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Mr. Steele's ill-advised war on moderates
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Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele's threat issued to moderate Republican candidates sounds tough, but there is less here than meets the eye. First of all, there really aren't many Republican moderates left in the caucus to begin with, unless you are using Michelle Bachmann as a guidepost.
How many Republicans in the House of Representatives voted for the stimulus package? 100? 50? 1? No, it was zero. Fine, what about PelosiCare? Well, it looks like none of them were planning to vote for that either. Olympia Snowe is the one Republican in the Senate who might vote for the health care bill, but not if it is anything like the bill proposed by Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi. Michael Steele is going to call them out anyway:
Asked if he’d be comfortable with Republican candidates in 2010 who supported President Obama’s stimulus package, or his push to overhaul health care, Steele said:
“Well I’m gonna tell you honestly, that’s where the line gets a little bit tricky. And you saw in the House and in the Senate that there are ramifications, because that goes against a core principle. And trust me, you’re assuming that people want to have bloated debt, government expenditures and growth into their lives -- they don’t. That’s a talking point out of the DNC.”
“People aren’t buying that. So candidates who live in moderate to slightly liberal districts have got to walk a little bit carefully here, because you do not want to put yourself in a position where you’re crossing that line on conservative principles, fiscal principles, because we’ll come after you,” Steele continued.
Here's the question, though. What will be done about moderate/liberal districts where the Democratic candidate might be vulnerable, but where the only Republican who could win would be a moderate? The goal should be to win every district that is winnable with a sliding scale of conservatism. A congressional district in Connecticut might require a different platform and talking points than in Alabama. Mr. Steele also spent much of this year defending the unsustainable growth in Medicare, which is responsible for much of the growth in government spending. Even if was just to pander to seniors to stop Obama's health reform plan, it was unprincipled and could end up hurting the cause of entitlement reform.
His proclamation might be aimed at Florida Governor Charlie Crist, who stood on stage next to (and patted on the shoulder), gasp, President Obama. Mr. Crist was touted as a possible McCain vice-presidential candidate for a time last year, but he is not pure enough, apparently. Purging the party of moderates will not give the Republicans a sustainable majority, which is presumably what they want in the long run. The Democratic Party would welcome them with open arms, as they have been doing already.
