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December 21, 2004
Move the GOP to the Left?
Arnold Schwartzenegger believes that the GOP needs to move "a little farther left."
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) told a German newspaper in an interview published on Saturday that he believes the GOP should move "a little further left" in order to attract new voters and to continue to build the Republican Party base.While I have not checked around, I'm sure a lot of conservatives will be outraged.
"The Republican Party currently covers only the spectrum from the right wing to the middle, and the Democratic Party covers the spectrum from the left to the middle," Schwarzenegger explained in the newspaper interview. "I would like the Republican Party to cross this line, move a little further left and place more weight on the center."The Hollywood action star explained that "this would immediately give the [Republican] party 5 percent more votes without its losing anything elsewhere."
It bothers me not at all.
The reasons for this are several. First, I'm comfortable that the Republican Party is solidly conservative at it's core. We may debate this or that issue, but at the end of the day we'll remain Pro-Life, Pro-Second Amendment, strong on national defense, in favor of low taxes, and so on.
Second, I am strongly against attempts to enforce ideological orthodoxy. This is not a contradiction to the previous paragraph. I am certain that the party as a whole will remain conservative, that we will have dissenters on this or that issue affects the whole not at all.
The reason that I am so against excommunicating people for, say, taking a pro-choice stand, is that to do so is the surest way to minority party status. Look at the Democrats: They are the ones who enforce ideological orthodoxy on their members. No one dare express an opinion that is not pro-choice or anti-affirmative action. To do so ensures that you will be marginalized.
The GOP, meanwhile, is the "big tent" party. That Rudi Giuliani and Arnold Schwartzenegger were able to give prime-time speaches testifies to this. That the opposite could happen in the Democratic party is inconceivable. As such, they are doomed to minority party status for the foreseeable future.
So if Arnold wants to say that we should move "a little further left" I say fine, let him have his say. It's not going to change anything and the fastest way to chase people out of the party is to insist on purity of thought.
Posted by Tom at December 21, 2004 5:37 PM
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