Posted on 02/16/2007 8:30:44 AM PST by meg88
The GOP Should Dump Its Litmus Test By Michael Reagan FrontPageMagazine.com | February 16, 2007
The philosopher Diogenes is said to have wandered around ancient Greece holding a lantern and seeking to find an honest man.
My fellow Republicans, sans lanterns, are now wandering around the political landscape seeking to find the perfect Republican presidential candidate.
I don’t know if Diogenes ever found that honest man, but I do know that those Republicans are never going to find the perfect candidate, simply because he does not exist.
Some Republicans insist that the only perfect candidate would be a clone of my Dad, Ronald Reagan. Aside from the fact that there is no such thing, it’s important to recognize that Ronald Reagan, as he often admitted, was anything but perfect.
One of the criticisms about former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney focuses on his record concerning the abortion issue. We are told by the modern day Diogenes clones that he can’t be trusted to fight abortion because he once, more or less, supported a woman’s right to butcher her baby.
It may come as a surprise to these purists, but Ronald Reagan once supported abortion too. Yet nobody ever questioned his strong pro-life credentials after his conversion to Republicanism. They accepted his sincerity. Why can’t they accept Mitt Romney’s?
Romney’s record shows he should be totally acceptable to all conservatives, yet because of one dubious question concerning the validity of his conversion to the pro-life side, he is deemed unsuitable to carry the conservative banner.
The same is true of Rudy Giuliani. On every major issue, he is a solidly conservative and extraordinarily adept executive, but because he backs abortion and some form of gun control, America’s mayor -- the hero of 9/11 and the man who did the impossible by cleaning up New York -- is all but ruled out as a 2008 candidate.
Not one of the major candidates is free of some real or imagined flaw that offends some conservatives.
This is madness, and if it does not stop, the GOP is going to lose the presidential election in 2008. In the search for the perfect candidate we are going to end up with an imperfect candidate. Keep in mind the truism that agreement with someone on most issues and disagreement on others is seen as normal, but should you agree with someone on every single issue imaginable … well… to put it plainly, psychologists say you’re nuts.
I recently got a letter from a conservative Christian organization that asked me if the current GOP candidates are the best the Republican Party has to offer.
“Is it possible that GOP conservative ranks are this thin?” the letter writer asked. “Has the GOP nothing better to offer? Should not pro-family pro-life voters also want a low taxes and limited government candidate before they vigorously support him? Increased taxes and expanded government hurts everyone. Was Ronald Wilson Reagan an anomaly and did he represent the values of his party?
“These GOP candidates,” the letter instructed me, “are little better than Bob Dole, Gerald Ford, or [George] H.W. Bush. Did anyone notice they all lost?”
This makes me wonder if anybody can stand up to the litmus test these people are applying to candidates.
Ronald Reagan had one litmus test he applied to candidates. Were they Republicans? If they were he backed them all the way. He would let the party choose the candidate and he would support and vote for the candidate. He didn’t go sniffing around trying to find some flaw in their character or their past. Once nominated, they were his choice.
And nobody was more candid in admitting that he was anything but perfect than my Dad. He knew that like all men, he had his flaws and he spent a lifetime combating them. Had today’s GOP litmus test been seriously applied to him, he could not have passed the test.
The Democrats don’t have litmus tests. If the nominee is a Democrat, they support their candidate all the way, and if they lose it isn’t because they didn’t fight like demons for their man or woman.
If we want to win in 2008, Republicans had better wake up, and quit talking Ronald Reagan and start being like Ronald Reagan.
Excellent column.
TY for posting it.
LOL....gee, what many have been saying for awhile on FR. I can't wait for Michael now to be labeled a RINO, traitor and POS....
BOOKMARKED
Michael Reagan is correct.
Dutch should come back from the dead and slap the hell out of his idiot son.
One word---Newt.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Ronald Reagan had one litmus test he applied to candidates. Were they Republicans? If they were he backed them all the way. He would let the party choose the candidate and he would support and vote for the candidate. He didn’t go sniffing around trying to find some flaw in their character or their past.
That's right. It's the voters decision to make. This is just another attempt to force a decision not made by the voters down our throats.
It's outrageous that many will not support Rudy because of just one single particular issue---
WHEN THERE ARE JUST SO DARN MANY OTHER ISSUES TO JUSTIFY OPPOSING HIM!
The bottom line is defeating Hitlery Clinton.
I'm with ya there, if Newt doesn't get in...I guess it has to be Rudy
Don't forget those who will claim he is not a true Reagan follower.
He's right
About Giuliani: "but because he backs abortion and some form of gun control"
Some form of gun control? How about complete gun control, except for his fellow elitist cronies, coupled with an unprecedented assault on the 2nd Amendment via legal decimation of lawful businesses.
So many republicans are so convinced that if their values aren't represented, they are going to stay home or vote 3rd party. If people are going to be "1 issue" voters, for crying out loud, let that issue be "THE WAR AGAINST TERRORISM IN AMERICA". I believe that my values are not changeable - I believe in Pro-Life, the 2nd amendment, against embryonic stem cell research (but for adult cells like ambilical cord research), etc. I also believe that we have put the gov't in charge of these values and they need to be local and people oriented. We talk about reduced government control and yet complain about a candidate that won't do this or that about a gov't controlled agenda to wipe out something we're against. Let's stick to the basics and get together on someone who will lead us against terrorism, crime and taxes on the US citizens.
Another Rudy shill? Good thing his show is heard by about 9 people.
.....I guess you were unaware of the fact RR himself chastised the far right of the Repubs for being so narrow minded and uncompromising.....I
Here's a brilliant idea. Let's let the media decide who we should vote for. Obviously the media's vast integrity stands for something.
Clearly they only want an honest government regardless of party. They only want a good clean race and are promoting the best candidates.
(yeah, it's what you think it is)
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