RINO Stampede is Not Reaganesque

Politics is about addition, not subtraction, and it has nothing to do with ideological purity.

Multifarious GOP factions calling names and declaring jihad on one another is the sure road to failure. Politics is about gaining power so you can influence and control the course of government. You do that by winning elections, not picking fights with teammates who don't think exactly like you do. Ronald Reagan knew it, and savvy conservatives should read his words and emulate them.

Jim DeMint, Republican Senator from South Carolina, wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal giving us his vision of the GOP's big tent. He wants to build the party on principles, not issues. The #1 principle? Freedom

To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, if you aim for principled reform, you win elections in the bargain; if you just aim for elections, you get neither.

Freedom will mean different things to different Republicans, but it can tether a diverse coalition to inalienable principles. Republicans can welcome a vigorous debate about legalized abortion or same-sex marriage; but we should be able to agree that social policies should be set through a democratic process, not by unelected judges.

A Political Party is not an ideological movement

Noemie Emory at the Weekly Standard points out the difference between an ideological movement (Conservatives, free-market capitalists, 2nd Amendment gun owners, gay log cabin republicans) and a political party (Democrat, Republican).

...a party and movement are not the same thing. A movement exists to express and promote a coherent set of principles in the world of ideas and of values. A party--especially in a two-party system--is something quite different: a gathering of diverse political forces around a large and loosely held set of interests and values, that exists to give all of its factions access to power in the practical world of events.

Yes! The GOP is the bus conservatives must ride to power. The catch is, you have to share it with some who don't think exactly like you. Fine. The temptation is to beat them into submission, but life doesn't work that way. Share the ride and maybe you can debate and convince them along the way to electoral victory.

"Conservatism is not a narrow ideology, nor is it the exclusive property of conservative activists."
-- Ronald Reagan, 1977

Many want to simply throw the ideological nonconformists off the bus, but Noemi reminds us that Reagan would not approve. Consider these comments from Ronald Reagan's 1977 address to conservative activists.

"The biggest single grouping of conservatives is to be found in that party. It makes more sense to build on that grouping than to break it up and start over," he said to those who suggested that option.

"Let me say this about our friends who are now Republicans but do not identify themselves as conservatives. I want the record to show that I do not view the new revitalized Republican party as one based on a principle of exclusion. After all, you do not get to be a majority party by searching for groups you won't associate or work with. If we truly believe in our principles, we should sit down and talk.

Those itching to purge the party of all impurity need to stop blabbering on about Reagan and actually pause to read what he has said.

WSJ - Jim DeMint
Weekly Standard - Noemie Emory