Posted on 08/25/2004 10:01:08 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Republicans will try to project a moderate image at their national convention next week through prime-time speakers such as California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (news - web sites) and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.
But the platform on which GOP candidates will run this fall is shaping up to look decidedly conservative, reflecting the views of President Bush (news - web sites) and the party's base.
Efforts to insert more moderate language on controversial issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage into the 95-page statement of party principles begin Wednesday when the Republican Platform Committee opens two days of hearings in Manhattan. Supporters of broadening stem cell research, less-rigid immigration rules and statehood for the District of Columbia also will push for platform language supporting their cause.
But most efforts are expected to fall short. And some moderate interest groups seeking changes appear less strident in their demands than they have been in past years.
"We have an incumbent president hanging on to re-election by his fingernails. Even hard-core moderates don't want to hold a bloody dagger over his head," says Ann Stone of Republicans for Choice, a group that supports abortion rights.
So instead of trying to remove the anti-abortion plank from the platform or insert language in support of homosexual rights, as they have tried and failed to do in the past, Republicans for Choice, Log Cabin Republicans (news - web sites) and the Republican Youth Majority are seeking to insert a "unity" plank.
It states that the party recognizes that while some Republicans may not agree on all planks, their views are welcome in the GOP. It specifically mentions "abortion, family planning, and gay and lesbian issues" as points of contention. The groups will also ask that the platform take no position on same-sex marriage.
"With so many moderates speaking at the podium, the party should be willing to acknowledge our existence in the platform," says Christopher Barron of the Log Cabin Republicans, a group that supports gay and lesbian rights.
Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, co-chairman of the Republican Platform Committee, says the document will have language recognizing that "diversity is a strength" and that there is room in the party for many differing views. But whether the "unity" plank is included will be subject to debate, he says.
Phyllis Schlafly, of the anti-abortion Eagle Forum, opposes inclusion of any new language on abortion, no matter how innocuous. "If they are able to get that in, it will be reported as Bush diminishing his support for life, and that will hurt him," she says.
Two big questions hang over the hearings: Will moderate GOP activists go away mad if they don't get what they want, projecting an image of an inflexible party badly split? Or worse, will some defect and help swing the vote for Kerry in several tight battleground states, such Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan?
Sen. Bill Frist (news, bio, voting record) of Tennessee, the Senate majority leader and co-chairman with Owens of the Platform Committee, says those seeking changes will get a chance to express their views in public meetings today and Thursday. But in the end, he says, majority will rule.
"Not everyone is going to agree on every single sentence or principle in the document," Frist says. "But by being open and transparent and fair, we hope people will feel good about the final product."
Which means that the platform will remain conservative.
Too bad the leadership doesn't have the courage of our convictions, though, on the podium.
W's gonna win. All the signs are moving in his direction, IMHO. I'm glad the platform stays conservative.
If a Democrat proposes spending $100,000,000 on some new program, either one should decide that the program is good and fund it, or one should explain that it's stupid and refuse to support it in any way whatsoever. Funding it for $25,000,000 is the dumbest possible move, but it's the one all too many "Republicans" seem to favor.
Even if the immediate effect of conceding $25M for the program would be to have it get budgeted $50M instead of having the Democrats force the full $100M over one's objections, the concession would still not be a good thing. After all, if one opposes the program entirely, it gets the full $100M the first year, and it bombs, one will be in a good position to advocate killing it. By contrast, if one conceded that it was worth funding for $25M, and the program bombs with a $50M bundget, the program's sponsors can argue that it would have done better with more money, and its budget should therefore be increased.
The fact of the matter is that many popular government programs are fundamentally harmful, and would be harmful even if taxpayers didn't have to fund them. A politician who argues over how much money such programs should receive will look "cheap" and will have a much weaker moral platform than one who can argue that the progam is fundamentally evil. Unfortunately, politicians invariably make the wrong arguments.
The ultimate irony, though, is that when politicians try to dodge accountability by supporting "Democrat-lite" proposals, they really end up setting themselves up for blame when things go wrong; if they were to take responsibility by opposing bad programs, doing so would actually absolve them of blame when the programs failed to work as advertised.
Mostly, these gutless wonders only hang out in the liberal North East and West Coast circles. Fortunately, most of the dinosaurs are getting around the bend, age wise, i.e. Gerald Ford, et al.
These RINOs are trying to turn the GOP into democrats.
Read the article. The election is very very close. The President has the base right now, he needs the swing voters.
YOU apparently would rather keep the base 100% happy than win the election.
Several things I'm seeing right now scare me, and I'm not telling you these things to be depressive or "rain on the parade", but to say that we need to be fighting for every single vote right now, unless President Kerry sounds good to us.
Yesterday I heard Robert Reich on the radio, opining that the Federal Reserve Board would attempt to throw the election to Kerry by raising interest rates yet again to further slow the economy. The program was "Marketplace" on NPR, and you should be able to find an archive on the website and listen yourself.
I received an email from a friend a couple of weeks ago. She was entirely shocked by the number of Kerry/Edwards bumper stickers she was seeing - on the cars on a USMC base. My brother in Iraq reports that the "porta-pottie" poll is neck and neck. Those two things really surprised me, although I have no reason to doubt those sources, you may doubt my reporting of them since I have no documentation to back it up.
Actual polls also show the election very close. I'm hoping that the convention next week will give the GOP a big boost. The SwiftVets have definitely dragged Kerry down a bit. However, we also know that conditions in Iraq and here at home are shakey and could be subject to a Madrid-like event or "October surprise" that could determine the election.
According to all the polls I've been able to find, 40-50% of the electorate describe themselves as moderate. The point is, the President is hoping that the base is stable (sometimes reading here I wonder), and trying to draw in the swing voters (moderates) needed to clinch the election. Some of you seem to want him to scare them off.
Unless we want President Kerry, we're going to need some of those moderates, RINOs, independents, etc. voting on our side in November. We can't scare them off and we can't tell them they aren't needed, because they are.
Sorry this is long, and since I don't have time to proofread, I hope it's coherent. This is the time to work for the President. The time to move the party further right will be after the election, assuming we win it.
Purists always do. Don't forget the mantra: a "real" conservative, when placed on the ticket, wins big every time.
And YOU have the mistaken notion that conservative American principles somehow repels voters.
Got hyperbole?
New York 2004
Kinder, gentler, we must be
Conservative values we can't allow
The watching world to see
Courage of convictions lost
Just shut your mouth
You're not the boss
Keynote speaker: a DemocRAT
It's fitting this year
Anyone can see that
Liberal speakers abound
But a conservative voice
Almost cannot be found
We must be compassionate, they say
I wonder if they'll remember
To salute the flag or even pray
Innocent life, that's not our thing
We're here to have fun
At our Big Apple fling
Bold vision for our country's need
The shining city on a hill is dark
Windows shuttered, no light can be seen
Republicans we are, at least in name
It could have been a landslide
But we had to play the media's game
EV
Keep your day job.
Well, call me optimistic, but I feel okay about Owens', Schlafly's, and Frist's replies here.
Keep my day job? I didn't know poets made money! ;-)
Here's one I wrote today for a dear friend that you might enjoy...and then again, maybe not, who knows...
My Friend
You are more beautiful than the most beautiful flower
Your kindness to me is like a cool spring shower
Your laughter is like a melodious song
The joy that you give makes me hopeful and strong
Your smile lights the day like the sun in the sky
Your love dries my tears on the days that I cry
More precious than gold, or the gems when they shine
Your friendship is finer than the finest aged wine
My friend, you pick me up when I'm feeling low
You mean more to me than you will ever know
EV
And one more...
Lonely Moon
Late summer, lonely moon
Cicadas sing their forlorn tune
A lover's moon this moon should be
But there's no one to care for me
The air is warm, but leaves me cold
Alone, my heart the night enfolds
The moon moves on its lonesome path
This season too will surely pass
EV
Now I'll stop...
Ah, a critic with an axe to grind is a wondrous sight...
I realize you think you are BMOC right now, but in reality you aren't worth the effort to tap a keyboard; let alone grind an axe. I just have a bad habit of being tempted to comment on absurdity and silliness and............well, you figure it out.
Oh, I have it figured out.
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