There’s only one thing more ridiculous this election cycle than members of the “punditstracrocy” imparting to us the notion that nominating a moderate is the GOP’s only or best chance at winning the general election. And that one thing is to hear full fledged liberals like Tom Brokaw and Chris Matthews “suggest” to Republicans that it is in our best interest to nominate someone like, say, Arizona Senator John McCain. Well thanks for the advice guys. We know you have our back.
Heck, why don’t we just nominate good ole K halid Sheik Mohammed down at Gitmo to the NSA? (Oh I forgot, concierge McCain has installed a permanent do not disturb —or moisten-- sign on the Jihad Ramadan suite at Guantanimo. That is until we can jet KSM first class to the United States where the ACLU can handle his legal defense fund with help from Michael Moore and Ramsey Clark.)
But back to the Myth of McCain and his electability. This whole notion of what it takes for a Republican to win is to reassemble the Reagan Democrats and independents into the GOP voting block is on its face correct. Simple math really. You hold your base. You win the battle of the undecideds (translated here as folks educated by our government schools system who turn to American Idol for their news) and you pick off some of the more intelligent Democrats. Voila, you win 49 states. Heck, even Ed Rollins can’t screw that one up.
So while the math is correct…it’s the assumption of the “how to” part of this equation that is fatally flawed. The Dick Morris - Frank Luntz-Chris Matthews-RNC recipe dictates that we….as in those of us who bothered to pay attention and know where we stand….pretend we really don’t pay attention and don’t know where we stand or at least don’t really mean it and go squishy moderate to attract this massive voting block of the blithering. That’s how we do it. Every election is a race for the committed on either side to be the MOST un-committed so as to attract those who really ought to be committed. (Wasn’t it some tobacco using meat eating heterosexual white guy like Jefferson who said something about potential problems of an uneducated electorate?)
In all fairness, this assumption is half right. It is how liberals…and the only way liberals….can win national elections. They have to go squishy. We’ll just call it lying. (This could be what confuses Dick Morris, the brains behind Bill Clinton’s “triangulation” strategy.) Liberals have to pretend to be moderate so they can get elected. Once in office, they can get their own black clad politburo installed via the courts so that what they REALLY believe can be snuck in through the courts in off election years. And it won’t be mentioned on The View or Oprah so no one will realize it. Heard that from Terry McAuliffe.
But that is most decidedly NOT how Ronald Reagan did it. In fact, that’s not how any Republican has ever done it. The GOP only wins national elections when there is a clear and present chasm between the parties ideologies. The best way to insure this is for the Republican to be an unabashed conservative so that ideological divide exists regardless of who the liberals front for their party. Besides that, there is the little detail about conservatism is the best way to organize our government and society. And that is really why Reagan never left his conservative roots and beliefs (a little 1986 tax dalliance notwithstanding).
And look at the results. In the face of blistering media criticism and much attempting belittling from the Hollywood left, Reagan stood his ground and smiled and laughed and trounced incumbent Jimmy Carter. Carter of course was leading us down the inspirational road of shared austerity and was some 444 days into his first of many Middle East disasters. Besides, he carried an empty garment bag over his shoulder when deplaning Air Force One . Of course, I guess the bag was perfect for his empty suits.
Once elected, Reagan continued to laugh at the liberal congress and the media and the intellectual giants like Barbara Streisand and he told us to “stay the course” and four years later he won an historic landslide win with 49 states. And then after another four years of laughing at his critics and standing firm, the Soviet Union was gone, tax rates were down by two thirds but a booming economy had Federal Revenue double what it was when he took his first oath , most Americans had jobs and the world’s finest military was now ours, not the Kremlin ’s . Hell, under Reagan we were so feared and revered that even a liberal like Sean Connery brought us his silent nuclear Russian sub!
Americans loved Reagan. The conservative base felt so strongly that turn out was through the roof. Independents were attracted to the GOP due to his beliefs supported by his character and persuasion. Some liberals shed their sack cloth and became real Americans under this same persuasive ability. THAT is how Reagan did it. He did not build a “big tent.” He just had a doggone crowded tent. It was still covered only by the narrow set of core beliefs the man held for 40 years. (memo to George Bush….notice the mourning of an entire nation of a man who never made a decision based on trying to get along….and contrast that to your childish “new tone” and 26% approval rating. On the bright side, your funeral won’t cause so much as a traffic jam).
So it’s a myth that we need a big tent and a moderate standard barrier to win. In fact, that’s guaranteed defeat. The last moderate to win was Ike, but he did that on the strength of a rather NON moderate exercise on the French coast in 44. Bush 41 was a moderate President, but he was elected on the basis of his service under Reagan and later trounced on his own moderate merits. Bush 43 won because candidates Gore and Kerry gave him a very wide ideological swath to the left. Bottom line, when the distinction is not clear (thanks Mr. Perot) the liberals win. When the distinction is huge, we win.
Which leads us to another myth…McCain himself. His whole image is a myth made by the media fawning over him (when he trashes conservatives and conservative principals). His myth is propogated by the kid gloves Bush gives him (with all of that new tone jazz and in fear of the fawning media). The myth is furthered when folks like Morris or Luntz preach their misled gospel of the middle and folks buy it. This is a guy who has destroyed part of the First Amendment with his McCain Feingold bill. He has weakened our security with his stance on water boarding. He has trashed the religious right at times and taken credit for championing them with a “green” agenda at others. (huh?). He has weakened the national judiciary with his “Gang of 14” maneuvering. His “straight talk” reputation comes from a media that loves “left talk” and calls is straight. (We think it’s the only straight thing the media likes). His maverick status comes from the fact that he’ll go against his own party. Never mind that in D.C. that’s the most gutless decision you can make. His pro life claim is backed up, by, uh, nothing.
He is not a conservative. He is not a real Republican. He is not a tax cutter. He is not in favor of increased use of our own energy resources. He is not a maverick and he is not full of straight talk. He is one big myth. He cannot win. And if he does, we still lose.