Olympia Snowe at the Alamo
Maine Senator Olympia Snowe is among the last moderate Republican officeholders remaining. In the New York Times she laments the departure of her friend and fellow moderate Arlen Specter for the Democratic Party, claiming that her party has failed to appreciate the need for moderates as well as conservatives in order to win. Then she pulls out the big guns, quoting Ronald Reagan:
“We should emphasize the things that unite us and make these the only ‘litmus test’ of what constitutes a Republican: our belief in restraining government spending, pro-growth policies, tax reduction, sound national defense, and maximum individual liberty…As to the other issues that draw on the deep springs of morality and emotion, let us decide that we can disagree among ourselves as Republicans and tolerate the disagreement.”
It was Barry Goldwater who, in 1964, said, “Extremism at the defense of liberty is no vice… and moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” He lost.
Reagan advocated the big tent for his party, announced that a liberal Republican senator from Pennsylvania would be his running mate if he won the GOP nomination in 1976, and when he became president in 1981, compromised with Tip O’Neill to get his agenda through Congress. Reagan won.
Do Republicans want to win?
Snowe seems to think not, which is why it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see both her and fellow Maine senator, Susan Collins, follow Specter into the Democratic Party.
After all, how long would you want to keep fighting at the Alamo?
EARLIER TMV POSTS ON THIS TOPIC:
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Tony Campbell: Arlen “DINO” Specter – Not the Cute One from The Flintstones
Cagle Cartoons: Specter Switches Parties
Dennis Sanders: The GOP Purity Experiment
Dennis Sanders: Well Done, Dummies
Patrick Edaburn: A Little Specter of History
Patrick Edaburn: The Pundits On Specter Shift
Cagle Cartoons: Specter Splits
Jerry Remmers: News You Can Swear By
Joe Gandelman: Did Arlen Specter Take This Philadelphia Journalist’s Advice?
Jazz Shaw: Party Purification By Fire
Patrick Edaburn: Memo To Republicans: A Pure Minority Is Still A Minority
Holly Robinson: GOP Losing Its Last Jewish Senator, Moderate Arlen Specter of PA
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7 Responses to “Olympia Snowe at the Alamo”
As a Mainer, I'd be really surprised to see Snowe and Collins jump ship. They would have more competition from Dems in the primary. That was part of the reason for Spector to move, Repub primary competition.
Maine is also not the same as the rest of New England. We have the only NE Repub senators left. If you are out of the greater Portland area, life is not easy for a Dem. Plus both Snowe and Collins have some of the highest approval ratings in the Senate.
No, the Republican ship would have to be just about underwater for them to jump in the blue dog lifeboat.
Maybe moderate Repubulicans should use the same theory used by conservatives? Jump ship. Let the Republican party drift further and further to the right. After the social conservatives completely fail at the national level, Republican voters will finally see the folly of following these dittoheads and turn to moderates for leadership.
I never want to see America fail…regardless of who is running the ship. I might actually enjoy watching this group of Republicans turn to ash.
You have to wonder where Barry Goldwater, who believed in civil discourse in the Senate, supported gays in the military, and hated Pat Robertson would be in the current state of politics. My guess is that he would be the Independent Senator from Arizona as he would not be very happy with the gigantic growth of government under the last two (three?) administrations nor with the prospect of torture and aggressive wars that had no direct bearing on the safety of our country.
Goldwater, for all his faults, was not a wingnut nor was he as stupid as most of the leaders of the Republican party seem to be. In many ways he was an easy target for the Democrats because he did not explain his positions in a way that was acceptable to the majority of voters. Yet his ideas: no government interference on the basis of “morals”, small government, rigorous defense of the country, prosperity available to anyone willing to put in the work regardless of race, etc. would be very saleable these days if the Republicans actually believed in them.
Goldwater would have to look very hard to find any of his ideas still exant in the party.
I could not have written a better op-ed on the subject. I thought Snowe described the situation precisely as how many people – inside and outside the Beltway and the GOP – see it.
Before making any decision to switch parties I think one of the main questions (no pun intended) any senator has to ask himself or herself is whether their current party allows them the freedom to vote how their constituents would like them to vote and their own personal convictions.
The GOP seems to want to control how their members vote. If the member doesn't vote that way then the GOP will threaten to cut-off their support for re-elections (as they threatened to do do members if they voted for the stimulus bill).
So if the elected official can't represent their constituents or vote for what they themselves believe in, then it is time to consider changing parties.
I think that is what Snowe was getting at when she said, “As to the other issues that draw on the deep springs of morality and emotion, let us decide that we can disagree among ourselves as Republicans and tolerate the disagreement.”
Snowe seems to be saying that the Republicans don't want to disagree among themselves on these second tier issues…. that the GOP leadership wants fidelity.
Republican Senator Olympia Snowe (Maine) On Arlen Specter Defection And The Republican Party: I’m Getting Claustrophobic In This Tiny Little Tent…
QUESTION: Is Senator Snowe Going To Be The Next Republican To Defect To The Democratic Party?
The answer to this question, I can only give you this one man’s opinion, but let’s just say I’m not as convinced the answer is “Yes……
I think Snowe's article was a very sincere outreach to her party. However, I do not think it will do her any good. The moderates of the republican party are the minority and I do not see it getting any easier for them. Just check out the blogs on Fox News website and other republican sites- they are in uproar over her article and their comments are insane and unrelenting in their hatred for moderates. They don't want any moderates in their party.