• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Mission Statement
  • Commenter Rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Account Access
The Moderate Voice

The Moderate Voice

An Internet hub with domestic and international news, analysis, original reporting, and popular features from the left, center, indies, centrists, moderates, and right

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Arts & Entertainment
  • Media
  • Inspiration and Living
  • Economy
  • International
  • Movie Reviews

Biden overturns ban on transgender people serving in the U.S. military

Biden overturns ban on transgender people serving in the U.S. military

Posted on January 25, 2021
The Deep Chasm in American Politics

The Deep Chasm in American Politics

Posted on January 25, 2021
Trump asked Justice Department to go to Supreme Court to overturn election: WSJ

Trump asked Justice Department to go to Supreme Court to overturn election: WSJ

Posted on January 24, 2021
Trump’s coming impeachment trial aggravates rift among Republicans

Trump’s coming impeachment trial aggravates rift among Republicans

Posted on January 24, 2021
Larry King, decades-long fixture of U.S. TV interviews, dead at 87

Larry King, decades-long fixture of U.S. TV interviews, dead at 87

Posted on January 23, 2021
Special Report: How U.S. CDC missed chances to spot COVID’s silent spread

Special Report: How U.S. CDC missed chances to spot COVID’s silent spread

Posted on January 22, 2021
On The Dynamics of Abortion. And Argentina.

On The Dynamics of Abortion. And Argentina.

Posted on January 22, 2021
DONALD AND HIS DROOGS

DONALD AND HIS DROOGS

Posted on January 22, 2021
Slim majority of Americans want Senate to convict Trump: Reuters/Ipsos poll

Slim majority of Americans want Senate to convict Trump: Reuters/Ipsos poll

Posted on January 22, 2021
COVID-19, Year 2: US to remain WHO member

COVID-19, Year 2: US to remain WHO member

Posted on January 21, 2021
Beware the False Kumbaya

Beware the False Kumbaya

Posted on January 21, 2021
GOODBYE MAGA, HELLO MGWA (MAKE GOVERNMENT WORK AGAIN)

GOODBYE MAGA, HELLO MGWA (MAKE GOVERNMENT WORK AGAIN)

Posted on January 21, 2021
Joe Biden’s Inauguration Speech: Words of Hope, Renewal and Resolve (UPDATED)

Joe Biden’s Inauguration Speech: Words of Hope, Renewal and Resolve (UPDATED)

Posted on January 20, 2021
Assuming U.S. presidency, Biden calls for end to ‘uncivil war’

Assuming U.S. presidency, Biden calls for end to ‘uncivil war’

Posted on January 20, 2021
How world leaders are reacting to Joe Biden’s inauguration

How world leaders are reacting to Joe Biden’s inauguration

Posted on January 20, 2021
Trump pardons ex-aide Bannon but not himself or family

Trump pardons ex-aide Bannon but not himself or family

Posted on January 20, 2021
You are here: Home / Politics / REPUBLICANS WANT TO HELP BEAT TRUMP. ENTER ANGRY LIBERALS.

REPUBLICANS WANT TO HELP BEAT TRUMP. ENTER ANGRY LIBERALS.

August 1, 2020 by Dick Polman, Cagle Cartoons Columnist Leave a Comment

It’s simple math. A successful political coalition is built on the principle of addition, not subtraction. Basically, you welcome anyone who wants to help. You park all disagreements and join forces for the common cause.

All Democrats should be thrilled that vocal cadres of anti-Trump Republicans are laboring to defeat – by the most decisive margin possible – the worst excuse for a human to ever squat in the Oval Office. But alas, that does not please the Democrats’ purity police. The GOP veterans who are currently agitating against Trump have worked with conservatives in the past, therefore, their sins apparently render them unqualified to help in the present.

Case in point: We got word last week that former Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich will endorse Joe Biden and address Democrats at the virtual national convention in August. Lots of liberal litmus-testers are predictably horrified. As one of them wrote the other day, “I don’t think that having a ‘big tent’ means it’s necessary to highlight people who would knock down your tentpoles.” And lefty Twitter predictably weighed in: “Kasich is pro-capitalist. The more Dems lean right, the more we lose.”

One big rap against Kasich is that he signed anti-abortion bills and withheld state funds from Planned Parenthood. But his Republican track record is precisely why he should speak for Biden at his convention.

During this unprecedented national emergency, it should be all hands on deck. If Kasich can help persuade even a small percentage of Republicans to switch sides in November – especially in Ohio, which is unexpectedly competitive for Biden – it could have an outsized impact on the results. Trump’s support is eroding – his approval rating on the pandemic has dropped to a record low 32 percent – and Kasich’s old-school GOP credentials make him the perfect person to woo more Republicans.

Is it possible that the purity police have never heard of the old axiom that politics makes strange bedfellows? Isn’t it smart politics for Biden to accommodate the Bernie Sanders wing on the left (which he’s doing) while also reaching out to anyone on the right who cares about the national interest?

Indeed, the progressives who are hostile to Kasich have somehow overlooked the issues they have in common – most notably, Kasich’s gubernatorial decision in 2013 to defy the GOP by expanding Medicaid under Obamacare. When Republicans assailed him for that blasphemy (because any support for Barack Obama was a blasphemy), he said that he wanted to make “real improvement in people’s lives.” He also said: “When you die and get to the meeting with Saint Peter, he’s probably not going to ask you much about what you did about keeping government small. But he is going to ask you what you did for the poor. You better have a good answer.”

Kasich, like Biden, speaks the language of human decency. In this dire election year, there’s a strong yearning for decency, ideally powered by people who can reach across the divide. If Kasich and other anti-Trump Republicans want to help steer the careening American ship, why should it matter what they did five, 10, or 20 years ago?

The liberal purity police would be wise to remember what Ronald Reagan – winner of two decisive presidential elections – once said about strange bedfellows: He wasn’t endorsing them; they were endorsing him.

Uh oh. Is it OK if I invoke Ronald Reagan?

Copyright 2020 Dick Polman, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Dick Polman, a veteran national political columnist based in Philadelphia and a Writer in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania, writes at DickPolman.net. Email him at [email protected]

Filed Under: 2020 Presidential Election, Politics Tagged With: 2020 Presidential Election, Coalitions, Democrats, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, John Kasich, Liberals, Never Trump, Republicans

Primary Sidebar

The TMV Feed

 Subscribe in a reader

Archives

Categories

The Latest

Most Commented Posts (7 or so days)

Copyright 1998 - 2020 The Moderate Voice. Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in