A Ray of Hope for GOP
** Gasp ** Could it be true? Could the Republican Party save itself by divorcing the extremists and moving back to the center? Almost every time I’ve suggested such a ludicruous possibility, TMV readers have voiced doubts. And while the following small slice of politics doesn’t prove me right and them wrong — not by a long shot — it is encouraging, fleeting or not. Consider …
In October, the intentionally centrist Republican Leadership Council (RLC) announced a slate of municipal, county, and state candidates they would support in 2007 elections. These candidates affirmatively answered “yes” to a set of questions, including: Do you believe in limited government interference in the lives of individuals? and Do you believe that there is room in the Republican Party for different opinions on social issues?
Then, a week ago yesterday, former NJ Gov. and current RLC Co-Chair Christine Todd Whitman mass-emailed RLC-PAC donors (including yours truly) to let us know which of the RLC-supported candidates prevailed in their campaigns. She didn’t list the losers, but I went back to the original list and by my count, 61% won (22 out of 36 candidates; with 34 originally listed and two apparently added later).
Not bad. Not bad at all. Though again, while I may be naive, I’m not naive enough to pretend this is a sure-fire sign of the beginning of a GOP transformation. After all, there’s not a single federal candidate on the list … yet. (The RLC’s near-term strategy is to focus first on the party’s grassroots foundation.) Plus, virtually all of the winners were from what are, or could be described as, “purple” (if not outright “blue”) states, like Maine, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington. (I’d really be convinced of the start of the renaissance if moderate Republicans won in places like Texas.)
Still, like I said before, it’s a start, and I hope you’ll excuse me if I grin (just slightly) about developments like these.
9 Responses to “A Ray of Hope for GOP”
will, at least the repulbican leadership consel is moderate compare to the right wing base while the democratic leadership council is just a bunch of corporate extremist sold out to lobbyiest on capitol hill while ignoring their real base, that is the blue collar little guy.
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Viva la middle!
The middle seems to have been stronger in both parties last election. Many of the Democratic pick-ups came in places where a relatively centrist Dem was well-funded.
Most of the candidates endorsed where from New Jersey. If the current Republican party in New Jersey is the future of the national Republican Party, then the Republican Party will be become irrelevant faster than the current trend. The Republicans have zero chance of winning any state wide election in New Jersey even when the Democratic candidate is a corrupt politicians who is an empty suit.
The middle ground is certainly the best place to be for both parties.
However…when the middle ground means actively excluding large chunks of the population which by itself accounts for probably 45 percent of the population one has to ask themselves how long will the middle ground be the desired ground????
By this I mean the Religious right makes up a huge chunk of very disenfranchised voters.
The Far left Animal House for lack of a better description, represents a very large portion of disenfranchised voters.
IF both parties swing centrist.
Hillary is about the only Centrist Democratic candidate which is getting almost NO support here at TMV which tells me most of you commenting are Far Left.
Rudi is about the only centrist Republican Candidate who is getting badmouthed here at TMV which tells me that you all are far left wing commenters.
So just where will the centrist road take us?
My take…….Certainly NOT the promised land.
I like Hillary. I may be one of the few, although it may be because, as a Republican, I like her moderate positions overall. Re: Rudy — he’s very moderate on certain issues, but his hard-nosed, Bush/Cheney-aping stance on foreign policy is highly destructive in my opinion, and foreign policy is the single, most important issue of the ’08 election. Which is why I’m a fan of both McCain’s and HRC’s.
Rudy may be a moderate candidate, Somebody, but with advisors like Norman Podhoretz, he’ll be pursuing a neocon foreign policy. Also, he has pledged the GOP bigwigs that he will appoint judges like Alito and Roberts. My point? He’s not campaigning as a moderate.
That’s the threshold most users in this T[L]V community would specify as beyond which lies the “far right” [sic].