[stopem]

Like the premise of the book -- Bush is going to lose by appealing to a bunch of crazy Christians! -- Whitman's argument is based on conventional wisdom that is now known to be false.

So are we to assume that Whitman et al are an insignificant entitity?

[hinterlander]

So are we to assume that Whitman et al are an insignificant entitity?

Not insignificant, just, well, clueless.

[Enterprise]

"So are we to assume that Whitman et al are an insignificant entitity?"

Well, it's her party too, and she can cry if she wants to.

[WestTexasWend]

"So are we to assume that Whitman et al are an insignificant entitity?"

Only significant when they themselves are elected, at which point they become full-fledged RINOs.

So I guess the lesson is: tolerate moderates if you must, try to convert them to true conservatism if you can, and don't take them seriously or give them power until they do.

[ChildOfThe60s]

-----So are we to assume that Whitman et al are an insignificant entitity (sic)?----

Hopefully, yes.

What Whitman doesn't get is that what she says sounds plausable in theory, but in reality does the opposite.

Her people drive the faithful (real conservatives) out of the party & attract none of the Dems that she thinks they will. What she fails to understand about Dems is that party loyalty supersedes personal good sense. They ain't comin' over, regardless.

Example: A friend of mine was going totally ballistic last year. Howard Dean on steroids. I posed a hypothetical question to him: "What if Bush were to wholeheartedly endorse every liberal cause you favor, and disavow every conservative principle you dislike?"

His response? "I hate the SOB no matter what; I'm never voting Republican".

[Qwinn]

"So are we to assume that Whitman et al are an insignificant entitity?"

Not insignificant - just not worth the price of their patronage either. As Coulter points out, when you appeal to this supposedly "moderate" entity, you lose a much larger entity - the pro-life wing of the party.

Whitman's "moderate" position on abortion is to VETO a partial-birth-abortion ban that passed by a large margin. Excuse me, but if legalizing killing babies as the head crowns is "moderate", what's "extreme" going the other way? Killing them on their -second- birthday?

Qwinn