From Politico.com:
(Joe Scarborough op-ed)
Had GOP voters also followed Buckley’s advice to vote for the most electable conservative instead of the most right-wing choice, Harry Reid would be in retirement and a Republican would be the Senate majority leader.
For the GOP to win again, it must dare to embrace Buckley’s ruthless, pragmatic approach to primary elections and learn again to vote for candidates who can win sweeping majorities and just say no to ideological indulgences that only advance the Democrats’ cause.
WFB never forgot that beating liberal Democrats often requires supporting moderate Republicans. But what passes for a moderate Republican in 2013 is laughable. The winds of history have blown Barack Obama’s way of late not because of some irreversible sociological trend but rather because supporters of Todd Akin, Richard Murdoch, Christine O’Donnell and Sharron Angle voted for what they mistakenly saw as ideological purity instead of primary candidates who could actually win in November.
The moderate Republican is the real dinosaur these days. In the race to the right, normal, sane people seem to have lost their way so they don’t get called RINOs, which to me is just a rude, obnoxious word. There is no Democrat equivalent.
Just thinking about the line up of primary contenders in the last election cycle illuminates the inappropriate candidates. Many were jokes. The most desirable candidate, Jon Huntsman, wasn’t even considered. (ewwww too liberal!!!!) The show was high comedy for moderates and liberals. The regular conservatives winced in humiliation and looked for paper bags to wear over their heads as a disguise.
Basically, the tea party and the religious-right of the Republican party have pretty much lot their way and will not be winning major elections in the future. They can out-primary their opponents but they can’t win major elections. They can’t hide their outlandishness. Those who flaunt their extremism will rapidly hit a glass ceiling. For instance, Cuccinelli is done. He is a laughing stock with most of the state.
Someone comes to this blog and often chides us for telling conservatives how to win elections. Someone needs to. Its a simple matter of mathematics. Uber-cons simply don’t have the numbers.
Hmmm…. Didn’t work the last two GOP candidates.
“There is no Democrat equivalent.” “Blue Dog”
Here’s the problem with supporting “moderate” Republicans.
If they do the same thing as the liberal Democrats….there is no difference.
Buckley is much missed. But, of course, his intelligence and philosophical conservatism would be deemed a very strange brew by many who consider themselves “conservatives” today.
@Cargosquid
The unfortunate thing is that the “Blue Dogs” have been losing elections over the past cycles. They went from having 36 members in 2005 to 15 in the current cycle.
Gabrielle Giffords was a member of the “Blue Dog” Democrats before she resigned due to recovery issues.
Mr. Clinton was also a blue dog.
They aren’t the same as Dem RINOS though. It isn’t criticism to call someone a blue dog.
@Clinton S. Long
They keep getting primaried. Apparently the left is moving further left.
Not at all. Left is moving right and has been for several decades.
@Cargosquid
Well, originally they lost to some conservatives, but there has also been resignations and retiring. Many in the most recent cycle were due to losing primaries to more liberal candidates.
Statesmen and political pragmatists are endangered species by ardent partisans.
Welcome to the new world.
“replaced by ardent partisans”.
I am interested in this comment since from my vantage point, the only way the left is moving is by going so far left to the end of the world, they are ending up going right.
So, obviously I don’t understand it.
It is like the north pole, you can only go south.
I am laughing at your north pole remark.
I find it odd that you see the left going left. I have watched it move right for a long time, so much sso that I felt comfortable at least hopping aboard. I could not have done that in the 70s or even early 80’s. I am more of a Clinton Democrat now.
There was a point in time when I could not have voted Democrat. Way too liberal for me. i don’t have a problem most of the time now.
Let’s figure this out….what do you think has gotten more liberal?
Ronald Reagan would be too liberal today.
@Moon-howler
I am not necessarily saying the the left is going more left but I don’t detect anything that is going to the right either. My comment was that without any perception by ME that there is movement to the right, it must be because some can’t go any further left and those some are more in evidence. As you probably know, I am an equal opportunity complainer, I don’t like extremism in any form, right or left.
Maybe my problem is that the polarization to me is happening on both sides as there are more and more people representing the far end of each side than there are in the middle.
Oh ok. I misunderstood.
I agree. I don’t care for extremism either. I disliked the far left extremism as much as I disliked the far right extremism back in the say. now, I dislike the right extremism and the left is sort of blurred. That is the reason that I think it has all shifted right.
If I am being a bumble tongue, I can explain further.
I just never remember Republicans being this theatrically abdsurd the bast few decades. I voted Republican lots of times back then because the Democrats were too outrageous for me.
Maybe you could enlighten me to your point of view with some examples. I just can’t see them on my own.
By the way, John Kennedy would be too conservative to many today. I was a Kennedy democrat at one point.
You are dating yourself, Clinton, if Kennedy was still alive at the time. I am happy to announce I was too young. Thats the first time I have gotten to say that.
Well, let’s just say I was a “Kiddie For Kennedy” but you might not have heard about that either. Went door to door as well.
I was a kid but not a real little kid. Maybe a tweenie.
I lived in Virginia. I don’t think he or Nixon were too well liked.
@Moon-howler
OR you don’t realize it, but maybe YOU have moved left…..
No, I really haven’t moved left.