`ideological purity'
Something I did for my blog.
The right leaning elements in this country seems to be going down a path that may very well change their movement forever. The path is a quest for ‘ideological purity’ and it looks like anyone could be steam rolled for it to happen.
We were all there when this began to happen. It started with the Obama’s stimulus package. The economy was headed down a steep hill and something had to be done. The protest against that action is when we first herd the term “Tea Party”.
The Tea Party movement has rapidly grown and is already a funding base. The disputes over its grass roots label seem to be quickly fading away. As more people join this movement (and some leave) we may never be able to decide if it was grass roots or the clever PR campaign. I personally think it was one part grass two parts political opportunity. No matter what it was (or now is) that Tea Party movement now represents a fundamental shift in the way the conservative movement is handled.
Republican South Carolinian Senator Lindsay Graham is a good example. Today The New York Times released an article on how this man is being attacked by Republican forces in his home state. Their charges included such sacrileges as bipartisanship and his trying to “be relevant”. According to the article his vote to confirm Justice Sonia Sotomayor has lost him favor as well as his comments that voters want Republicans to reach across the isle and that his party should do a better job at attracting youth and minorities.
Lindsay Graham is rated a 90 out of 100 by the American Conservative Union, a group who rates the conservativeness of lawmakers. If this man can’t catch a break who can?
We also saw the calamity that was New York 23 when what should have been a local election was turned into a media frenzy by big name republicans Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich. In that case the republican’s lost a seat that was held by the party for over 100 years. Apparently the NRA backed republican candidate, Dierdre Scozzafava, was to moderate. The infighting led to the election on a democrat.
This list goes on and will get bigger. Elements of the Republican National Committee have already proposed a litmus test that would cut RNC funding to party candidates who are not conservative enough.
The stronger that this ideological purity movement gets with in the Republican Party and conservative America the smaller the both factions will become. The GOP could also split into two parts, moderates and hyper conservatives. The infighting will not win the GOP elections or win over moderates.
The GOP need to be asking if this is the direction they want their party to take. In the long one it seems more harmful and may lead to the death of the party.
We were all there when this began to happen. It started with the Obama’s stimulus package. The economy was headed down a steep hill and something had to be done. The protest against that action is when we first herd the term “Tea Party”.
The Tea Party movement has rapidly grown and is already a funding base. The disputes over its grass roots label seem to be quickly fading away. As more people join this movement (and some leave) we may never be able to decide if it was grass roots or the clever PR campaign. I personally think it was one part grass two parts political opportunity. No matter what it was (or now is) that Tea Party movement now represents a fundamental shift in the way the conservative movement is handled.
Republican South Carolinian Senator Lindsay Graham is a good example. Today The New York Times released an article on how this man is being attacked by Republican forces in his home state. Their charges included such sacrileges as bipartisanship and his trying to “be relevant”. According to the article his vote to confirm Justice Sonia Sotomayor has lost him favor as well as his comments that voters want Republicans to reach across the isle and that his party should do a better job at attracting youth and minorities.
Lindsay Graham is rated a 90 out of 100 by the American Conservative Union, a group who rates the conservativeness of lawmakers. If this man can’t catch a break who can?
We also saw the calamity that was New York 23 when what should have been a local election was turned into a media frenzy by big name republicans Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich. In that case the republican’s lost a seat that was held by the party for over 100 years. Apparently the NRA backed republican candidate, Dierdre Scozzafava, was to moderate. The infighting led to the election on a democrat.
This list goes on and will get bigger. Elements of the Republican National Committee have already proposed a litmus test that would cut RNC funding to party candidates who are not conservative enough.
The stronger that this ideological purity movement gets with in the Republican Party and conservative America the smaller the both factions will become. The GOP could also split into two parts, moderates and hyper conservatives. The infighting will not win the GOP elections or win over moderates.
The GOP need to be asking if this is the direction they want their party to take. In the long one it seems more harmful and may lead to the death of the party.
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`ideological purity' | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 hidden)
`ideological purity' | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 hidden)
