The GOP purity and purge test

This coming January the Republican National Committee (RNC) will vote on whether to adopt a new “Purity” test to see if those who want to run for office are pure enough to be real republicans or if they should be purged from there party by not lending any backing from the RNC for campaigns.

We saw this unfold earlier this month in the congressional race in New York’s 23rd congressional district, where the local republicans picked their candidate Dede Scozzafava (R-NY) to run against Bill Owens (D-NY). But the conservatives in this country led by the ultra right wing the Club for Growth promoted their own candidate Doug Hoffman (C-NY).

Suddenly ultra right wingers such as Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck threw their hats into backing the conservative and not the republican. Michael Steele the Chairman of the RNC originally backed the republican candidate Dede Scozzafava, who dropped out of the race a few days before the election and asked her supporters to back the Democrat. The congressional seat being contested had been held by republicans since the civil war. The democrat won the election.

So now, Chairman Steele pushed by the ultra conservative wing of the GOP will vote this January at their meeting in Hawaii on whether to make it mandatory for anyone who wants to receive the RNC’s backing to take a test to see if they are pure enough to be a republican or it they should be purged based on a ten question “purity test“. Those that take the test must agree on at least 7 of the 10 questions in order to pass the purity test.

The 10 principles in the proposed resolution are:

(1) We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama’s “stimulus” bill;

(2) We support market-based health care reform and oppose Obama-style government run health care;

(3) We support market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation;

(4) We support workers’ right to secret ballot by opposing card check;

(5) We support legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants;

(6) We support victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges;

(7) We support containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat;

(8) We support retention of the Defense of Marriage Act;

(9) We support protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing and denial of health care and government funding of abortion; and

(10) We support the right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership.

The purity test was unveiled by conservative committee members yesterday, emphasizing the split between different wings of the GOP party, and how to move forward.

The GOP is truly the Pup Tent party.