Dan

Calabrese

Read Dan's bio and previous columns here

April 30, 2009

How the Oh-So-Principled ‘True Conservatives’ Are Giving Us a Left-Wing America

No small number of Republicans are celebrating today because there is one less Republican. But just about all Democrats are celebrating, because socialized medicine and all kinds of other left-wing holy grails are that much closer to reality, thanks to a soon-to-be filibuster-proof majority in the U.S. Senate, and new hero Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.).

Welcome to the Republican Party, where everyone is wrong.

Perhaps Specter merely made official what many long suspected by removing the erstwhile “R” after his name and becoming a Democrat. And Republicans on a mission to root out all but the “true conservatives” will be the first to tell you they’re happy to see Specter go. Listen to Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) hold forth on the bright day of sunshine to which his party has awoken:

"I 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," DeMint said.

Sure, that would be great, because a Republican caucus of 30 leaves a Democratic caucus of 70, which could probably pass the complete nationalization of the entire U.S. private sector. Gee, conservatives, what’s not to love?

But GOP moderates, who counted Specter as one of their own, are even more wrong. Specter’s defection came about largely because Pat Toomey, president of the free-market Club for Growth, has been polling extremely well in a possible 2010 primary matchup against Specter. Now, Specter will probably defeat Toomey in a general election campaign. The whole idea of the Toomey primary challenge didn’t sit well with Specter’s other Republican colleague from South Carolina, Lindsey Graham.

"I don't want to be a member of the Club for Growth,” Graham said. “I want to be a member of a vibrant national Republican Party that can attract people from all corners of the country — and we can govern the country from a center-right perspective.”

Uh, Sen. Graham, the Club for Growth promotes outstanding economic ideas that you might want to look into one of these days. It seems to me that a Republican Party seeking a governing majority should be interested in economic ideas that, oh, I don’t know, actually work?

The GOP is in enormous trouble, and two warring factions are making the problem even worse.

On the one hand, you have folks like Graham, who want to disavow ideas – however substantively correct the ideas might be – if they are perceived as too conservative and thus unappealing to voters in the center. This leaves the Republican Party with no foundational principles, which is why, when they get a chance to govern, they don’t have the convictions to actually do anything they should do.

On the other hand, you have people like DeMint, who espouses excellent policy ideas, but thinks the party would be best served by purging itself of all Republicans who disagree with this or that aspect of The Official True Conservative Mantra. It’s like telling someone, “If you ever disagree with me, I demand that you always disagree with me!”

And what does that approach get you? Lots more Democrats! And that gets you a left-wing America, which I could have sworn is not what these oh-so-principled True Conservatives want.

So the smaller but purified Republican Party can shout ever the louder as the heretics they have purged help turn the United States into a European-style social democracy. Great strategy, you principled True Conservatives! Maybe next week, the GOP can alienate those wavering on Card Check and turn them into Democrats too – guaranteeing the takeover of American industry by the likes of Ron Gettelfinger.

So what’s a grand old imploding party to do? The answer is not to abandon free-market, small-government principles, because what’s the point of existing if you do that? But it’s also not to chase people out because they only sometimes support you, ensuring thereafter that they will never support you again.

The answer begins with a basic question: Are conservative ideas best for the country? The answer is yes. Why, then, do so many Republicans fear supporting or espousing them? I’d say it’s because Republicans have not, for a very long time, presented the principles of conservatism in such a way that allows the average person to see how he or she benefits from them. And when they had a chance to govern, they didn’t make these principles work for average Americans.

Conservatives have great ideas. But what has the conservative movement accomplished? Federal policy is more liberal than ever. Spending is more out of control than never. Abortion is as legal as ever. American culture is more hostile to traditional values than ever. And centrist politicians want nothing to do with conservatives.

In spite of having the best ideas, the conservative movement has been a big fat failure. It is the Detroit Lions of political movements. It takes some real incompetence to accomplish that.

And now conservatives will watch federal policy become even more liberal, but at least they can take satisfaction in the heightened purity within their ranks.

© 2009 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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