Republicans considering ideological purity test for candidates

[DaRizzle]

Ten members of the Republican National Committee are proposing a resolution demanding candidates embrace at least eight of 10 conservative principles if they hope to receive financial support and an official endorsement from the RNC. The "Proposed RNC Resolution on Reagan's Unity Principle for Support of Candidates," is designed to force candidates to prove that they support "conservative principles" while opposing "Obama's socialist agenda," according to The New York Times' Caucus blog. The proposal highlights the ongoing tug-of-war for the ideological soul of the Republican party, and has been met with skepticism both inside and outside of the party.

Some are speculating that the move was inspired by the GOP’s recent loss in New York's 23rd House race, a seat the party had held since the 1800s. That contest saw Dede Scozzafava, a moderate Republican endorsed by the RNC, driven out of the race in favor of Doug Hoffman, a more conservative candidate backed by the likes of Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin. After Scozzafava dropped out of the race, the RNC endorsed Hoffman, who went on to lose to the Democratic candidate, Bill Owens.

James Bopp Jr., an Indiana attorney, initiated the resolution, saying that "conservatives have lost trust in the Republican party." Bopp Jr., who floated a failed proposal earlier this year demanding that Democrats rename their party the "Democrat Socialist Party," was joined by 10 RNC co-sponsors. The group says they cited Ronald Reagan in naming the resolution because the former president said that "someone who agreed with him 8 out of 10 times was his friend, not his opponent." The ten guidelines, distributed to RNC members in recent weeks, are as follows:

(1) We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama's "stimulus" bill;

(2) We support market-based health care reform and oppose Obama-style government run healthcare;

(3) We support market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation;

(4) We support workers' right to secret ballot by opposing card check;

(5) We support legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants;

(6) We support victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges;

(7) We support containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat;

(8) We support retention of the Defense of Marriage Act;

(9) We support protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing and denial of health care and government funding of abortion; and

(10) We support the right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership;

Predictably, the proposed resolution has elicited derision from all corners of the political spectrum, including the right wing. In criticizing the proposal, conservative blogger Erick Erickson says that Republicans "risk giving liberal candidates easy opportunities to get conservative endorsements simply by checking the box without ever meaning it," adding that the measure is essentially hollow because the "GOP cannot live up to its own platform adopted at a national convention, it sure as heck won’t live up to any pledge put forward by a group of RNC committeemen."

Meanwhile, liberal blogger Steve Benen wonders if Reagan himself would even pass the 80% threshold mandated by the resolution bearing his name, noting that Reagan "voted for several tax increases, began the modern era of massive federal debt, ran huge deficits, and approved an immigration measure the far-right still resents."

However, not everyone finds fault with it. A Republican strategist and former Bush White House official, who asked to remain anonymous, told Yahoo! News that the resolution "bodes well" because "Republicans are continuing to discuss policy positions and principles," adding "this should not be treated as a purge document - as the media is portraying it - but more of a document for discussion as Republicans attempt to rebuild the party in 2010."

Despite the debate that it’s already inspired, whether or not the resolution even gets voted on by the RNC's membership remains up in the air. A spokeswoman for RNC Chairman Michael Steele told The Wall Street Journal that until the deadline for submitting resolutions for the party's winter meeting is reached, "we do not know what resolutions will be submitted, nor what the final language of any resolution ultimately submitted may be."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_pl996

They also check to make sure your Aryan heritage is pure

 

[julius]

Putting standards on who is a "republican" or not? Yah, that's a good idea. Why not just make more moderates who ere former republicans, who now won't vote for you in the process?

 

[Denny Crane]

I pledge allegiance to Obama... I mean the flag

Anyhow, I'd never pass this sniff test. Count me out.

 

[Natebishop3]

This is why I distanced myself from the GOP. #1 on the list should be the only one on the list. The fact that the Republicans think that marriage is the governments business, is a clear sign that the GOP has lost sight of what it used to stand for.

Oh, and Rizzle, it was the Democrats who were pro-slavery during the civil war. Might want to keep that in mind when you start talking about Aryans and such

 

[Denny Crane]

This is why I distanced myself from the GOP. #1 on the list should be the only one on the list. The fact that the Republicans think that marriage is the governments business, is a clear sign that the GOP has lost sight of what it used to stand for.

Oh, and Rizzle, it was the Democrats who were pro-slavery during the civil war. Might want to keep that in mind when you start talking about Aryans and such

The radical republicans impeached Andrew Johnson, a Democrat who was Lincoln's VP and took office when Lincoln was assassinated. Then they militarily occupied the south and enforced the 13th and 14th amendments granting equal rights to all. Through 1968, the South was solidly Democratic Party, home of the KKK and Jim Crow laws. The early (modern) civil rights pioneers backed Nixon against JFK in 1960.

 

[Natebishop3]

The radical republicans impeached Andrew Johnson, a Democrat who was Lincoln's VP and took office when Lincoln was assassinated. Then they militarily occupied the south and enforced the 13th and 14th amendments granting equal rights to all. Through 1968, the South was solidly Democratic Party, home of the KKK and Jim Crow laws. The early (modern) civil rights pioneers backed Nixon against JFK in 1960.

Funny how things change, eh? Selective memory I suppose. I just find it funny how so few people remember these things.

 

[Denny Crane]

Funny how things change, eh? Selective memory I suppose. I just find it funny how so few people remember these things.

I don't think the north was all that great, though. Blacks were incredibly poor, but free. There were plenty of lynchings in the north, as well.

One of the all time great and saddest stories is Black Wall Street. Google it if you're interested.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Political suicide.

 

[oldmangrouch]

Funny how things change, eh? Selective memory I suppose. I just find it funny how so few people remember these things.

And if Lincoln ran for office today, would the GOP embrace him? What about Ton McHall or Mark Hatfield?

 

[julius]

Oh, and Rizzle, it was the Democrats who were pro-slavery during the civil war. Might want to keep that in mind when you start talking about Aryans and such

It's an interesting point to bring up, but it's also a point to bring up that the South was more Democratic until there was a major switch in allegiance. They basically all turned into Republicans.

 

[DaRizzle]

My comment wasnt supposed to be taken that deep...lol

 

[¹²³]

Do you think she would pass this test?

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

My comment wasnt supposed to be taken that deep...lol

Too easy. I'll let it pass.

 

[MrJayremmie]

I think this is silly.

I think the 'pubs need to expand and let more people into the party, not eliminate the non-purists.

 

[Denny Crane]

I think this is silly.

I think the 'pubs need to expand and let more people into the party, not eliminate the non-purists.

It's remarkable how they've been driving factions out of the party while being more than competitive in elections. I don't see how it's a truly viable political strategy going forward.

Reagan won huge landslides by including a lot more people than just the most avid republican core voters. There's a lesson in that.

 

[MrJayremmie]

It's remarkable how they've been driving factions out of the party while being more than competitive in elections. I don't see how it's a truly viable political strategy going forward.

Reagan won huge landslides by including a lot more people than just the most avid republican core voters. There's a lesson in that.

I think Reagan is a perfect example of the model Republicans should follow. He had a diverse following, while being known as a conservative.

 

[bodyman5001]

Let's pretend that their did need to be some sort of test to be a Republican. My guess is that 99 percent of them would fail because the word BELIEVE is in the questions.

The only thing that most of them believe is that they will get rich and not have to work by getting into government. FUCK THEM ALL.

 

[mook]

Would Rondald Reagan even pass this test?

(1) We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama's "stimulus" bill;
Government and debt was much larger after he left office.

(2) We support market-based health care reform and oppose Obama-style government run healthcare;
Wasn't he governor of California when they had their big health care program go through? I could be wrong here.

(4) We support workers' right to secret ballot by opposing card check;
Reagan used to be president of a union in his early days, didn't he?

(5) We support legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants;
He was president during the amnesty legislation in the mid-80's, wasn't he?

(7) We support containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat;
Reagan traded arms with Iran.

Anyway, it's hard to argue that the biggest problem with the Republican party right now is that it's too inclusive.

 

[mook]

Do you think she would pass this test?

Am I the only one who likes to play "spot the ethnic person" whenever there's a photo like this?

Back row, in front of the van windshield. Guy appears to at least have a decent tan. He's in front of a news truck, so he's either "token guy" or media.

 

[mook]

Ooop--there's another one. Looks like maybe an italian-american on the far left with the neck chain.