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.
Thanks Paul Ross. Some people are just to dense to understand the political realities. Others support Rudy because they too, are liberal.
I would say we'll just have to "agree to disagree" but you've refused to do that everytime I've offered to so I'll just let it go and move on. Don't worry, I have no plans to post to you again and I request you don't post to me. I like debating on here but not with jerks. So long.
Maybe not you but there are plenty of posters who say they don't hate Rudy and yet post thousands of vile spams. If thats not hate well...how is "extreme contempt"
I am willing to bet that 95% here didn't.
I am willing to bet that 95% here didn't.
I'm not looking for the perfect Republican just one who will not be 1.Socialist lite 2.not use the Constitution & Bill of Rights as toilet paper 3.does believes that that the United States Of America is a country with borders that must be enforced & not just a great idea.
If I do find one who is in agreement with just these three ideas I will be truly stunned.Sad ain't it folks.
That's wonderful1! Smart guy! ;-)
LOL You really need to grow up. Look, kid, you posted to me... you weren't looking for any debate, just trying to cause a ruckus.
You've throw you temper tandrum..... happy? Now its time to run home to mommy. She'll comfort you well.
Pot, this is kettle... have you met?
No, its just neither of us really like each other or have good things to say about one another. So again, don't post to me and I won't to you. This is our final communication with each other on FR.
One two words..........YOU'RE NUTS!
You are welcome. Michael Reagan is the voice of reason.
Alienated another one, Reagan Embarrassment? You are a dedicated fifth columnist.
That's the way to go --- don't let him bait you. I hear he hits abuse and I know he loves to ping Jim to "tattle."
Or are you talking about once a person wins a primary? Your post isn't clear.
Or WHOEVER is the Dem presidential candidate. :-)
You promise? Not me.
Bye bye, little boy. Until we meet again.
Unproven. Yet you have been proven deceitful on numerous occasions. I think you're lying about even being a conservative.
Of course, he professes to know RWR's mind and politics, better than his own son, Michael.
It would be laughable were it not so arrogant and wrong.
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.
Excellent article written by the conservative son of Ronald Reagan. It feels so good to be on the right side of conservatism, not to be confused with fanaticism or political extremism. I've been saying that Ronald Reagan supported abortion rights while governor of CA and that he wasn't a perfect candidate, as Michael Reagan himself writes.
Ronald Reagan had one litmus test he applied to candidates. Were they Republicans? If they were he backed them all the way.
That's exactly right.
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