Nothing tells voters that Republicans are a party of ideologues, rather than pragmatic problem solvers, like the announcement last week that conservative activists are pushing a proposal to deny funding to candidates who fail a litmus or "purity" test. The proposal is being pushed by 10 Republican National Committee members and calls for money to be withheld from candidates who disagree with more than two of 10 conservative principles. The committee will debate the proposal at its winter meeting in January.
How long are Republicans going to keep walking around, sticking their tongues into light sockets to see what the electricity tastes like? The Republican Party needs to run candidates that fit the district for which they are running, regardless of whether they pass a litmus test—"Just Win Baby."
The only litmus test that matters is the one that matches a candidate to the issues in the specific district for which he or she is running, period. This might come as a shock to the party, but Republican candidates come in many colors and flavors, much like voters and the districts in which they reside.
Let’s have a reality check. Eight years of Republican leadership has left America choking on a $12 trillion national debt, a $787 billion taxpayer bailout, 10.2% unemployment and two wars whose purposes and astronomical costs are still unclear, with no end in sight. Middle America wants jobs, fiscal responsibility, affordable healthcare and quality public education for its children, none of which were delivered under a Republican administration and Republican Congress. Republicans had eight years to produce for America and they failed, breaking the spirit of Middle America along the way.
To say that America has lost faith in the party is an understatement—voters have been betrayed by the Republican Party, which championed the message of small, limited government and family values, while simultaneously growing the size of government, rewarding big business with lax regulatory oversight and punishing America with a culture of corruption, e.g. Duke Cunningham, Larry Craig, Mark Foley, Tom DeLay, Bob Ney, and more recently, Jon Ensign, David Vitter and Mark Sanford, to name a few.
The idea of a litmus test or pledge, a Contract with America wannabe, not only smacks of desperation, but it really misses the point. America is very familiar with what the Republican Party can do for it, or perhaps to it. Republicans were behind the wheel for eight years and took the country over a cliff. No pledge or litmus test will right this wrong and compensate for reality—when Republicans had eight years to do something, they simply chose to do nothing.
Democrats have earned their shot to deliver for Middle America and deliver they might. To their credit, they are putting up a healthcare reform proposal, true to their promise during the campaign. Say what you may about the policy they are advancing, this is the sort of action that voters expect, rather than the hollow words uttered by Republicans.
With history as its guide, America knows what the Republican Party stands for and what it can deliver. With this knowledge, many voters have moved away from the party and to the center, and they have no intention of allowing Republicans to take the wheel any time soon, regardless of the promises made in any sort of litmus test or pledge.
When voters look in the rearview mirror now, what they see eight years of failed Republican leadership. If time heals all wounds, voters will forgive the party someday, but not now. For the time being, the party should defeat any litmus test proposal, focus on recruiting candidates that can win, and always remember—an elephant never forgets.
A. Muser
http://americanmuser.wordpress.com