Ah yes, the old "don't alienate the base" shtick.
Process this: if the GOP manged to front a candidate that appealed to the decisive "swing voters" in greater numbers, the "base" won't mean diddly squat. At this point, "the base" (funny, but isn't that what Al' Qaeda translates to in Arabic?) only counts because it a) has the money and b) controls the majority of super-delegates in most state primaries.
That's why their so instrumental in getting a candidate over the hump, but their pet peeves get so woefully ignored after the election is over, making them bitter and vengeful.
Pragmatism is a word that is simply not in their vocabulary. The concept litterally ties them up in mental knots. The sad fact is that at this point in time, the GOP must be more pragmatic and less beholden to narrower interests. Pushing the pro-life agenda, the Second Amendment crusade and a host of other issues simply will not garner votes for the GOP when the country has bigger fish to fry (like 150,000 Americans in Iraq for the foreseeable future, Islamofascism, growing trade deficits with our next enemy (China), an economy which hums but in which the vast majority of the money and opportunity is not finding it's way to the people who created it (the Middle Class), and illegal immigration). We're up against a new set of priorities here. In that light, it behooves the party to take a look at candidates from all over the republican spectrum. That includes Giuliani.
So, fine. Take your ball and go home. Walk away from the republican party and see if you ever, ever have any influence on American politics again (which is when all them guns the Fed'ral Gub'mint and Rudy G grabbed from you would have come in handy, right?)
Pragmatism? You want pragmatic? How about this? If I realize that there is no difference between those who would strip us of our Constitutional (and God-given) rights, continue the slaughter of the unborn, and promote the misnamed "Gay" lifestyle (a continuation of the moral turpitude which is even now being imposed on young children in the classroom), when they are only differentiated by a letter or party affiliation? You would trust such to wage war?
When Clinton ran we said "It is all about character, character counts!"
Now, for the sake of electing someone people in liberal hotbed of NEW YORK are promoting, through our wonderful friends and speaking organs of the LIBERAL masses, the Drive-by Media, are we to abandon the requirement that the Republican candidate have the essentials of character we formerly required?
If so, then the question is moot. The abandonment of the principles of conservatism just means we will have two liberal parties, with no more meaningful difference than two sports teams, which would fit in just fine with the pep-rally mentality demonstrated by some at late.
"The sad fact is that at this point in time, the GOP must be more pragmatic and less beholden to narrower interests. Pushing the pro-life agenda, the Second Amendment crusade and a host of other issues simply will not garner votes for the GOP..."
It may not garner more votes for the GOP, but the point is, which eludes you save to call everyone who does not sell out a cop-out, is that the failure to adequately address these traditional and conservative stances will COST the GOP votes, even when there is no viable alternative. Wrap your head around that concept just once, because it makes the likes of Rudy and McCain unelectable, even"... when the country has bigger fish to fry (like 150,000 Americans in Iraq for the foreseeable future, Islamofascism, growing trade deficits with our next enemy (China), an economy which hums but in which the vast majority of the money and opportunity is not finding it's way to the people who created it (the Middle Class), and illegal immigration)."
Funny you should bring up class warfare...
"We're up against a new set of priorities here. "
NO, we are not. The sanctity of life, the Constitution itself, are not disposable nor bargaining chips to be callously be tossed aside. We gain nothing by abandoning principle, save to become that which we oppose.
As for those of you who would sell your souls for salvation, you can hang whatever name on yourselves you want, as long as it is not "conservative". If you can't stand on principle, you are nothing more than a sellout.
"In that light, it behooves the party to take a look at candidates from all over the republican spectrum. That includes Giuliani."
Okay, I looked. Thankyouverymuch. Next!