I know it's a little dated (Valentine's Day), but Suze gets to the heart of the matter (pun intended).
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
It's not the Number, It's the Message
So Senator Arlen Specter switched the letter behind his name from "R" to "D". According to the media, this puts the "D"s one body closer to the Magic Number 60--in my book, they are already there, since Senator Al Franken is the new senator from Minnesota. He won the election, so the Republicans should get over it and stop stalling until....oh.....2014.
But having 60 Democratic members in the Senate is no guarantee of anything, let alone the "Super Majority that is Filibuster-Proof". There are plenty of Blue Dog Democrats, including Evan Bayh of Indiana, who will have no compunction to vote against the rest of the party on anything. Indeed, they already have.
What's most important about Arlen Specter's decision to change party is the message he is sending, verbally and non, to the Republican party. As he said during the press conference announcing his decision, "I have been a Republican since 1966. I have been working extremely hard for the Party, for its candidates and for the ideals of a Republican Party whose tent is big enough to welcome diverse points of view....Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right." Further, Mr. Specter called his decision “painful.” He said he knew he was disappointing many of his friends and colleagues, but added that frankly, they had disappointed him, “so the disappointment runs in both directions.”
Reaction from the "leaders" of the Republican party was not surprising, but it just emphasizes how out of touch they truly are. They just don't get it. As The New York Times pointed out, "Some Republicans bade good riddance to Mr. Specter, who was badly trailing in polls against former Representative Patrick J. Toomey, who also once led the Club for Growth, a group of fiscal conservatives who have financed primary challenges against Republicans they consider to have strayed too far from conservative principles. Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, did not mince words, saying Mr. Specter “left to further his personal political interests because he knew that he was going to lose a Republican primary due to his left-wing voting record.” Specter is "left wing"? Oh right, because he doesn't believe in "Individual freedoms" (Michael Steele on NPR today said this was what the Republican Party stands for--that and "Prosperity")--like a woman's right to choose....oh I forgot--only gun owners have "individual freedoms".
But I digress.
The Republican party was hijacked in the mid-1970's by the "Moral Majority" (who truly have never been either), and has never been the same. The moderate Republicans I remember as a kid are almost as rare as unicorns now, and that's a pity. If the GOP does not back away now from its' messages of "be afraid" and "hate the 'others'" then I'm quite sure we are witnessing the end of the Republican party, folks.
But I will let Senator Olympia Snowe, Republican from Maine, have the last word. I hope the "leaders" of the Republican Party take the cotton out of their ears and listen. Senator Snow said, in an OpEd for the NY Times: ” It is true that being a Republican moderate sometimes feels like being a cast member of “Survivor” — you are presented with multiple challenges, and you often get the distinct feeling that you’re no longer welcome in the tribe. But it is truly a dangerous signal that a Republican senator of nearly three decades no longer felt able to remain in the party. Senator Specter indicated that his decision was based on the political situation in Pennsylvania, where he faced a tough primary battle. In my view, the political environment that has made it inhospitable for a moderate Republican in Pennsylvania is a microcosm of a deeper, more pervasive problem that places our party in jeopardy nationwide. I have said that, without question, we cannot prevail as a party without conservatives. But it is equally certain we cannot prevail in the future without moderates. It is for this reason that we should heed the words of President Ronald Reagan, who urged, “We should emphasize the things that unite us and make these the only ‘litmus test’ of what constitutes a Republican: our belief in restraining government spending, pro-growth policies, tax reduction, sound national defense, and maximum individual liberty.” He continued, “As to the other issues that draw on the deep springs of morality and emotion, let us decide that we can disagree among ourselves as Republicans and tolerate the disagreement.” I couldn’t agree more. We can’t continue to fold our philosophical tent into an umbrella under which only a select few are worthy to stand."
But having 60 Democratic members in the Senate is no guarantee of anything, let alone the "Super Majority that is Filibuster-Proof". There are plenty of Blue Dog Democrats, including Evan Bayh of Indiana, who will have no compunction to vote against the rest of the party on anything. Indeed, they already have.
What's most important about Arlen Specter's decision to change party is the message he is sending, verbally and non, to the Republican party. As he said during the press conference announcing his decision, "I have been a Republican since 1966. I have been working extremely hard for the Party, for its candidates and for the ideals of a Republican Party whose tent is big enough to welcome diverse points of view....Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right." Further, Mr. Specter called his decision “painful.” He said he knew he was disappointing many of his friends and colleagues, but added that frankly, they had disappointed him, “so the disappointment runs in both directions.”
Reaction from the "leaders" of the Republican party was not surprising, but it just emphasizes how out of touch they truly are. They just don't get it. As The New York Times pointed out, "Some Republicans bade good riddance to Mr. Specter, who was badly trailing in polls against former Representative Patrick J. Toomey, who also once led the Club for Growth, a group of fiscal conservatives who have financed primary challenges against Republicans they consider to have strayed too far from conservative principles. Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, did not mince words, saying Mr. Specter “left to further his personal political interests because he knew that he was going to lose a Republican primary due to his left-wing voting record.” Specter is "left wing"? Oh right, because he doesn't believe in "Individual freedoms" (Michael Steele on NPR today said this was what the Republican Party stands for--that and "Prosperity")--like a woman's right to choose....oh I forgot--only gun owners have "individual freedoms".
But I digress.
The Republican party was hijacked in the mid-1970's by the "Moral Majority" (who truly have never been either), and has never been the same. The moderate Republicans I remember as a kid are almost as rare as unicorns now, and that's a pity. If the GOP does not back away now from its' messages of "be afraid" and "hate the 'others'" then I'm quite sure we are witnessing the end of the Republican party, folks.
But I will let Senator Olympia Snowe, Republican from Maine, have the last word. I hope the "leaders" of the Republican Party take the cotton out of their ears and listen. Senator Snow said, in an OpEd for the NY Times: ” It is true that being a Republican moderate sometimes feels like being a cast member of “Survivor” — you are presented with multiple challenges, and you often get the distinct feeling that you’re no longer welcome in the tribe. But it is truly a dangerous signal that a Republican senator of nearly three decades no longer felt able to remain in the party. Senator Specter indicated that his decision was based on the political situation in Pennsylvania, where he faced a tough primary battle. In my view, the political environment that has made it inhospitable for a moderate Republican in Pennsylvania is a microcosm of a deeper, more pervasive problem that places our party in jeopardy nationwide. I have said that, without question, we cannot prevail as a party without conservatives. But it is equally certain we cannot prevail in the future without moderates. It is for this reason that we should heed the words of President Ronald Reagan, who urged, “We should emphasize the things that unite us and make these the only ‘litmus test’ of what constitutes a Republican: our belief in restraining government spending, pro-growth policies, tax reduction, sound national defense, and maximum individual liberty.” He continued, “As to the other issues that draw on the deep springs of morality and emotion, let us decide that we can disagree among ourselves as Republicans and tolerate the disagreement.” I couldn’t agree more. We can’t continue to fold our philosophical tent into an umbrella under which only a select few are worthy to stand."
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