|
How the Pubs Can WIn Again
For the GOP to win big again, it must take William F. Buckley's ruthlessly pragmatic approach to primary elections. In Buckley's view "conservatism, except when it is expressed in pure idealism, takes into account reality." That means we have to stop electing amateurs who serve as little more than ideological indulgences, who exploit resentments that play well enough among the base, but whose positions make them nonviable in general elections. I know, actually electing some Tea Party folks threw a scare into the media-socialists, but control is more important than fun. Had the party followed Buckley's advice in 2010 and supported the most electable conservatives instead of the most ideologically extreme, Republicans would now control the United States Senate and Democratic leader Harry Reid would be in retirement in Nevada. Putting Harry out to pasture is a thought worth investigating, right?
If Powell is/was a Rhino, would he have been better than Slick Willie a second time? Maybe. "If it's just going to represent the far right wing of the political spectrum, I think the party is in difficulty," said Powell this year. "I'm a moderate, but I'm still a Republican." This war hero, should still be one of the leading voices in the party because of, not in spite of, his centrist political philosophy. Republicans can kick moderates like General Powell out of the party's mainstream every four years, or they can leave their ideological comfort zone, work aggressively to expand their political coalitions, and start stealing swing voters away from Democrats like Hillary Clinton. Unfortunately, the Republican Party of the moment bears little resemblance to the party of Ronald Reagan, who would have responded to Powell's critiques of the Republican Party with an all-hands-on-deck effort to win the war hero back. That's because President Reagan lived by the belief that "just because I'm your friend 80 percent of the time doesn't make me your enemy 20 percent of the time." If the Republican party is big enough to reach out to disaffected moderates like Colin Powell, then it will be big enough to win the White House in 2016, even if Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee. The question is whether the GOP will go the way of Buckley or Glenn Beck. Nothing wrong with Glenn Beck, but can he lead the Pubs to victory? Republicans can win again and we will. And we can do it by following the right paths of Ronald Reagan and Dwight Eisenhower. We can do it by fighting for the core principles of conservatism and emphasizing values that most Americans agree with. Mrs. Bobby is all over the Tea Party's view on smaller government, but can't get past what she sees as their social extremist bellowing. If we could just focus on smaller government, we'd go farther! There will also be times when we will follow the lead of Reagan and Eisenhower by putting principled pragmatism before ideological battles that undermine our ability to win elections, elect majorities, and take back control of the White House. But time is wasting. Hillary Clinton's supporters are already preparing for political battle. Next time, we'd better be prepared to win. There is no substitute for victory, and I for one am damn tired of my party losing presidential elections. The Tea Party can influence, but it'll be a long, long time before a "Tea Party" candidate sits in the White House. Link to Longer Interview Interview excerpt: Are there any Republicans today who can carry on Reagan's legacy? "I think so. If you look at governors who are ideologically conservative but moderate temperamentally--and running state governments and balancing budgets and reforming education and making pension plans sustainable--I think there are many examples across the nation of Republicans who are governing in a Reagan style, whether it's Scott Walker in Wisconsin or John Kasich in Ohio or Chris Christie in New Jersey or Bobby Jindal in Louisiana. Posted by: Bobby 2013-11-17 |
|
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=379828 |