Inside the Curious Mind of Jim Nuzzo

Jim Nuzzo was a senior aide to President George H.W. Bush and doubtless considers himself a sage voice of the Grand Old Party. Thus, it’s no surprise that The Sunday Telegraph was thrilled to sit down with him for a chat about the future of the Republican Party. I’m not sure which election Mr. Nuzzo is watching, however, because his definitions of what will constitute the GOP’s future seem a bit disconnected from reality. Apparently, in his opinion, the fate of Republicans rests squarely on the shoulders of Sarah Palin.

Jim Nuzzo, a White House aide to the first President Bush, dismissed Mrs Palin’s critics as “cocktail party conservatives” who “give aid and comfort to the enemy“.

He said: “Win or lose, there is a ready made conservative candidate waiting in the wings. Sarah Palin is not the new Iain Duncan Smith, she is the new Ronald Reagan.”

That’s certainly a lot to digest in very few words, so you may want to take a moment to let it soak in. The new Reagan? Really? I was hearing this comparison being made within the first 72 hours after her selection as the running mate, when many of us still couldn’t pronounce her name. But before we begin anointing a new Ronald Reagan we may want to recall that the original version didn’t come into power under a cloud of ethics questions and findings that he abused his power. While he certainly dabbled in cronyism, there was no public spotlight on highly dubious appointments of school chums and massive taxpayer funded checks being handed out to friends and associates with little underlying justification. The Real Reagan, whether it be truth or media endorsed fantasy, came to us with a shining halo over his head. Palin’s crown has already picked up a lot of tarnish with only a handful of weeks to examine her. And should she dare raise her head above the trench line in 2012 (again, assuming a McCain loss next week) the media and Democratic opposition research teams will have had four long years to dig up every scrap of dirt, every newspaper clipping and kilometers of video footage to grind her into political sausage.

Nuzzo also has some stern words of warning for traditionally conservative pundits and writers who don’t sing full throated praises for the Alaska Governor.

He told The Sunday Telegraph: “There’s going to be a bloodbath. A lot of people are going to be excommunicated. David Brooks and David Frum and Peggy Noonan are dead people in the Republican Party. The litmus test will be: where did you stand on Palin?“

Here’s a quick pop quiz for you. Before you read this column today, whose name were you more familiar with… Jim Nuzzo’s or Peggy Noonan’s?

Exactly.

I couldn’t begin to compile a list – and I think I may be on it myself – of all the people who predicted that Christopher Hitchens’ career was “over” and that his reputation was “in tatters” with his perceived supporters. (Of course, I’m positive that Chris has a complete directory drawn up on yellow legal pads in his desk someplace.) And yet, Hitchens remains at the top of his game, publishing when and where he likes.

Jim Nuzzo seems to be dreaming about days of yore when the GOP could handily win elections just by running to their base. Unfortunately, that base is not only shrinking but splintering into factions which are fighting internecine wars of their own. Previously, the base was aptly described as a three legged stool. They soon may need to learn some lessons from the Democrats. If the GOP was a tripod piece of furniture, the Democrats have been riding an epileptic centipede for decades. The Donkey party could never effective “run to their base” because it was virtually impossible to define who that was. Are they pro-choice advocates? Gun Kontrol Kids? Entitlement program enthusiasts? Labor union workers? Or perhaps any of a myriad of ethnic sub-groups? The day is rapidly coming when a red meat social conservative is not going to pan out as the be all and end all for Republican electoral success. The sooner they figure that out, the sooner they might be allowed to return from the wilderness. Take note, Mr. Nuzzo. These tips may prove important down the road.