Grand Ol' Purge

With Charlie Crist's announcement Thursday, that he would be running as an independent for the vacant Florida Senate seat in this year's mid-term election, I believe we can make it official, there is a purge goin' on in the Republican Party. No moderates need apply.

This stunning decision by Crist is just the latest in a line of moderate Republicans who have been forced out of their party for not being conservative enough.

The first was Arlen Specter, the long tenured Senator from Pennsylvania. Facing a primary challenge from the Club For Growth (more on them later) who supported candidate Pat Toomey, Specter made the decision to switch his part affiliation to Democrat shortly after he took a beating in conservative circles for supporting the President's stimulus plan. To be clear, Specter's decision is as much about saving his ass as it is about ideology, but still, it's not often a candidate with 44 years of service to one party switches teams.

Next came the debacle in New York's special election for the house seat in the 23rd congressional district. Dede Scozzafava--a true moderate on issues ranging from labor unions to abortion rights--was selected as the Republican candidate for the open seat. Because of her down the middle views, she took a pasting from right wing Republicans like Sarah Palin, and conservative talk show hosts such as Rush Limbaugh. Both of whom line up behind the so called conservative candidate, Doug Hoffman. A man who rivaled Palin in his inability to answer a substantive question. Facing certain defeat, Scozzafava dropped out of the race leaving Hoffman and Democrat Bill Owens in a head to head match up. Despite Hoffman having the backing of the right wing, the Tea Party, and the Club For Growth (that name again), and the fact that no Democrat had held that seat since the 1850's, Hoffman lost.

Still, this setback has not stopped the push for purity on the part of the ultra-conservative wing of the party.

Even the most recent Republican standard bearer, John McCain is in the fight of his life against conservative talk show host, JD Hayworth. The challenge from Hayworth has forced McCain to go so far right in his positions, that he even supports a clearly unconstitutional immigration law that was signed by Republican Governor Jan Brewer just last week. A law that requires local police officers to ask for proof of citizenship from anyone they "suspect" of being in the country illegally. That slippery slope has McCain backtracking on his previously held position that creates a path to citizenship for illegals.

Hell, Senator Bob Bennett from Utah--a true conservative (see his views on abortion, taxes, and health care)--is unlikely to make it out of his state primary after 18 years of service due to a Tea Party candidate!

Now, we have the saga of Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio. By most accounts, Crist has been a pretty damn good Governor for the state of Florida. He has looked out for his state's environment while maintaining a good record on energy, law enforcement, and has been pro-active in attacking the recession. It's not like he's unpopular with the people of his state either. His current approval rating stands at 56%. However, Crist--like many cash strapped Governors--supported the Obama stimulus plan. For the right wing Republican base, this was seen as a betrayal. Enter: Marco Rubio. The articulate, handsome, and very conservative Florida Speaker of the House. Rubio railed against the stimulus, health care reform, and all things Obama.

With low statewide name recognition and little money, Rubio's chances against the popular sitting Governor seemed dim. It was only 2008 when Crist was considered a finalist for the Vice Presidential slot on the Republican ticket with John McCain. Unfortunately for Crist, he took the dynamic Rubio for granted. He assumed--like many--there was no way he could lose. Crist simply didn't see two things coming: The Tea Party movement and the escalating powers of the Club For Growth.

Rubio was quickly adopted by the Tea Party and the Club For Growth as a poster boy for their anti-Obama revolution. Most people have a pretty good sense of the Tea Party by now. They are typically made up of older whites who feel that Obama is somehow stealing the country from them and overtaxing them. They either don't know or don't care that Obama was elected democratically and that taxes are at there lowest rate in over 50 years. Many of them can't even be convinced of his religion or birthright despite all the available evidence. Basically, if you're against Obama, that's good enough. Well, Rubio is against Obama and Crist supported the President's stimulus bill and--horror of horrors!--actually embraced Obama in public. Nevermind that in a faltering economy the state of Florida was looking at massive lay-offs of teachers, police officers, and many others without the influx of stimulus funds, anything that comes from the Kenyan Muslim President must be bad. That was the moment when Crist started to lose the far right base.

Less well known, but perhaps even more influential is the Club For Growth. Founded in 1999, the Club For Growth is a fiscally conservative political organization dedicated to promoting the nomination of "true" conservative candidates. They actually coined the term "R.I.N.O." (Republican in name only), and created a "watch list" to track who was a true conservative and who was a well, R.I.N.O. They even have a "Comrade of the Month" award that they give to the politician who does not reflect their views. Real mature. I imagine they should just rename it the "Barack Obama Award" at this point. You know, with him being a socialist and all. The current Club For Growth President, former Indiana Representative, Chris Chocola (whom my wife met once and thought was a complete ass--and my wife is one of the nicest people I have ever met) has harnessed this right wing surge in support of the Club's goals. And what are their goals? Well, they are simply to purify the party and leave only the most conservative members standing.

Which of course, is their absolute right. But you have to question the long term feasibility of this strategy. There is a perception of the Republican party as the "pale, male, and stale" party. While that's not entirely true (see Palin and Rubio), it is largely accurate. Minorities and people under the age of 34 voted for Obama by 2-1 margins. As this racially diverse population ages and the older population dies off, what will be the long term effect on the Republican party? I'm here to tell you, it ain't good.

Sure, Republicans are going to make short term gains in the 2010 mid-terms. Due to a poor economy, an angry electorate, and the cyclical nature of mid-term elections, the Democrats can expect to lose seats in November. Maybe even a lot of seats. However, take a longer look down the road, and the viability of the Republican party going forward is at serious risk. They already have no appeal to blacks. Women are much more likely to be Democrats (and they now outnumber men in the U.S.), I've already covered young people. But what about the fastest growing minority in the United States? What about the Hispanic/Latino population?

In the 2004 and 2008 Presidential elections, George W. Bush--with his Texas Roots, moderate views on immigration, and ability to speak Spanish--was able to pull over 40% of the Hispanic/Latino vote. Many Hispanic/Latinos are culturally conservative and very religious, making them ripe for the picking for forward thinking Republicans. However, Obama was able to reverse this trend in 2008 by a 67% to 31% margin over John McCain.

But if you think that was bad, wait about 10 years. Over the next decade, Arizona and Texas will likely become majority minority states. And if Republicans want to keep on the road of unconstitutional enforcement of new immigration laws, well, it doesn't take a genius to see that they could piss away the Hispanic/Latino vote for years to come.

The idea of trading long term gains for short term results is hardly new. Our country has been kicking the can down the road on such hot button issues as entitlement reform, the environment, alternative energy, and infrastructure repair as well as immigration for years now (just to name a few). That's why Health Care Reform was so historic--when was the last time before this that we got anything major done? We avoid these things because they are tough, emotional issues. But isn't that why we vote? To have people in places of power who are willing and capable of making the most necessary decisions of the day?

Now, let me say, I'm no moderate. I am a liberal. How liberal? Well, I'm probably left of Jesse Jackson. Hell, I'm still pissed that the slaves never got their 40 acres and a mule (not kidding). Having said that, I'm also pragmatic. I realize that to get things done you need the two sides to work together, and this requires moderates of both stripes to find areas of compromise. Unfortunately, the Republican party has decided that there are no rooms available at the Inn for people of such persuasion. So, enjoy your gains in November my Republican friends, it may have to last you a long time.

Sumo-Pop
April 29, 2010