It’s enough to cause them to recoil in horror, break out into a cold sweat, gasp with terror.
So don’t do it.
Don’t call them “moderates.”
From CNN’s Political Editor Mark Preston:
A word of advice if you speak to leaders of the Republican Main Street Partnership. Do not use the word moderate when talking about the organization’s politics.
Members prefer being described as centrists, because the moderate tag conjures up thoughts of abortion and gay rights. And Main Street does not take a position on either of these issues.
Instead, the group of over 60 governors, representatives and senators advocates reducing the deficit, cutting taxes, focusing on education as well as environmentally friendly measures. The organization released its “Promise for America” agenda yesterday.
A promise never to be labeled with the hideous description of “moderate.” Actually, we can think of a far worse adjective: “politician.” But that’s just us. AND:
The battle of ideas within the Republican Party has not always been easy for Main Street members, who sometimes find themselves at odds with their own leadership. The latest disagreement was over President Bush’s veto of stem cell legislation.
Rep. Tom Davis (R-Virginia), who serves as president of the organization, called it “a bad issue to make your first veto” in a recent meeting with a small group of political reporters. But Davis, a former National Republican Congressional Committee chairman, was very careful not to criticize Bush or Congressional Republican leaders, who are now pushing socially conservative measures under the “American Values Agenda,” banner.
“They’re doing a great job,” Davis said. “They’ve got to govern. They’ve got to pull together a tough conference.”
It appears, though, that several members of the organization have scored a victory by pressuring the GOP leadership to hold a vote on increasing the minimum wage. The vote will likely take place today, before the House adjourns for the August recess.
Well, partly…that is.
You see, in order to slate a vote some GOP bigwigs said they’d agree to do it — providing there’s a cut in the inheritance tax Siamese-twinned onto it. That’s not exactingly going to give the GOP a moderate…OOPS!…CENTRIST image.
It’ll give the GOP the image of a party that can’t do anything for working people unless it uses inheritance tax cuts as a bludgeon to get it through the GOP majority in Congress. And some voters may decide that perhaps it’s time to do something about THAT come November — that the days of divided government and even gridlock now seem like the good, old days. MORE:
Still, while the organization counts anti-abortion rights lawmakers such as Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) as one of its members, there are also many others who are considered liberal on social issues. And these members vote that way, much to the heartburn of some Republicans.
“Their whole purpose is to present a more moderate view of Republicanism,” said Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the non-partisan Rothenberg Political Report. “And to the extent that they disagree with the party leaders or the top leader, the President of the United States, they run the risk of being perceived by party regulars of being disloyal.”
This seems to suggest that if the Prez is more conservative and you don’t agree beause you’re moderate, you’re a disloyal Republican. MORE:
One Republican who vocally criticizes Main Street is former Rep. Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania). As the president and CEO of the limited tax, pro-growth Club for Growth, Toomey is working to defeat a handful of his former GOP colleagues such as Rep. Joe Schwarz (R-Michigan). A headshot of the freshman lawmaker is featured prominently on the Club’s website with a red headline “Joe Schwarz is a liberal.” It also has launched a separate website attacking Schwarz, who faces a tough primary challenge on August 8 from a Club backed candidate.
“We don’t see it as our mission to elect Republicans, regardless of what they believe in,” Toomey said in a recent interview with the Grind. “The Republican Main Street Partnership has decided to try and elect liberal Republicans. What we are dedicated to is a set of principles.”
The Club is also playing a prominent role in trying to defeat Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-Rhode Island) in the September 12 Republican primary.
Sarah Chamberlain Resnick, executive director of Main Street, contends the Club is being dishonest in saying it only targets people it disagrees with on economic matters. In fact, she claims it specifically goes after lawmakers it doesn’t consider conservative enough on social issues.
There’s’ a bit of a parallel with Democrats who want to dump Joe Lieberman because he’s not far left enough on some issues, such as the war. Both major political parties have strong segments that seek to keep their parties anchored in certain spots ideologically. Those who veer the parties to the left or right will, in some cases, just have to go. It’s Democratic militancy on the left and Republican militancy on the right and their targets are moderates centrists those who won’t fall in line with their ideological line. Is the “big tent” in danger of morphing into the small “sleeping bag?”
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.