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.
lmao great picture!!
This is the reason I am dumping the GOP.
The 90's were a long time ago in American electoral politics. I think Newt could actually take it all.
You voted for NY Gov. Tilden in that election, didn't ya ? ;-)
Appreciate it, nopardons. People have short memories.
My hat is tipped to you, brother!
Please don't blame Jim for our failures.
People will stop abusing you if you ever stop playing the fifth columnist divider, attempting to alienate anyone you can.
The fact of the matter is that LBJ was simply a corrupt democrat. A dime a dozen. The xlinton's are corrupt communists, intent upon the destruction of our way of life, of our Constitution.
Great article. Thanks for posting it.
Michael Reagan has been discussing this on his program. A Democrat called him to grab his lapels and shriek what a bad candidate Rudy is.
Hold on now.
Democrats are telling Michael Reagan that Rudy is a bad candidate.
So special that the enemies of America and the friends of terrorists everywhere are so concerned that Republicans not run a "bad" candidate.
unfortunately many forget the goal to defeat the democrats.
They are going to win a battle and lose the war
The demonratz are scared of Rudy, thats for sure. You can sense the desperation of their agents here.
Blazing Sad-Ice!
shocking, subversive, and Hill-arious.
raunchy, lovable, and uproarious.
"The Democrats don’t have litmus tests. If the nominee is a Democrat, they support their candidate all the way,"
I like Michael Reagan, but I have to disagree with him. First off, every pro-life democrat has to become pro-abortion to even have a chance.
When or if the Republicans ever discard the pro-life plank in the platform, they will cease to be a viable force. I would never, AND I MEAN NEVER!!, vote for any candidate who isn't 100% against abortions.
What would probably happen is a movement to start a new politcal party to give spat upon pro-lifers a new home.
KEEP THE REPUBLICAN PARTY PRO-LIFE!!!
Whoa! I have GOT to save that rant about Newt somewhere, nopardons. Well done.
I remembered a lot of that about Newt and knew that he'd become Hillary's new best friend and they were working on projects together, but I'd never heard of this The Third Way deal and will have to google up some info on that. You're right - it sounds anything BUT conservative.
Gosh - and to think so many one issue freepers were pushing his candidacy. Now I know why Fox showed a poll of Republicans and over 60% said they wouldn't vote for Newt. Clearly people have paid more attention to his antics over the years than I have and been quite displeased with what they've seen.
My bad!
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