Quickly emerging as a parody of himself, Senator Jim DeMint declared that he “would rather have 30 Republicans in the Senate who really believe in principles of limited government, free markets, free people, than to have 60 that don’t have a set of beliefs.”
Well, that’s an awfully silly dichotomy. How about forty conservative senators and twenty moderate — excuse me, beliefless — ones? Let’s try to break this down, though:
First of all, it’s rather ridiculous to assert that Specter has no set of beliefs — they’re just ones that DeMint doesn’t like.
Moreover, how does DeMint intend to pass any conservative legislation if his team only has thirty senators? Does he know? Does he care?
So far, the grand strategy of DeMint and his fellow Club for Growth-types for a comeback has been to direct all of our hard-earned resources…at our own party. Has this been fruitful? Thankfully, there are some objective goalposts that we can use to analyze this: Are we closer to reclaiming the majority? Is President Obama becoming more unpopular? Are we halting the Democratic agenda? Are Americans uniting around the opposition?
The indicators thus far are pretty poor.
Here’s an alternative strategy: instead of trying to purge the Senate of Republicans, we direct our resources against liberal Democrats. How’s that, Senator?
April 29th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
It’s really convenient for Crimson Red State Republicans to clench their fists and demand ideological purity. They never have to worry about political winds blowing them out of office.
April 29th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=ac7c1602-9851-41a1-bf10-cfc2a8f69022
If there was a do-over election for president of the United States today, would you vote for Barack Obama the democrat? Or John McCain the Republican?
Obama/McCain
Overall: 54/39
GOP: 18/74
DEM: 87/10
INDY: 46/42
CONSERVATIVE: 26/66
MODERATE: 60/33
LIBERAL: 87/8
D/R/I: 39/29/30
C/M/L: 32/48/17
April 29th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
I think DeMint’s general point is that the party should stand for something, and a general belief in free markets and limited government is hardly a stingent litmus test.
What killed Specter was not his moderation on social issues, but his support of a budget-busting stimulus that was pretty much a giveaway to Democratic special interests. If he had voted against the stimulus, he would probably still be a Republican today.
April 29th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Your interpretation is kind. He may have meant that, but what he said was something very, very stupid.
April 29th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Meghan McCain calls Specter switch ’selfish’
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/29/meghan-mccain-calls-specter-switch-selfish/
April 29th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
[...] attacked Pat Toomey, Republican ‘Hardliners‘ (85% of the party), Michael Steele and Jim DeMint. I have not seen this much anti-Republican rhetoric since I opened the Huffington Post or [...]
April 29th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
Inhofe: Specter switch foreshadows 2010 GOP landslide
http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2009/04/29/inhofe-specter-switch-foreshadows-2010-gop-landslide/
Sen. Arlen Specter’s decision to switch parties and run for reelection as a Democrat foreshadows a Republican landslide in midterm elections, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) argued Wednesday.
“This is the first visible evidence that what happened in 1993 is happening again now,” Inhore said during an appearance on Fox News, arguing that the 2010 midterm elections will mirror the 1994 elections in which Republicans made major gains.
April 29th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
Alex,
1. What does Arlen Specter stand for?
2. Is it any easier to pass a good bill with 60 senators with no beliefs? You know how bills get passed with those Senators? It’s called PORK! Yes, there are principled Senators and Congressmen on both sides of the aisle, but there are also a lot of phoney, self-serving charlatans who only care about power. And the way you pass bills with these guys is you load up the bills with things that will keep them in power.
Some of us here labor under the antiquated notion that our elected leaders work on our behalf, are answerable to us, and that political parties should stand for principles, and not just naked power.
You seem to think that we should just kiss the @ss of power. But as an obviously ambitious young man, I’m not surprised that you rever power so.
April 29th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
1 – You honestly think he stands for nothing? Are you joking?
2 – I already addressed that. It’s a false dichotomy. “Sixty senators with no beliefs” versus “thirty with rock-solid conservative credentials” is the dumbest dichotomy I’ve ever heard. Jim DeMint should be embarrassed for putting it forward.
Is this your new tack, though? To just accuse me of harboring unprincipled ambition?
April 29th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Alex,
I think Specter stands for Specter. What do you think he stands for?
And I didn’t say that your ambition is completely unprincipled, but I think it is fair to say that some of the principles that many posters here hold dear (and Specter disdained) are a bit lower on your priority list than they are for some of us.
April 29th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Yes, but I have my own principles. Just because they’re different than yours doesn’t mean that they’re any less principled. I’m not willing to abandon what I believe in. We just believe different things, and we have different philosophies about how to achieve it.
Specter stands for a litany of positions that I dislike. It doesn’t make him “beliefless.” It just means that we disagree on a lot. They are not the same thing!
April 29th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Specter is doing what McCain has never had the guts to do. Time for him to turn tail as well. We need to elect people with a spine. I’m not impressed by your defense of Specter’s cowardly actions. You shouldn’t be using this as an axe to grind against the religious right.
April 29th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
The Conservatives will leave the Republican Party in 2010 and started a new party. The Modern and Liberal Republicans like Lindsay Graham, John McCain, or Mitt Romney are the real problem, for example. They just can’t stand the conservatives anymore. That why McCain lost the election last November. I like Sen. DeMint of South Carolina. He is a true conservative.
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