Posted on 06/30/2004 9:38:32 PM PDT by Reagan Man
Colorado Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo is in big trouble with the GOP leadership. And just what, you may be wondering, is his great sin? "Team America," a political action committee originally founded by Tancredo, worked to unseat Representative Chris Cannon, a liberal Republican from Utah, by supporting Matthew Throckmorton, his challenger in the Republican primary.
Chief among those organizations caterwauling about the actions of Tancredo is the liberal "Tuesday Group," a coalition of approximately thirty liberal Republican House members whose goal is to steer the party to the left. Hiding under the cloak of a grossly distorted rendition of Ronald Reagan's "Eleventh Commandment" ("Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican"), the Tuesday Group is now expressing concern that party conservatives are finally making efforts to strike back.
Apparently, undermining the conservative agenda by abandoning the party at key junctures during the legislative process is perfectly fine with these Republican "centrists." But any discussion of such matters by conservatives, who have tired of seeing their party abandoning its principles, is strictly taboo. By such hypocritical assertions, these liberal "Trojan Horses" hope to continue dominating party politics from within.
Of course Ronald Reagan never intended for his "Eleventh Commandment" to be arbitrarily invoked as a means of allowing liberalism to spread, unchecked, within the ranks of the GOP. Rather, it was supposed to prevent the sort of backbiting and mud slinging within party ranks, which can ultimately undermine the credibility of the entire party.
House Majority leader Tom Delay, a longtime champion of conservatism, has found himself in the middle of this row. Seeking to maintain a cohesive Republican majority, he is promoting themes of "team spirit" and "comity" among party members. Delay even referenced Reagan's "Eleventh Commandment" in a meeting with Tancredo in which the Colorado Congressman was apparently warned to change his ways and endorse a unified party, or face retribution within Republican circles.
Unfortunately, such rhetoric fails to deal with the fact that it is the Republican liberals who regularly undermine party unity by voting with Democrats at critical junctures. With such people constantly placing the philosophies of liberalism ahead of traditional Republican principle, the only manner in which even a facade of "unity" can be maintained is for the entire party to shift to the left. This, of course, is precisely the strategy of the liberal Republicans.
Tancredo's major issue of concern is unchecked illegal immigration and the resulting compromise of America's borders. Hardly a miniscule "pet issue" of a fringe constituency, the immigration problem goes to the very core of maintaining America's national integrity and heritage. Little else of GOP principles or goals can be regarded as significant in any way, as long the party remains indifferent to the invasion of the nation's borders by a flood of illegal immigrants who, as soon as they are able to do so, will vote against such things. Yet, major forces within the GOP are once again actively working to insure that at best, the Republican counterpart to Democrat plans of opening the borders will only amount to a watered-down version of the very same thing.
By supporting truly conservative Republican challengers, Tancredo's PAC hopes to specifically target key players of the open borders advocacy for defeat during their respective state primaries. While it is not entirely clear whether or not Tancredo is still officially participating with the work of the PAC, his political ideology remains consistent with that of its members. Tancredo realizes that threats to the future of the nation are no less virulent when advanced by so-called "Republicans," than when spawned by their traditional advocates, the Democrats.
Tom Delay has, in the past, shown himself to be extremely principled, with the one notable exception being his support, under severe White House pressure, for an education bill that was essentially crafted by Ted Kennedy. He knows that if his party persists in its claims to uphold both high and low standards, only the low standards will prevail. Though presently striving to remain within the boundaries of party loyalty, he is surely aware that, as a principled conservative, his own future is no less threatened by the underhanded actions of the "moderates" than is Tancredo.
For Delay and Tancredo, whose differences are far outweighed by their political common ground, the most pressing matter is to maintain the party according to conservative principle rather than allowing the "centrists" to reinvent it in the image of the Democrats.
In that case we shoot them and be done with it. They are criminal alien invaders and should be handled that way. With bullets.
Tom Tancredo isn't a whiner. He also has a 69% approval rating in his district. He's safe. The issue at the center of this debate is amnesty for illegals and that is something all Republicans should be oppose. After PresBush returns to Crawford Texas in 2009, Tancredo will still be engaged in political battles in the HoR.
"On illegal immigration, the only difference between Bush and Kerry is how quickly they will throw open the borders."
Hogwash.
Bush would allow illegals to only apply for temporary work visas and get absolutely no special ease in applying for permament residency. Kerry has been pushing for full-blown amnesty where illegals will immediately get citizenship...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1162789/posts
criticize after nov. 3 please. in the meantime, we have plenty of democrats to criticize.
I fail to see why you hate rinos so much when the dems are the real problem.
The centrist-moderate faction on FR sin't indicative of all FReepers on this issue. Although at times, it may seem that way.
That's a generalization on a national level which doesn't necessarily hold everywhere.
Olympia Snow, John McCain, Chrissie Whitman and the Chief "prosecutor" on the 9-1-1 Commission, Tom Kean, are all Republicans whose politics are more like those of Democrats.
The 1980`s was the era of Reagan. The 1930`s was the era of FDR. Not only was there a 50 year span between the two men, Reagan moved on in 1952 with his support for Ike. But if calling them incorrectly, FDR Democrats, makes you feel better. Have at it.
I happen to agree with this statement. Here in Pennsylvania Bush campaigned pretty hard for Arlene Specter when Pat Toomey, a true conservative congressional Republican, was running against him in the primary. Toomey lost by ~1% of the vote. Bush is doing the same thing in the mid-west I believe.
I will probably vote for Bush this time, unless he renews the '94 gun ban, but the Republicans are losing me if they keep doing this crap.
If denying the fact that Reagan was appealing to FDR Democrats in the 1980's is your bag, fine by me. My grandmother voted for a Republican once in her life, and that was in 1980. The rest of her time from 1935 to the present day, she's voted straightline Democrat, twice voting for Clinton. You can't get any more hardcore than that. I was 10 years old in 1980, but I was old enough to understand the far reaching effect Reagan had on America.
"Tom Tancredo isn't a whiner."
Riiiiight.
Are we beginning to see some ugly posturing by some on the Right who think that Bush may not be reelected...and they want to be able to say "I told you so"? Is that a typical conservative mindset?
Let's put this to bed, once and for all. The term "FDR Democrats" is an accepted reality. That's what they were. LOL But I never said Reagan wasn't appealing to FDR Democrats. My point is simple BSF. In the 1980`s Reagan wasn't appealing to liberal Democrats. Now was he? Of course not. Reagan was advancing a conservative governing agenda for America. Conservative Democrats called "Blue Dog Democrats" and at one time labeled "Dixiecrats", switched parties in the 1980`s and became what folks today call "Reagan Republicans".
It took you long enough to agree with me. What was the hold up? Certainly wasn't me.
Notice I didn't mention God or crosses?
No where did I say that these were being taken away by the "left", I state clearly left leaning, and that can be taken anyway you like it. We are being betrayed by the people we put into office, all of them. They may go in with good intentions, but the system can't be bucked.
I say buck the system. I just don't exactly know how we are going to get there.
I don't find Tancredo's overall efforts to be those of a whiner. He is a US patriot. Tancredo's pet issue is a strong opposition to amnesty for illegals. It goes to the heart of American sovereignty and says, are we a nation of laws or will we allow a foreign criminal element and a certain segment of US society, to run roughshod over the US Constitution and the law of the land. Some folks have no problem with granting amnesty to 8-12 million illegals. Most Americans oppose that ever happening. Tancredo stands with the vast majority on this issue.
Me neither. I wouldn't totally depend on some third party bailing you out either. Sooner or later they'll be corrupted by the system when they gain enough foothold, and get blinded by the bright lights inside the beltway.
Funny man.
Conservative Democrats = Reagan Republicans.
You know, I'm sick to death of your ignorant carping about immigration reform and those who want to better secure our borders. You characterize people who support these issues as extremists, xenophobes, racists, etc. It is just ad hominem nonsense based upon sheer ignorance on your part.
I have an idea. Why don't you get your ass down here on the border for a few days? We'll try to find accomodations for you and give you'll get some firsthand tours of the crap that border intruders are causing down here. You'll return home better educated, your opinion will most certainly change once you experience this mess firsthand, and then maybe you'll stop attacking everyone who knows more about this issue than you do. Put up or shut up. Stop arguing from ignorance, come experience it firsthand, and then maybe we can have a rational discussion about this topic. Until then you're just a bunch of annoying race-baiting hot air.
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