Can Moderate Republicans Recover Their Party?

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Does this represent the beginnings of what was rumored ever so briefly before the election? Are the old guard Republicans going to take back their party form the extremists? Can they be successful? Below find excerpts from an opinion piece in Salon. While the article is opinion, the fact of the book's publication is news.

Also posted is a sample of the protest coming from the New Right about incoming RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman's announcement that the new vice chairman of the Republican party will be Ohio legislator and pro-abortion activist Joann Davidson as the party's vice chairman. I can't post a link because the source is an email sent to me from the Family Research Council. I post it in order to ask the following question: If moderate Republicans can maintain their cool, as Todd Whitman has successfully done in her book, will this be the winning tactic in the current culture wars?
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2005/01/15/muck_whitman/index.html

Quote:

Muckraker
In her forthcoming memoir, former EPA chief Christine Todd Whitman takes stock of the GOP's "rightward lurch" under Bush.

By Amanda Griscom Little

Jan. 15, 2005 | When U.S. EPA administrator Christine Todd Whitman left the agency in 2003, she said she wanted to "spend more time with her family." If you believed that, Bernard Kerik's got a tax-free nanny he'd like to sell you.

Those skeptical of Whitman's resignation excuse may soon have their suspicions confirmed. It seems she quit because she was hoodwinked and hamstrung by her superiors. Unable to implement her agenda at EPA, she was effectively captaining a ship that was on permanent autopilot.

Such is the implication of Whitman's new political memoir-cum-manifesto "It's My Party Too: The Battle for the Heart of the GOP and the Future of America," due to hit bookstores on Jan. 27.

"It's My Party Too: The Battle for the Heart of the GOP and the Future of America"

By Christine Todd Whitman

Enviros may be disappointed to find the EPA dish rather scanty -- only one chapter is devoted to her experiences at the agency. The rest of the book examines the "rightward lurch" of the GOP under the Bush administration, which is causing a rift between moderate and hard-right Republicans along several fault lines, the environment being chief among them. Whitman fears this rift could threaten the long-term viability of the Republican Party.

The thesis is compelling, particularly coming from a woman long dismissed as a Bush loyalist who quit with her tail between her legs rather than stand up for her principles. But don't expect a scathing tell-all.

Quote:

Whitman doesn't go so far as to skewer her former employers -- she jabs them, gingerly, even as she reveals behavior that deserves real skewering. For instance, take the moment when Bush reversed his campaign promise to regulate carbon-dioxide emissions and then asked her take the heat. Or the moment when the president pulled out of the Kyoto protocols without agreeing to pursue a compromise, making her a laughingstock among environmental ministers worldwide. Or the moment when the White House refused to give her the authority to investigate the safety of the thousands of chemical facilities in America vulnerable to terrorist attack.

Or the pressures she felt from above to weaken the new-source review clause of the Clean Air Act: "People became focused on reforming NSR, with some intent on getting rid of it altogether. The vice president seemed particularly eager about this issue, and he called me on several occasions, even tracking me down when I was on vacation in Colorado, to press his view [on] NSR reform."

Quote:

But never once does she express anger -- nor, stranger still, voice opposition to the powers that be. The book's title, "It's My Party Too," seems to imply that Whitman will cry if she wants to, yet the book itself -- like Whitman's EPA tenure -- contains barely a whimper. There's more defense than offense in her eagerly anticipated counterattack.

(From The Family Research Council newsletter)
January 14, 2005

Devaluing the Values Voter

The New York Times reported today that incoming RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman has tapped former Ohio legislator and pro-abortion activist Joann Davidson as the party's vice chairman. Davidson established a poor rating with Ohio Right to Life during her tenure in office and serves on the advisory board of the Republicans for Choice PAC. Yesterday, the Republicans for Choice website had a congratulatory message for Ms. Davidson saying, "Congratulations to JoAnn Davidson (OH) one of our RFC Advisory Board Members, who is going to be named as the co-chair of the Republican Party at the Winter Meeting of the GOP. JoAnn Davidson has been a member of the Republicans for Choice Advisory Board since our founding in 1990. She has proven to be a tireless campaigner and brilliant political strategist so it is no wonder Ken Mehlman and the Bush operation have tapped her to be the Party's new national co-chair. We look forward to working with her to help make sure the concerns of pro-choice and moderate Republicans are heard within the Republican National Committee Headquarters..." This morning after The New York Times story was released, the message on the RFC website was taken down and replaced with a message that the site was under construction. While many people vouch that Ms. Davidson is a tireless campaigner, her record and reputation on life and key family issues like marriage put her at odds with the hundreds of thousands of families that worked tirelessly, not only in Ohio, but across the nation to protect marriage and advance life. Some say that Davidson's elevation is a bow to the GOP's "Old Bulls,"but those bulls are old for a reason. They remind us of the party's minority past not its hopes for a majority future.

Additional Resources
Supporter of Abortion Rights Is Choice for Republican Job
http://www.frc.org/index.cfm?i=LK05A18&f=WU05A09&t=e

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Lola, please just direct all your energies and resources to a grass roots campaign to get me on the ballot as the independent candidate in 2008...then there'll be some real change in America I can assure you of that....I could use you as my Karl Rove....smarter, and way better legs....

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Can Moderate Republicans Recover Their Party?

This, i.e. thinking that Bush and company are anything in the world BUT moderates, is why the dems are losing.

Don't take my word for it. Check out any of the real hard-core conservative websites and read through all the hard-core conservatives crying about George W. Bush and the myriad ways he's screwing them. LibertyPost is as good as any:

http://www.libertypost.org

The thing I like most about George W. Bush is that he has all the right people for enemies, including all the vermin who run the dem party, the terrorists, the leaders of the handful of rogue regimes still left in the world, the super triple-chromosome one issue right2lifers and other a$$holes who voted for Peroutka or the libertarian candidate, Chirac and the other poohbahs of the eurotrash, the vermin who run canada, and our own pinko-commie mainstream media including Dan (fake-but-accurate) Rather and seeBS.

It's the democrat party and not the republicans in which moderates have no home.

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When I come into power gunga...you will NOT be on the protected list....be warned....we are coming...to deal crack to your sons.....tattoo your daughters.... but don't worry about your wives...we don't want them....

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and now back to Lolas scholarly and interesting thread...(sorry Lola Crying or Very sad

)

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I'm for you Bear. Anyone who admires my scheming cunning little mind and my legs is a candidate I'll support. Having Karl Rove's job would be fun. Yes it would. Time to turn the tables.

But let's not let our admiration society get in the way of theating this subject with some respect. It desearves some thought consideration.

Anyone who believes Todd Whitman is foolish enough to write a book, stick out her neck because Bush is really a moderate.........., like she doesn't know........what can be said to that person?

Gunga, you're too much.

and I'm not laughing with you.

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We'll certainly hear more talk about Republican discontent as the Social Security proposals come into play. AARP disapproval could put an expensive political price tag on any congressman's vote for Social Security benefits reductions accompanying the planned overhaul. Reuters- AARP discontent. This could be doubly painful if anyone notices the opportunity cost to an SS overhaul, which includes a much needed Medicare overhaul and a deficit reduction. I would personally favor measured SS privatization, but Bush's timing makes him look ideologically hidebound and out of touch with more pressing problems.

That said, a Republican schism may still be more of a Democratic wet dream than a reality -- few politicians would want to break the political juggernaut that put them into power.

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But Steppenwolf.......I just love those wet dreams.....and often they are a precuror to something hugely gratifying and present.

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Look - I think all these things go in cycles.

I also think it funny how conservatives are crying a sort of permanent victory. We all tend to do that when our views have a temporary ascendency, don't you think?

My prediction would be that, of course, the Republican party will become more moderate again. All excess is followed by correction - whichever way it goes. We are in a very conservative era - it will run its course, and reverse.

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Why would the Rep party want to go towards the center, we have been winning elections running on issues from the right and not the center. To take more ideas from the center would be to neglect what the last few elections have proven. Conservatives works and wins elections.

It is the Dems who should be looking to move more towards the center and stay away from people on the far left. It is you who have been losing elections and are in danger of being an endangered species!

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Anyone out there have anything relevant to say on this subject?

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errrrrrr, don't know how relevant it is, but one of the things that struck me as interesting is that the proposed candidate is from Ohio. I suspect that's not incidental.

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Hmmm - this bit of the review is interesting, I think:

" Herein lies the power of Whitman's book, according to Jim DiPeso, policy director at Republicans for Environmental Protection. "She's the farthest thing from a malcontent or an upstart. She has always played her political cards very cautiously because she has deep roots and credibility in the GOP," he told Muckraker. "Obviously it goes counter to her personality to publish something like this."

What Whitman lacks in a pointed, specific attack on Bush's environmental policies, she makes up for with her broader argument: "We stand at a historic juncture in American politics, a critical crossroads for both the Republican Party and for the nation." She condemns the Bush administration for embracing "social fundamentalism," which she says wrongly tramples on the personal right of Republicans to be pro-choice, advocate stem-cell research, and support gay marriage. And she argues that right-wing ideology flouts the deeply rooted Republican ethos of conservation. "

I can't answer your question Lola - except in the most general historical terms - cos I do not know enough about the Republican Party - I can only say that agree with you that what you post suggests there is potential.

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dlowan wrote:

Look - I think all these things go in cycles.

I also think it funny how conservatives are crying a sort of permanent victory. We all tend to do that when our views have a temporary ascendency, don't you think?

My prediction would be that, of course, the Republican party will become more moderate again. All excess is followed by correction - whichever way it goes. We are in a very conservative era - it will run its course, and reverse.

I agree that these things go in cycles. I'm just concerned how long this cycle will last and how much damage will be done before it swings. Perhaps we're witnessing the beginning of that process. Until I see it coming, I'm going to worry about how far they'll go before the voters wake up.

I think Todd Whitman has struck the right balance in her book. It will be hard for Rove and friends to do their usual on her. She's got a pedigree a mile long and she's a respectable politician......hard to find in a Republican these days. I hope they succeed. It will be interesting to see if her book and a few other efforts will tip the house of cards.

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Oh, I agree about the potential for damage.

Here, we have lost, Federally, the safety net of an Upper House that could, if disparate forces united, which they sometimes did, ameliorate the worst of the social vandalism aspects of our conservative government.

Lol - I am just trying to breathe through the pain - and act, where I can, to defend things. BREATHE - huff huff huff....

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Quote:

errrrrrr, don't know how relevant it is, but one of the things that struck me as interesting is that the proposed candidate is from Ohio. I suspect that's not incidental.

I noticed that too, Beth. But I think the announcement about the GOP vice chair is intended as damage control. The GOP has been waiting for Whitman's book to come out for some time now. She's done a better job that the others. She's maintained her cool but she's still spoken up. Can you imagine how bad it is to cause an established member of the GOP to speak out in this way?

It will be interesting to see how Rove tries to deal with this.

I'm ready to see something hopeful.

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Quote:

BREATHE - huff huff huff....

BREATHE - huff huff huff
Breathe - huff huff huff

Maybe it will become a world wide chant for justice.

Maybe if, everytime we think about it, we all stop and chant, it will become a movement.

Some of you don't believe a movement can change the world, but we've seen it happen.

You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant..........

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this is good news, lola.

and it's interesting that, as we've noted before, the last ballot cast was still warm when the dissent within the gop began to foment.

here's the part that some people don't get, both dems and reps; "government of the people, by the people". that means all of the nation's citizens, not just those that belong to the party in the oval office. most presidents have understood that a balance of power is fair and desirable.

i stopped voting for republican presidents when the gop was taken over by the "family values" blathering idiots. i might consider voting republican again if the gop can be reclaimed as the party of fiscal conservatism and genuine desire of a government that keeps it's nose out of our private lives.

if i wanted to live in a theocracy i'd move to iran.

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parallel question(in my mind)...

will radical democrats lead to the extinction of U.S. democracy? I mean, no democracy has every lasted much more than 200yrs., so America needs to, more than ever, be on the alert.

If you believe that the answer to my question is yes, how will this happen, and what will we become?

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Hyper,

Radical anything usually leads to some sort of destruction of valuable assets, IMO. But right now, I think we're under a much bigger threat from the radicals on the right. These folks aren't kidding. They mean to send us back to the Inquisition. But not everyone agrees with me on this point. I just wonder how bad it will have to get before reasonable people wake up.

At this point in time, we have no balance of power and a president in the White House who thinks this is good. I agree DTOM. But I'm afraid the moderate conservatives will have a tough, if not impossible task if their goal is to recover the GOP from the death grip the fanatics have on it.

Maybe we'll see the moderates in the Republican party join the moderates in the Democratic party. Then they can use left wing radicals to win elections, just as they've used the radicals on the right. The fanatics can't win an election alone, but neither can the non-fanatics in the Republican party. So it would be a winner if the reasonable people got together and defeated the right wingnuts and saved the world from a terrifying future. Interesting idea........move the big tent over toward the left just a bit and leave the maniacs out in the cold.

But of course, I don't look for it to happen. But one can dream.

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Can Moderate Republicans Recover Their Party?

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