Posted on 07/14/2002 10:30:52 AM PDT by rightwing2
The Battle for the Soul of the Republican Party
July 10, 2002 by David T. Pyne
It's primary season again and all across the country, there is a war being fought between the candidates of the liberal Republican establishment and the principled champions of the conservative grassroots members of the Republican Party who form its base. This conservative Republican base is responsible for every one of the nationwide victories of the Republican Party in recent memory; most notably the 1994 GOP landslide that swept Republican majorities into Congress. It continues to rebel against many of the moderate to very liberal candidates who are regularly foisted on it by an increasingly liberal Republican establishment disconnected from the Party’s grassroots membership. It is this grassroots conservative base that is responsible for transforming the GOP from a minority party during the 1950s-1980s into the majority governing party it has become today.
These battles are being fought in the individual congressional and gubernatorial races where conservative insurgents are often battling more fixtured center-left establishment candidates. The California gubernatorial primary this past March was the scene of one of the biggest battles between the conservatives and liberals in the Republican Party as former LA Mayor Richard Riordan, a Republican-In-Name-Only (RINO) - somewhat to the left of Bill Clinton on social issues like abortion and gay rights - faced moderate conservative Bill Simon for the GOP nomination for governor of California. Riordan had been all but anointed as the GOP gubernatorial nominee by the Bush Administration. In fact, he was personally recruited to run against two much more conservative primary contenders by President Bush himself. However, Simon pulled off a remarkable upset and won the primary against Riordan by a large margin.
Only last year, Bush and his top aides successfully and stealthily championed the appointment of liberal pro-abortion supporter Gerald Parsky as the de-facto chairman of the California State Republican Party. This move was clearly a bid to remake the California Republican Party in the Democrat Party’s liberal image in order to make it more electable. They succeeded and the California State Republican Party, previously one of the most conservative in the country, is now under the control of a man who has savaged all pro-life Republicans - including GOP gubernatorial nominee, Bill Simon, as extremist. What’s worse, Parsky has stated that he will sit out the election even though Bill Simon is leading California’s vulnerable Governor Gray Davis by as much as nine percentage points in a state that has been morphed by illegal immigration into a Democrat electoral stronghold. This massive rift between the Bush-championed liberal leadership of the California Republican Party and the Party’s grassroots led by Bill Simon threatens to abort the chances of a GOP victory in November against liberal Democrat Gray Davis.
There are other examples of the liberal Republican establishment’s support of moderates and liberals against solid conservatives. President Bush recruited pro-abortion center-lefter Elizabeth Dole to run for US Senator from North Carolina against former Senator Lauch Faircloth, one of the most conservative Senators in recent memory. Senator Faircloth had contributed a great deal of his time and money get Bush elected president and promised to spend millions of dollars of his own personal fortune to get re-elected to the Senate, but who has since abandoned the race in disgust at being stabbed in the back by the man whose election he had worked so hard to champion.
Bush’s recruitment of mushy moderate Lamar Alexander to run for US Senate in Tennessee against conservative House Impeachment Manager Ed Bryant is yet another example. The White House’s philosophy in backing liberals against their conservative opponents seems to be that the best strategy for getting Republicans elected is for GOP candidates to abandon conservative principles. The White House also selected a pro-abortion center-lefter, Marc Racicot to replace moderate conservative pro-lifer Jim Gilmore as RNC Chairman and championed the appointment of a liberal pro-abortion RNC Finance Chairman.
However, perhaps the most vivid current example of the ongoing war between the Republican left and right is the New Hampshire Republican Senate primary where Senator Robert Smith - who, during his 12 years in the US Senate, has amassed a record easily besting Jesse Helms as the most conservative member of the United States Senate - is under siege by a man who can only be described as a young “mushy moderate” upstart, Rep. John Sununu, Jr. This is by far the most interesting GOP primary race in that Smith, a Senate incumbent so staunchly conservative that he briefly left the Republican Party denouncing it for abandoning conservative principles, is facing a moderate congressman who is the son of former governor and chief of staff to President George H. W. Bush, John Sununu, a man who is the very definition of political centrism and political pragmatism.
Unlike Smith, who was rated among the top three conservatives in the US Senate during the current congressional session by the New American magazine’s Conservative Index, Sununu was ranked well below the House GOP average with a positively anemic Conservative Index of only 40%. Sununu, who is of Arab descent, supports the establishment of a Palestinian state and has received the financial backing of militant Islamic groups in the US. Sununu also voted in favor of President Bush’s proposed amnesty of two million illegal aliens, which passed the House by a one-vote margin, but was defeated in the Senate thanks to the venerable Senate President Pro-Tem Robert Byrd, a Democrat who is well to the right of both President Bush and Sununu on the issue of immigration.
After initially backing Senator Smith for re-election last year, the White House has shifted to a stance of official neutrality even as Sununu continues to receive endorsements from icons of the Republican left including liberal former Senator Warren Rudman and liberal White House Chief of Staff Andy Card. It was Card who recently warned of the threat from mushy moderate Bush advisor Karl Rove, the chief architect of Bush’s liberal GOP candidate recruitment strategy, whom he mistakenly identified as a “conservative.” The Sununu decision to challenge the most conservative member of the US Senate, Senator Robert Smith, seems likely to make this a bloody primary which will greatly increase the chances at getting the Democrat candidate elected as many of the supporters of the defeated primary candidate, whoever that may be, sit out the election in protest.
I hereby urge all conservative Republicans to unite in support of their respective conservative primary contenders and take a stand against the White House’s attempt to defeat solid pro-life conservatives with their own hand-picked center-left candidates in the GOP primaries. Abandonment of conservative principles and recruitment of liberal and often abortion-supporting candidates will not win elections for the GOP. Instead it will only serve to transform the GOP into a virtual clone of the Democrat Party destined for minority party status and thereby stymie the conservative agenda for years to come.
© 2002 David T. Pyne
David T. Pyne, Esq. is a national security expert who works in the US defense establishment responsible for the countries of the former Soviet Union and the Middle East among others. Mr. Pyne has briefed Army transformation and related issues at the Pentagon. He is also a licensed attorney and former Army Reserve Officer. In addition, he holds an MA in National Security Studies from Georgetown University. Mr. Pyne currently serves as Executive Vice President of the Virginia Republican Assembly. He is also a member of the Center for Emerging National Security Affairs based in Washington, D.C.
Smith... is under siege by a man who can only be described as a young “mushy moderate” upstart, Rep. John Sununu, Jr. This is by far the most interesting GOP primary race in that Smith, a Senate incumbent so staunchly conservative that he briefly left the Republican Party denouncing it for abandoning conservative principles, is facing a moderate congressman who is the son of former governor and chief of staff to President George H. W. Bush, John Sununu, a man who is the very definition of political centrism and political pragmatism.
The voters of New Hampshire will decide the fate of the loony senior Senator Bob Smith. It is very likely that they will decide rightfully that they can trade an insane conservative for a sane one. Oh, and to paint Sununu with the same brush as his dad is ridiculous fallacy. We know that Reagan wasn't a fall-down drunk, though his father was. Only this idiot would call Sununu a mushy moderate-- though I would call Smith a delusional, possibly senile grumpy old man (which is how Shaheen will paint him, as well). I don't like loose cannons. Having McCain in the party is way enough for me.
Smith is abrasive and isn't any kind of advocate for the cause of conservatism. I don't think he's persuaded anyone to his side because he's completely unpersuasive because of his personality. Sununu will win this primary or else the seat will be lost to Shaheen-- the chick that Gore thought would make a decent vice-president. Put her in the senate and she'll be back on the short list in 2004 or 2008. We New Hampshirites will take this opportunity to unplug her political career before she gets like Clintoon and never goes away.
Don't support a GOP elite that doesn't support us. Make clear to the country-clubbers that without us they can go home.
Anyone with an (R) after their name getting money from Islamazis or any Muslime groups is a TRAITOR! We all know the Demonrats are, but I will not tolerate this crap in MY STATE!
Loony or not, Smith is no TRAITOR...also I will not allow the Bush-1 connections to get more footholds.
Shaheen won't get the win, no matter what. Besides, Sununu isn't, to my knowledge, supporting Gordon Humphrey for Govenor after he was screwed by Shaheen, without any support or rebuttal in the last gubenatorial round!
Guess where Sununu stands in regards to the Claremont decision...hint, it ain't on the CONSTITUTIONAL side...
Screw the Bush-bots here...I am a CONSERVATIVE first. I have had ENOUGH of holding my nose for RINO'S that get W's support over good CONSERVATIVES.
It's YOUR TURN, you moderate/libs! YOU hold your nose, and support CONSERVATIVES in a time of WAR! Show me YOU are team players, or be labeled as the TRAITORS I suspect you are!
You're optimistic!
But would I vote for Sununu based on his OWN merits? Absoluetly NOT. If he was running unopposed in the general I'd probably skip over his name on the ballot. Actually, if his last wasn't "Sununu" he'd probably wouldn't get elected dog catcher. And if I had to vote based on the way his "supporters" have been acting on this forum, I wouldn't vote for Sununu at all. You have done everything to smear one the best Senators in the ENTIRE country-- YOUR Senator-- simply because his approval ratings are low.
You claim Smith and his supporters have unfairly claimed Sununu is pro-Palestinian. That's not an unfair attack. It's a FACT. All one needs to do is look at his voting record. Almost no members of congress voted to support a Palestine state without a guarantee Israel would stay intact. But Sununu did. There are dozens of pro-Palestinian and pro-Muslim votes he's made over the years that no one in right mind would support. He takes money from Arab groups linked to terrorists (and I'm not making an idiotic statement that Sununu is pro-terrorist, I'm simply saying he doesn't bother to see if he's ACCIDENTALLY associating with pro-terrorists groups) Smith was one of the biggest speakers at the Pro-Israel rally. Sununu was no where to be found.
On the other hand, Sununu supporters HAVE engaged in unfair attacks to go after Smith personally instead of his record. Half of what the "conservative" Sununu supporters say sounds identical to the stuff posted at D.U. underground. Smith is a "bozo, a bumbler, a stupid jerk with a bad hairpiece, a fool, an embarrassment" and anything else you can claim to make him look bad. You CAN'T attack him on his voting record because the ONLY "liberal" vote you have EVER located is his anti-ANWR vote. You're desperate to smear a good conservative. Sununu supporters will make up flat out lies like "Smith joined a 3rd party and tried to help Gore win". (incidentially, Smith ADMITTED he was wrong to BRIEFLY become an independent-- but Sununu Sr. NEVER admitted said he was wrong to support RINO Souter, the WORST "Republican" on the Supreme Court) I believe at this point that Smith would lose a general election -- but NOT because of Shaheen. It's because the "conservative" Sununu supporters will attack Smith out of spite rather than get on board and be proven wrong about his "electablity". Many Sununu supporters would actaully take Shaheen over Smith. It's sickening.
IMO, your desperate attack on Smith the other week was the lowest you can get. NO Smith supporter went after Sununu for voting for the bloated Republican-sponcered "prescripition drug coverage" bill, because almost EVERY Republican voted for it. It would be a waste of time to even criticize Sununu because everyone caved on this one. But you were gleefully pointing out SMITH had stuff on his website point to his support for drugs for seniors. I guess you think it's OKAY for Sununu to vote for it but NOT Smith. Your hypocrisy was simply amazing, and simply unethical. I, at least, have NEVER attacked a "moderate" for voting for something that the guy I am supporting ALSO voted for.
And I'm tired of hearing about all your experts in New Hampshire. Sununu supporters sound like the chorus of Monicagate supporters with their devotion to "the polls". Your "experts" told us Buchanan would never carry N.H., neither would McCain, and Swett was elected senator in 1996. They've tried this goofy stuff in other states with utter failture.
The GOP establishment is utterly clueless with who is the "best bet" to win in every state. "Riordan will be a shoo-in! He's mayor of the 2nd largest city in the nation! Simon can't win!! Vote Riordan or you'll GIVE the election to Davis!" remember that? How about this one? "Jim Ryan got the largest vote total of any statewide Republican candidate in Illinois during the 1998 election. He's the only one elected to two terms. He's a shoo-in it to beat Blagojevic and the ONLY one who can do it! Read the polls! He's not corrupt. He's so much better than that GOOFY, RIGHT-WING UNKNOWN O'MALLEY NUT, who is UNFAIRLY claiming members of Jim Ryan's leadership team might be under federal investigation soon. O'Malley is a wacko who says Ryan can't win just to be mean!" Now, have you seen what's going on in Illinois lately? Let me just summarize: every "false" statement O'Malley made came to pass, Jim Ryan is way behind Blagojevic...meanwhile, my lame duck state Senator is STILL the most popular (and probably the most conservative) elected official in COOK county, and being seriously considered for IL party chairman in a desperate attempt to unify the party and show votes the leader of the party is NOT corrupt.
Your attacks on Smith just make him so more principled. It's all been done before. The GOP establishment in 1980 told Illinois voters that Reagan was a "dumb, has been grade-B actor" who would destroy the party's "only" chance to beat Carter. Now, Reagan is originally from Illinois. The Illinois GOP establishment, including the governor at that time, pushed Ford over Reagan in 1976 and RINO Congressman John Anderson in 1980. (He was the "only" Republican who could win "liberal" Illinois) In fact, Anderson ran AGAINST Reagan as an independent in 1980 out of spite (you know, sort of like the stuff you falsely claim Smith did) Here's my response to the GOP establishment:
ILLINOIS VOTE TOTALS
Ronald Reagan 2,358,049 votes-- 49.65%
Jimmy Carter 1,981,413 votes-- 41.72%
John Anderson 346,754 votes-- 7.30%
It's that simple. But though you call yourself "Conservative", you won't even check to see if your "front runner" for Governor is pro-abortion or not (I'm SUPPOSED to believe New Hampshire voters are "conservative" but DON'T CARE where a candidate stands on social issues -- which is really odd considering virtually all of your elected officials are pro-life and even your 'RAT governor is a moderate on it). It's not like being pro-life would damage his campaign. Sorry, if that were true New Hampshire would be called New York. "Conservative" voters are majority pro-life. Smith is one the best pro-life champions in the Senate, and you hate him. All you have to do is see if Benson supports this issue (not even champion it, just MENTION it) and pro-lifers, which are a HUGE share of the Republican base, will rally around and promote his candidacy.
If you're so conservative, try standing for a conservative issue for a change. It's that simple.
Then there's Colin Powell and Norman Mineta ...
My point was that many here at FR believe that Smith is the Ron Paul of the senate-- as purely conservative as the driven snow, so to speak. I am tired of the people who call Sununu a RINO and believe that Smith can do no wrong. I am not against Smith's support for a prescription drug benefit-- it shows some grasp of political realities. Many of his supporters here at FR don't acknowledge political realities.
Most experts believed that Buchanan would win the primary in 1992, most experts believed McCain would win the primary in 2000, and most experts believed the Swett-Smith race would be close. Buchanan out-worked Bush 41, McCain out-worked Bush 43 and Swett was a credible candidate and only lost by three points. I don't know what you're talking about.
There has long been a battle for the soul of the Republican Party.
It's been going on for years.
It is mainly defined by the pro-life agenda.
While the GOP is killing one another over every other issue, the dems have been building a base that believes they are all victims.
As a result, it has become very easy to be a democrat.
You are not implying that this is new, are you?
John Sununu has said he will urge his supporters to unite behind Smith and that he will work hard to get Smith elected if he loses the primary. All we hear from Smith on that front is the chirping of crickets. I hope Smith doesn't go thermo-nuclear after the primary should he lose, but it is possible. He has a history of erratic behavior. Sununu does not.
http://www.constitutionparty.com
This gets my vote for the dumbest post of the day.
Oh, and the dumbest of the year.
In the same district, conservative Republicans recently ousted a number of RINOs from local party leadership and have taken over the Party here. The ousted RINO chairman, O.O. Leinenger, was so mad that he quit the party and re-registered as an independent and donated money to Democrat candidates. A few months ago he registered again as a Republican so that he could cause mischief and sabotage conservative Republicans in the Primary elections. In fact, he just took 5 candidates for Precinct Committeeman to court and challenged their petitions. The Democrat judge was happy to throw out 3 of the candidates' petitions (taking them off the ballot) while several Democrat Party bigwigs yucked it up in the back of the courtroom. To add further insult and damage to the Republican Party, Leinenger was quoted in the local paper as saying that the current party leadership was "to the right of Genghis Khan" and not unlike "BirchSocietyism". He is doing everything he can now to reinstall his leftist RINO regime back in to party leadership.
Posted wirelessly from my PocketPC.
So it doesn't bother you that Smith crawled on his ample belly back to the Republican party to get John Chafee's committee chairmanship before his body was cold?
That told me all I needed to know about Bob Smith's "principle".
I don't know what "Conservative Index" you're referencing, but John Sununu is rated at 94% on the American Conservative Union website.
That's a higher lifetime rating than Bob Smith has.
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