Posted on 04/27/2013 2:56:32 PM PDT by neverdem
It was almost exactly four years ago that MSNBC's blustery Chris Matthews declared that "the Republican Party continues to be unable to hang on to its moderates, especially in the Northeast, where it has begun to resemble the 19th century, pre-Civil War Whig Party."
It was 2009, and the late Sen. Arlen Specter, Pa., had just announced he was leaving the GOP, prompting Matthews to declare that the party was killing itself by purging its moderate members.
"They want to be the party of the religious right!" he boomed.
Matthews' guest, Chuck Todd, was more measured, merely asking, "Can the Republican Party be in the majority again without finding people who can win Senate seats and hold Senate seats in the Northeast?"
At the time Todd spoke, though, Republicans actually had found a person who could (and soon would) hold Specter's Pennsylvania seat -- Pat Toomey, the conservative who had just scared Specter out of the GOP and into a Democratic primary he was destined to lose.
As for the rest of "the Northeast," Republicans had no difficulty holding a seat in New Hampshire that same cycle.
The Tea Party revolution, which had begun months before Matthews' rant, has since undoubtedly cost the GOP a few Senate seats. But its energy probably let them seize the House and control of many state governments in 2010. And despite any Tea Party excesses, Republicans are within striking distance of a Senate majority in 2014.
Today, the same liberal worldview and wishful thinking that fueled the pundits' "GOP purge-and-die" narrative in 2009 is causing them to miss the more dangerous purge that threatens the Democrats now.
In 2006, Democrats built a congressional majority by embracing and convincing pro-gun, pro-life moderates to run in marginal states and districts. They have since lost many of these in the House, and liberals are now in the process of purging them from the Senate.
Until Monday, Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., had been acting like a man seeking re-election -- raising $1.5 million in the first quarter and attempting to distance himself from Obamacare.
But Baucus had just voted against the gun control measures that President Obama had been pushing. And in response, Organizing for Action -- the post-campaign version of Obama's campaign -- announced it would be mobilizing activists to shame and pressure Baucus and the three other Democrats who had voted against gun control.
Baucus, already polling badly and facing a tough re-election, needed that like he needed a hole in his head. Who could blame him for hanging it up early?
On the heels of Baucus' announcement came one from Mayors Against Illegal Guns -- the mostly Democratic group co-founded by liberal New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Lacking any soft Republican senators to target in 2014, the mayors have apparently settled on taking the scalp of Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark.
National Journal's Ron Fournier reported this week that the group will spend what it takes to "make an example" of Pryor. Rather than talk about guns and risk helping him unintentionally, the group plans "a months-long television, radio and direct-mail campaign" that would, among other things, inform black voters that Pryor was "opposing the president's agenda." For the few Democrats still capable of holding Senate seats in the South, such friendly fire is sure to kill.
If liberals succeed in purging the Democratic Party over gun control, it will make a lot of journalists happy. As Politico's Dylan Byers recently observed, the purported objectivity of the Washington press gave way quickly to strident advocacy when guns became involved.
Several surveys have shown that the people who bring us political news are to the left of the U.S. mainstream politically, and there are few issues on which they feel more strongly than this one.
It's a lot harder to mind or describe the perils of a purge when you're the one holding the torch.
Washington Examiner columnist David Freddoso is editor of the Conservative Intelligence Briefing. Follow him on Twitter at @freddoso.
Hat tip to george76!
There are moderates in the Dem party? They look like the North Korean politburo lately.
> “The Tea Party revolution, which had begun months before Matthews’ rant, has since ***undoubtedly*** cost the GOP a few Senate seats.
Huh? It cost the GOPe a few Senate seats.
> “But its energy ***probably*** let them seize the House and control of many state governments in 2010.”
Probably? PROBABLY???
> “And despite any Tea Party ***excesses***, Republicans are within striking distance of a Senate majority in 2014.”
Excesses??? What ‘excesses’ would those be?
Is everyone inside the Beltway drinking Koolaid? Or are they so insulated as to be clueless?
Funny, it looked to me more like backstabbing RINOS undermining their own GOP nominees that cost a few Senate seats and won a few others.
We’ll take it.
Seems like the perfect time for a pro-gun Tea Partier to try for one, or all, of the Senate seats the Democrats are purging. See just how ‘liberal’ the people in those districts truly are.
We no doupt need to expand and moblize our base.
I was reading about Texas history today and found where we need to focus our efforts. Tejano’s are the key and the League of United Latin American Citizens. Needs to be reformed and Re-energize.
We need them to make our lantio political platform and head our efforts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_United_Latin_American_Citizens#Philosophy
Theses people are the conservative Latino organization and we need their assistance now more than ever.
Never-forget that it was Tejanos not ‘white’ Americans or Texans that formed the bulk of the forces that fought for Texas in the Texas revolution. They don’t want to go back to mexico anymore than the rest of us. They support assimilation into mainstream American couture and are the key forces
This is the conservative group that formed to appose La Rasa.(the Mexican government funded front) They believe in capitalism and individualism.
We no doupt need to expand and moblize our base.
I was reading about Texas history today and found where we need to focus our efforts. Tejano’s are the key and the League of United Latin American Citizens. Needs to be reformed and Re-energize.
We need them to make our lantio political platform and head our efforts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_United_Latin_American_Citizens#Philosophy
Theses people are the conservative Latino organization and we need their assistance now more than ever.
Never-forget that it was Tejanos not ‘white’ Americans or Texans that formed the bulk of the forces that fought for Texas in the Texas revolution. They don’t want to go back to mexico anymore than the rest of us. They support assimilation into mainstream American couture are the key conservative forces.
This is the conservative group that formed to appose La Rasa.(the Mexican government funded front) They believe in capitalism and individualism.
Neither party understands. The parties, as we have known them, are dead. What’s left is who can garner the most votes using every trick in the book. Unhappily, Republicans bring Nerf bats to an artillery duel. Massachusetts liberals understand. Create straw candidates so a racist, multi-millionaire, extortionist, liberal governor with 36% support can win reelection.
Like, if I want to find out what’s happening in the Republican party, I’m going to ask Chrissy Matthews?
This article picked up on something I noticed by watching the Democrat channel.
As recently as a few months ago just this year libs were celebrating a simple story of conservatives purging the GOP ranks to create a super-minority pure R party and Dem majority. This was a Major theme of theirs for a long time,
‘
But as the author correctly says, Pelosi Dems welcomed the 100% NRA rated Dems into the party so they would win so big in 2006, 2008 and 2012.
But now they are purging their own for not joining the Gun safety vote team. Only a few months later.
This is what beating Dems gets. Seeing them mad for a change.
There’s just a tiny bit more to consider re Baucus’ decision than simply pointing at the Guns/No guns vote. In fact, any worries he might have had about losing the NRA vote (or their opponents) in Montana are way down the list of reasons why he’s going away.
(I’ll go in reverse order...)
4) The Montana dems absolutely pulled out all the stops to get Baucus’ sidekick Tester re-elected: Massive and mostly out-of-state funding, nationally based (read Union money) ad campaigns mostly aimed at slandering opposition into oblivion and finally vote buying/outright fraud on a scale that has outraged everybody (outside of the ‘rats and their ever-pliant buddies in the “news” media here). And after all of that, Tester “won” by a bit over two thousand votes.
3) One of the other elections that went on while the dems concentrated on Tester wound up replacing the ‘rat Attorney General (who’d at the very least turned a blind eye to the antics noted above) with a guy with enough Tea Party tendencies that our “news” guys have taken to totally ignoring him. Which I take as indication that those antics and the people pulling ‘em are both in peril.
2) While the economy in Montana isn’t totally in the toilet, the *only* reasons it ain’t are the Keystone pipeline and The Bakken, both of which are threatened, Baucus along with the rest of the ‘rats haven’t done diddly squat to support ‘em and Max’s usual practice of buying votes with Federal program money can’t get within light years of making up the difference.
...and finally Number One) Can you spell OBAMACARE? Baucus was one of the named authors, he spent most of his time after they got that mess rammed through promoting it, the state dems went all in supporting Baucus on it (along with, of course, the “news” media) and after a three-year all out maximum effort their internal polls probably class it as a half-point above poking a sharp stick up your butt.
Tea Party (aka Montana Shrugged) has been raising royal h*** over that issue to the point that even the media here slips up and calls it Obamacare, most people you talk with here look forward to it about as much as an epidemic or having Yellowstone erupt and don’t even bother mentioning the reaction you get from a business owner (if you can locate one who’s not shutting down and leaving).
JMHO, O****care is the albatross around Max’s neck, and he deserves to have it there forever. The only reason the media’s blaming it on NRA/2nd Amendment votes is that’s their Really Big Deal right now, and they can’t afford any distractions.
Especially not this one.
After 19 corrupt governors in 27 years, the Spanish colonists in California joined Americans against Mexico as well. Unfortunately, they are not exactly a political force here.
It was 2009, and the late Sen. Arlen Specter, Pa., had just announced he was leaving the GOP, prompting Matthews to declare that the party was killing itself by purging its moderate members... Chuck Todd, was more measured, merely asking, "Can the Republican Party be in the majority again without finding people who can win Senate seats and hold Senate seats in the Northeast?" ...Pat Toomey, the conservative who had just scared Specter out of the GOP and into a Democratic primary he was destined to lose... Republicans had no difficulty holding a seat in New Hampshire that same cycle... are within striking distance of a Senate majority in 2014... In 2006, Democrats built a congressional majority by embracing and convincing pro-gun, pro-life moderates to run in marginal states and districts. They have since lost many of these in the House, and liberals are now in the process of purging them from the Senate... Max Baucus, D-Mont... attempting to distance himself from Obamacare... [and] voted against the gun control measures... Organizing for Action -- the post-campaign version of Obama's campaign -- announced it would be mobilizing activists [against] Baucus and the three other Democrats who had voted against gun control.
After his gun-grabbing escapade, this phrase is now unfortunately an oxymoron.
The (only) measurable difference between the Democrats and the Republicans today is that, in the main, the Democrat Party listens to its base. The Republican Party takes pitchforks to its base.
All of these seats should be up for grabs in the Senate races, since none of them are solidly 'Rat. But the GOP needs a net gain of six to get the Senate majority.
Retirements portend well for the GOP. Senior lawmakers don’t usually retire when their party has a bright future. After O, the deluge.
Glad to hear about the League of United Latin American Citizens. Naturally enough, the lamestream media have tended to keep it a big secret. Any group that opposes La Raza’s radical racist agenda should be embraced and supported by the entire conservative movement.
Would agree pretty much with that statement, assuming you are talking about the Washington establishment parties. The possible equalizer, though, is that the potential GOP base is much wider than the 'Rats, since conservatives are supposedly about 40% of the electorate, lefties of various stripes about 20%.
But the 'Rats have a huge edge in implementing election procedures that intrinsically corrupt the voting process and in taking maximum advantage of the opportunities through election cheating and fraud schemes. I'm not advocating that the GOP should measure up to them in sleazy tactics, but should at least be aware of them and come up with a strong agenda aimed at election procedure changes so as to reduce the quantitative impact of 'Rat fraud and cheating on election results.
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