Litmus test for future GOP candidates?

Are Republicans ready to fold up the "big tent" and consolidate to a smaller, narrower version?  Perhaps.  Earlier this week,  a group of Republican National Committee members distributed a list of 10 core issues they believe present and future candidates would need to sign off on and agree with before receiving campaign funds and assistance from the Party.  Republican candidates who disagree with three or more of the 10 positions would not receive critical endorsement.

Dubbed "The Purity Pledge" or the "Republican 10 Commandments," the list has received a good deal of attention during a week when Congress was in recess for the Thanksgiving holiday and the big news revolved around a Virginia couple crashing the President's recent state dinner and Pro Golfer Tiger Woods crashing his car.  It certainly created fodder for the talking heads on the Sunday morning news shows.

Former House Majority Leader Richard Armey (R-TX) appeared on CBS's Face the Nation  Sunday to debunk any notion that the GOP proposal was a litmus test of sorts for Republican candidates and office holders.  He also challenged the idea that the issues were too conservative.  "If you read the list, at least five of the ten are right at the center stage...centerpost of the big ten of American politics today," said Armey.  In addition, he mentioned the failed campaign of Dede Scozzafava in New York's 23rd district, a campaign that some say precipitated the drafting of the 10 policy positions.  That race received a lot of publicity when Scozzafava, a moderate Republican, dropped out and endorsed the Democratic candidate, Bill Owens who ultimately won the election.  Scozzafava credits right-wing activists for crippling her campaign.

The GOP proposal focuses mainly on generalities without offering much in terms of specifics.  Among other things it requires Republicans to support The Defense of Marriage Act, increased troop levels for the war in the Middle East if the military suggests it and smaller government and national debt.  It also demands opposition to "Obama's stimulus bill", "Obama-style government run healthcare"  and "Obama's socialist agenda."

Before laying out the 10 policy positions, the Resolution attempts to explain the need for such a proposal by invoking the name of former President Ronald Reagan and his political ideology.  It specifically notes that the RNC agrees with Reagan's belief that the Party should welcome those with "diverse views."  

And yet, given the proposal's requirements, a candidate had better not be too diverse in his or her views lest he or she not receive a dime from the GOP; a sticking point that may need to be ironed out when the RNC takes the proposal up at its meeting in January.