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- iHaveNet.com: Politics
by Jules Witcover
A group of 11
Their resolution notes that their ideological hero, Ronald Reagan, believed the party "should welcome those with diverseviews" and that "someone who agreed with him eight out of ten times washis friend, not his opponent." Therefore, it says, any candidate whodisagrees with three or more of their 10 points is not their friend andshould be denied party help.
The demand for purity on a range of conservative litmus-test issues,from support of a large troop surge in Afghanistanto anti-abortion and anti-immigration policies, is to be placed beforethe
"Republican faithfulness to its conservative principles and publicpolicies and Republican solidarity in opposition to Obama's socialistagenda," the resolution says, "is necessary to preserve the security ofour country, our economic and political freedoms and our way oflife."
The chief sponsor, Indiana National Committeeman James BoppJr., says his 10 co-sponsors on the committee are enough tobring the resolution to the floor at the Hawaiimeeting, but he expects to have more by then.
The effort obviously hopes to capitalize on the dissatisfaction inthe country over President Obama's domestic and foreign policies, seenin the vocal
It's a direct prod at the party's national chairman, MichaelSteele, who has paid uneven lip service to the big-tent theoryof political success through expanding that narrowing base. The party'sfirst African-American chairman has proved to be no magnet even amongblack voters, nor other minorities.
The purists, often frustrated even under President George W.Bush, clearly hope that Obama's ambitious "change" agenda,highlighted by his fight for health care reform, will fuel theirargument that he is embarking on, as they put it, a government-runeconomy.
They wail that "socialized medicine" will take medical decisions outof the hands of doctors and place them in those ofWashington bureaucrats. In so doing, they ignorethe fact that
They cite the Obama stimulus package to pull WallStreet and the nation's financial system from the brink oftotal collapse as no more than the first steps of a government takeoverof the banking and auto industries, though the effort clearly has beento keep them afloat so far.
In a sense, the resolution amounts to preaching to the choir,inasmuch as the
But as the party's public voice increasingly comes from truebelievers like former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and ultraconservative radio and television commentatorsof the Rush Limbaugh, Lou Dobbs and GlennBeck ilk, any big-tent aspirations by Steele look to be morefar-fetched than ever.
Unless an appealing party moderate somehow emerges as a seriouspresidential candidate between now and 2012 as a rallying point forlike-minded Republicans, circling the wagons with this sort of puritytest will only reinforce the
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