Tested And Found Wanting

Back on Monday I noted the RNC was considering a ten-point purity pledge where a Republican's voting record had to be a certain way or else: if the candidate failed three or more of the ten points, then they would get no national backing whatsoever.  I pointed out then that Presidents Reagan, Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. all would have failed the test (in Reagan's case he would have failed it miserably.)  The RNC hasn't adopted the proposal yet, but the Think Progress guys note at least 40 GOP lawmakers would have failed at least one of those points based on their voting record.

Yesterday, Republican National Committee member Jim Bopp unveiled a resolution to deny funding of candidates who do not uphold right-wing conservative values. The resolution, termed a “purity test,” is being touted as a mechanism for actually avoiding the party schism that occurred in the NY-23 special election, when the Republican Party nominated a moderate who violated several of the resolution dictates.

As the Hotline has noted, the resolution, if adopted, would boot key Republican candidates running for the Senate next year. National Republicans recruited Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE) to run for the Senate, even though they have bucked conservative orthodoxy in the past.

The real problem?  The Wingers like Red State's Dipstick Dipstickson don't think the purity pledge goes far enough.

Compare this to the Contract With America in 1994. That document had ten items that were substantive policy positions heavily poll tested and vetted to make sure something like 70% of the American public agreed with each one. Each statement was popular and therefore did not put candidates in awkward positions with voters, as some of the presently suggested issues do. And while there was no enforcement mechanism there either, there did not have to be — every issue was poll tested, mother approved, and voter supported.
Not so with this. And because this, unlike the Contract With America, might affect funding and seals of approval in the primary process, this becomes far more troublesome.

I would encourage the conservative members of the RNC to let conservatives sort out who is and is not a conservative, as opposed to letting any Dede sign up with no intention of ever living up to the pledge. Besides, the Republican Platform specifically says the GOP is opposed to government bailouts of industry, something the GOP, with a Republican President, pushed through Congress in 2008. If the GOP cannot live up to its own platform adopted at a national convention, it sure as heck won’t live up to any pledge put forward by a group of RNC committeemen.

Actions are far more important than words. We should leave it at that.

They won't, of course.  The civil war continues to rage.  The Party of Reagan is eating itself alive.  Saint Ronaldus would have been kicked out of the party for being a California liberal in 2009.