Purity versus diversity
The Republican collision between ideologues and pragmatists
Purity versus diversity
Dick Polman, Inquirer National Political Columnist
On paper, the 23rd congressional district in upstate New York, way up near the Canadian border, is solid Republican territory - so solid, in fact, that this particular hunting and fishing region hasn't elected a Democratic congressman since the era immediately preceding the invention of the telephone. That would be circa 1869.
So one might reasonably assume that on Nov. 3, in a special election to fill the recently vacated House seat, that the Republican party's official nominee will win handily and life will go on as normal. Dede Scozzafava is a member of the state legislature with roots in the district, a seasoned pol endorsed by Republicans as disparate as moderate Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich - therefore, case closed.
But no. Never underestimate the contemporary Republican propensity for circular firing squads.
The GOP's conservative wing, incensed that Scozzafava harbors tolerant views about abortion and gay marriage, appears determined to bring her down in the name of ideological purity. Big-name conservatives - Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum, Dick Armey, Michele Bachmann, and many more - have defected to a rookie third-party candidate, an accountant named Doug Hoffman, who is running on New York's Conservative Party line. With eight days left on the campaign calendar, every poll reports that this fundamental Republican fissure is splitting the non-Democratic vote and making it highly likely that the Democratic candidate, Bill Owens, will capture the seat that he normally would never win.
Yeah, this is just one House seat, and the outcome of this race won't change the House power balance one way or the other. But this intramural GOP skirmish - between the purists and the pragmatists, between the grassroots and the party establishment, between the conservative ideologues and those in the party who embrace the notion of "big tent" diversity - is a harbinger of more to come.
We'll see it next summer in the Florida Senate Republican primary, which will pit moderate Charlie Crist (the current governor) against arch-conservative hero Mario Rubio; and we'll surely see it in the next presidential race, particularly if grassroots conservatives flock to a Palin candidacy while pragmatists opt for somebody who can actually win.
It's the old conundrum about going with your heart or voting with your head, and this is what we're seeing right now in upstate New York. The New York Republican establishment, and the GOP campaign committees in Washington, have this wild and crazy notion that a party can return to power only if it diversifies, only if it broadens the ideological spectrum and makes room for politicians who think differently on the issues. After all, that's how the Democrats returned to power on Capitol Hill - by recruiting anti-abortion, pro-gun, fiscally conservative candidates who fit their states and districts.
Hence, the New York GOP's choice of Scozzafava - for a congressional district that gave 52 percent of its '08 presidential vote to Barack Obama. Her formula for winning seemed commonsensical: pull in loyal Republicans, swing voters, conservative Democrats, and labor union folks (she has a good relationship with unions in the district).
But the Republican right favors purity over victory. Mary Matalin, the Republican strategist/talking head, says that Scozzafava's positions are "freedom-squashing." Anti-abortion leader Marjorie Dannenfelser calls the GOP nominee "a radical ultraleftist." (If Scozzafava is indeed a radical ultraleftist, how come the National Rifle Association has seen fit to endorse her?) Palin writes on her Facebook page that Scozzafava represents "politics as usual." The Club for Growth, a purist group that relishes attacking moderate Republicans, is peppering the district with TV ads that urge conservative voters to defect to Hoffman (who is running third in the polls).
The infighting is so bad that it has degenerated into comedic farce. A reporter for the right-wing Weekly Standard magazine has been dogging Scozzafava on the campaign trail, demanding that she explain her reluctance to embrace all manner of conservative orthodoxy - and things got so heated last week that a Scozzafava aide called the cops, claiming that the reporter was harassing the candidate. (A stupid move by the Scozzafava campaign.) Minutes later, the reporter was sitting in his car working on his laptop, when a cop rolled up, asked for his ID, and said (as the reporter later recalled), "You scared the candidate a little bit." The conservative press promptly jumped on this incident to demand last Thursday that Scozzafava quit the race (Redstate.com wrote: "She has become a liar, filing a false police report because a journalist dared ask a question she did not like").
But the bottom line is that the right-wing revolt is likely to cost the GOP an easy House seat and throw it to the Democrat. Newt Gingrich seems to understand the problem; as he wrote the other day, in a warning to conservatives, "if you seek to be a perfect minority, you'll remain a minority...There are times when you have to put together a coalition that has disagreement within it." And as ex-Bush speechwriter David Frum noted the other day, the right's intolerance for big-tent Republicanism "is not a formula for a national party. It's a formula for a more coherent, better mobilized, but perpetually minority party."
How did this House seat become vacant, anyway? Because President Obama tapped the long-serving Republican, John McHugh, to serve as Secretary of the Army. The Obama political team is undoubtedly pleased with the GOP's current intramurals - just as Republican moderates decidely are not.
And down in Florida, where ideology and pragmatism are already in collision, where Senate GOP hopeful Charlie Crist is already under severe attack from the right, state Republican chairman (and Crist booster) Jim Greer reportedly pleads, "Lord, save me from the purists."
Fat chance.
Democrats have Blue Dogs, Republicans have RINO's. This is just one local anecdote that will be forgotten by Thanksgiving.— SteveMG- I can never understand why third party candidates, who have to know they have no shot at winning, continue to stay in a race and just muck it up. This is an example, Daggett in New Jersey is another, Ross Perot in 1992, etc. Why waste the money, manpower, etc. Is it just to stroke their own egos? If Hoffman truly has no shot, he should bow out of the race. What good is a protest vote if it just puts into office a candidate with whom that voter truly disagrees. The people who vote for these candidates, knowing their vote is just being wasted, are just as bad.— tom - wilmington, de
- Meanwhile, what you won't read here, is that for fiscal 2010 the Democrat controlled House, which gained control rightly chastising Republicans for out of control spending, are preparing bills to increase discretionary spending by 12.6% over 2009 record levels. This while Chuck Schumer yesteday on Meet The Press said Democrats are getting a grip on the deficit and balancing the budget. Funny.— tom - wilmington, de
Why do people who have zero tolerance of diverse viewpoints admonish Republicans for challenging one of their own? Bottom line is, we don't like liberalism, we find it quite abhorrent. This isn't exactly a secret. I don't get what's so difficult to understand about that.— jmc- "Never underestimate the contemporary Republican propensity for circular firing squads." Translation: Polman still stubbornly clings to the left's fondest wishful thinking, namely, that BOTH parties, and eventually everyone everywhere, will accept the left's position on the issues, especially on the social questions. His willful ideological blindness (to call a spade a spade) clearly prevents him from seeing numerous instances of Democrtaic Party circular firing squads.— George Tomezsko
- Remember when George Bush was criticized for playing golf while troops were dying in Iraq? Well, CBS reporter Mark Knoller reported the other day that Obama has now tied Bush for rounds of golf played while in office at 24. It took Obama 9 months to hit this figure; it took W 2 years and 10 months. Shouldn't someone tell Obama this looks bad while a decision is still pending on Afghanistan?— tom - wilmington, de
- Hey, Dick, I've got a question that will test your consistency on this notion that GOP must become a "big tent:" if the GOP should broaden itself to include those who aupport legal abortion, should the Dems broaden themselves to include those who oppose it?— George Tomezsko
- To Tom: The freedom to vote for whom we please is intended to give all a voice. When I vote for whom I please, it says that I agree more with this candidate over the others, and isn't that the point of voting? How would my wishes be heard if I only voted for who I thought would win, even if I don't agree with them? If more of us thought like that and less like you, we would finally have a chance to (GASP!)have more candidates who are less far left or far right, and probably more centered. And what's the harm with more choices? Most Americans are not at either end of the spectrum, but more toward the middle.
- Great article, as usual. What the neocons like Palin, Armey and the usual suspects above, is that their brand of politics will ALWAYS keep them a minority. Unitl they are able to appeal to a wider audience.
Comment removed.- Dick, your political instincts are horrible, as usual. If you actually knew how conservatives and Republicans think, instead of your fantasy world, then your writing would be so much better. You're a smart guy, but trapped in a liberal bubble.— chrissmith
- OBAMA IS CONVISCATING ARE RIGHTS! WE WILL ALL BE IN REEJUCATION CAMPS FOR PEPTUITY! I AM AN IDIOT!!!— the stupid does burn
- chrissmith : I suppose Newt Gingrich and Ronald Reagan have/had no clue as to how conservatives think either. Both espoused the need for a pragmatic view of the party and inclusiveness - call it "big tent" or whatever you choose.— still_independent
Hey "the stupid does burn" LOL! The Repugs will think ur serious 2. F-U-N-N-Y!- I forgot, there are no far left wing extremists in the democratic party. Everyone in the democratic party is all in step with the far left fringe. It is all peace and joy. (The moderate and mainstream Blue Dogs do not really exist). Hey Dick, ever wonder why comrade Obama cannot get his agenda passed (hmm, it is not because of the republicans - he has substantial opposition in his own party). You gotta love how Polman wants to paint the republicans as a party controlled by the far right, when his beloved dems are at the mercy of the extremist left and why they will tank in 2010.— CD75
Cited by the Columbia Journalism Review as one of the nation's top political reporters, and lauded by the ABC News political website as "one of the finest political journalists of his generation," Dick Polman is a national political columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer. He is on the full-time faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, as "writer in residence." Dick has been a frequent guest on C-Span, MSNBC, CNN, NPR and the BBC. He covered the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 presidential campaigns.
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