Melissa Clouthier over at Pajamas Media has an excellent blast against the concept that the GOP must become more “moderate” if we are to win again. Of course, we are most recently treated to the Specter party-switch and some how or another the fact that a rank opportunist ran away and hid when the going got tough is supposed to tell the GOP that just as discretion is the better part of valor, so is cowardice the better part of discretion. We’re supposed to valiantly hide conservatism in a closet and hope no one notices that we stand for something. This is designed to make it easier for us to pour money and effort into re-electing moderates in Pennsylvania…which just worked out oh, so well for us, didn’t it?
Ladies and gentlemen, did you know that your humble correspondent is a moderate? Oh, I know – to our liberal friends who visit here I’m just a step away from advocating a return to feudalism, but the fact remains that I’m a moderate. Think about it – I’m opposed to the death penalty; I’m against free trade; I want amnesty for illegal immigrants. In all of these things, I am clearly out of step with the large majority of GOP voters. And yet I’m a GOPer. And I’m not asking my fellow GOPers who are in favor of the death penalty, free trade and deportation to change or mute their views or risk losing my support. Honest people can have honest disagreements and remain friends and close allies. I am absolutely confident that no GOPer will ever wish for me to be out of the party on account of my views. Why is this?
Because I believe in the core GOP values: limited government (which means low taxes and spending above all); judicial restraint; strong defense; law and order, faith and family. Now, if I were to ever be in elective office, after garnering ardent GOP support for my bid, just what sort of person would I be if I then went on to vote in favor of some Democrat spending boondoggle? How is that in accord with the core GOP ideal of limited government? Why, in the end, should a GOPer put his faith in me if I can’t even hold to something as basic as that? On the other hand, if I were a staunch vote for spending restraint, national defense and family independence, what would a GOPer have to say to me if I, in addition to this, cast a vote in favor of a path to citizenship for illegals long in country? Oh, to be sure, a lot of GOPers would disagree and say so…but there would be no call for my ouster. There’d be no reason for it – I adhered to core GOP principles.
This what we mean by the “big tent” – that you can have differences of opinion, even quite stark ones, but when push comes to shove and a basic belief is at stake, its time to come down on the side of the basic belief. As a for-instance, GOPers can argue about whether we should cut the income tax or cut spending…but no GOP can say its time to raise taxes and/or raise spending. The moderates, so-called, will have to dance to core tunes. I do. We don’t have to agree on everything all of the time, but we do have to agree on a few things when push comes to shove. We tried the moderate path in 2006 and 2008 and it got us clobbered – we tried to be a nice version of the Democrat party. No more; no, thanks. Time to be the Republican party, and win under that banner, as we’ve won so many times before.
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