The Republican Party has for years insisted that they were the party of capitalism, of the “free market.” However, when the opportunity to show this appears, they instead do everything they can to prevent a free market from forming. Tesla Motors is now calling them on it, after North Carolina voted on a bill designed to eliminate their direct sales model, which bypasses the traditional 3rd party dealer system. As reported by the News Observer, the new law would ban direct sales, forcing auto makers to sell through a dealer even if it is a direct purchase from the manufacturer. This directly injured Tesla’s ability to sell in the state, but even more concerning, it limits future innovation in the auto sales industry.

The bill as introduced is a giveaway to the traditional auto dealer model. It protects them from competition by direct auto sales. This would not just prohibit sales from Tesla motors either, but from specialty auto manufacturers such as Excalibur, Brunton and DeLorean, who do direct sales of their vehicles. The difference between them and Tesla is that these auto makers are small, typically hand built machines with a niche market, while Tesla is a mass production, mass marketed vehicle on par with much larger auto makers. And this is what is making the dealers very nervous.

If Tesla’s model works out, it could give incentive to other auto manufacturers to bypass the traditional dealer model, and reach out to customers directly is their concern. The reason that this is a concern, and a legitimate concern at that, is that customers are more savvy than ever. The traditional dealership model is based on educating the customer for the vehicle. But with the rise of the information age, the need for the dealer is reduced, if not eliminated, for the sales support which it provided. People now go into dealers many times already aware of their choices, the options desired, and what their price should be. The dealer however does not want to fit the customer need, instead wanting to continue to control the sales chain, where they set the price, the options available, and which choices to offer the customer. They are turning into a dinosaur, instead of adapting to the new era. And they have turned to the GOP in order to maintain their place.

Diarmuid O’Connell, Tesla’s vice president for corporate and business development put it this way in an interview with CNBC:

They’re trying to insulate the dealer franchise model from any competition. It’s a protectionist move to lock down the market so we have to go through the middleman – the dealer – to sell our cars.

He went on to say:

What’s happening here is the rules are being changed to protect the dealer model and exclude us from the market. North Carolina consumers are buying these vehicles, they are interested in these vehicles. It’s a great market, it’s an innovative market, it’s a technology-philic market. We have a lot of uptake there. We want to service those consumers. Ultimately we want to set up a sales presence and when we do so, we want to do so as a fully licensed entity in that state. We simply do not want to see the rules changed mid-stream.

You can watch his interview here:

The Republicans, with their resistance to the march of progress, are the natural allies for these dino-dealers. They reject change, attempting to stem the side of progress at all cost. If these conservative politicians were in charge 100 years ago, automobiles would have been banned in order to preserve the horse and buggy manufacturing base. 100 years before then, the train would have been high on their list, citing the need to preserve the existing way of life. These conservative minds are incapable of handling reality, of the nature of capitalism, and continue to fight to destroy it.

This attempt to shut down the idea of capitalism in order to preserve a dying sales channel is why the Republicans continue to find themselves facing ever harder fights. As the elderly, their base, age and die off, the more forward-looking youth step up. And this demographics shift is poised to dismantle the party itself as they continue driving right off of the cliff. Within the next decade, the ability for the party to even function on the national level will be in question. This bill is reflective of a party doomed to the dustbin of history. A sad state for the party of Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Eisenhower. Even if they win this fight, and ban the sale of Tesla cars in the state, they will lose the war as their base support erodes. A short-term victory on the march to absolute defeat.

Nathaniel Downes is the son of a former state representative of New Hampshire, now living in Seattle Washington.

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