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.
I agree. The guy wants to declare defeat two years out? I love the way he glosses over the right to life and the right to bear arms, as if they are not "major issues." I thought he was a big pro life guy?
However, his basic point does have some merit.
I have never heard his show, but I agree I dont think he is shilling for any particular candidate. His basic point being none are perfect, and if we don't come together behind the nominated candidate whoever it may be we lose. Not just the election but on all issues that are important to us.
People have to learn that 'all or nothing' gets you 'nothing' many more times than not.
Of course, you're talking about Ronnie Reagan, the toe dancer.
While the focus is on the next Pres, the problem is the electorate that seems hell-bent on destroying the society; the Congressional elections, while diffuse compared to the Pres election, are just as important or even more important. I won't list some of the truly major bonehead decisions coming out of Congress since Vietnam since we can easily come up with an extensive list, but these decisions are made by those we elect, and we have been electing a lot of national suicide representatives.
BTW....I've never heard his show..........wouldn't recognize his voice.
No. That's a job for democrat wannabees right now. She wont even be the nominee.
Two words - Character issues.
In order for Hitlery not to win, you're willing to support a NY liberal who is for gun control and partial birth abortion.
At least he's consistent, he likes innocent people to die.
This is exactly the mindset that, thankfully, will repel voters as we choose a nominee.
In the last election (the one we lost) the Dems let go of their litmus test, and pro-life and fairly conservative candidates took over quite a few Republican seats.
Great post, thanks!
The problem with Rudy is that the American public that blindly votes (D), won't go for him just because he agrees with them on some social issues. The candidates who typically vote (R) vote their conscience. You're not going to badger them into voting for the candidate with the (R) just because of that letter and we can complain about them all we want to no avail. Republican voters are issues-oriented, not party-centric like the Dems.
Reality is we have to have a product (candidate) distinguishable enough from the alternative to excite the consumer (voters). And we need to impress the "leadership" of the GOP that we want conservative values--or we won't get them.
The moderates are little more than undecided fence sitters. They will respond to strong leadership and common sense. You are more likely to find a conservative leader with these characteristics. Playing to the left to attract the center only gives an advantage to the left.
excellent point. throwing out that 11th commandment during a PRIMARY campaign is ridiculous.
In the primaries, we should seek the candidate that best supports conservative values. It is way too early to settle on the candidate that can win in November.
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