You want to know why moderate Republicans are dying?
It’s not because conservatives have run them out (which they have).
It’s because we lack stamina. We lack backbone. We are more interested in our own wants and needs than in looking at the bigger picture. We see politics more as enterainment instead of hard work.
The far right got to where they are because they had passion. They had a vision for the country and saw the GOP as the vehicle to get them there. They weren’t just looking for someone that made them feel good, but someone who could help propel a movement. That’s why they are in control of the GOP and why moderates are not.
My fellow blogger and friend Pete Abel wrote today about his dissapointment with John McCain especially on what seems like backpeddaling on torture (I am also let down by McCain’s apparent reversal). While I’ll agree that McCain has dropped the ball on this one, I was mad after reading this post.
I kept wondering: okay, you don’t like what McCain did. Have you contacted him and raised bloody hell? Write to his Senate office? His campaign?
You want to know why McCain did this? Because he has to get the conservative base to win. I don’t like that anymore than Pete, but they are the ones that control the party, not the moderates.
He also did this, because he can. There are no moderates who will give him hell for this, no moderate Rush Limbaugh. If moderates don’t like what they hear, they will just go to someone they like, such Barak Obama.
What would have happened if an army of moderates jammed his Senate phone lines and email boxes? What if they called his campaign headquarters and shamed him for even thinking to do this? He might have changed his mind.
But of course, no one will do that. We moderates will get all pissy and just vote for someone else.
I support McCain, even though he isn’t perfect because he is probably the best candidate Republicans have had in a long time. He could pull the party in a better direction. And in the end, I am not thinking soley about McCain, but about the future of this party and trying to make it more humane and caring and more in line with true conservatism. But McCain can’t do that by himself; he needs a movement that will keep him honest.
The problem with a lot of moderates is that we want to be in love with our candidates. We want someone that thrills us and is a good show. That’s probably why so many moderate Republicans are going for Obama. He is thrilling and his speeches are wonderful. He talks about hope and unity and our nation is desparate need of both.
But in the end, he is a politician and he will dissapoint people. And in the end, he won’t do anything to help make the GOP a more center right party.
If there is anything that I’ve learned over the years is that politics is work and a bit of courage. My dear friend Jim is a lifelong Republican who is gay. He has gone to district conventions and presented resolutions that are gay friendly. My quiet, little friend has the guts to stand for justice in the middle of a bunch of social conservatives. He is a moderate that has a backbone made of steel.
I asked him once why he remains in the party. He told me that he has always been a Republican and that things will change. In the end, he knows who he is and is willing to fight for change.
I wish there were more Jims in the GOP. But the fact is, too many of us moderates aren’t willing to spend the time to get down and dirty and work for change. And then we wonder why the GOP has become so right wing.
I’m dissapointed that moderates are such wimps when it comes to working for change.