah Palin was not invited to John McCain's funeral|first=Brian|last=Niemietz|website=[[New York Daily News]]|date=August 29, 2018|access-date=December 8, 2019|archive-date=November 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109025023/https://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny-ent-sarah-palin-john-mccain-funeral-20180829-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>