By Matt Hurley for the TIB Network:
Quoth David Limbaugh:
"Moderate" Republicans for years have been urging the GOP to abandon social conservatism, as being too divisive and suicidal in terms of alienating swing voters. The GOP better not fall for this advice. Ronald Reagan didn't buy into diluting his policies on such important issues. And it hardly damaged him politically. The party must not turn its back on its base.For the most part, I agree with David. I've met some rather "Carvillian" Republicans in my day though that give even me pause.
That is not to say that the party should refuse the support of those who don't agree with all of its tenets. But they shouldn't compromise their defining principles for the sake of building a bigger tent. The tent will be bigger and stronger to the extent they remain true to the conservative message.
There seems to be a willingness on the part of the GOP in general and Bush/Cheney in particular to expand the party whatever the cost. If successful, a catastrophe of epoch proportion would occur.
I really don't have a problem with negotiating with "moderate" elements of the Republican Party, I used to be one. My problem is that we have a candidate that is willing to consider an amnesty program for people who have broken the law by the nature of the way they got here. Immigration reform is just one issue, there are other related issues like border security that this campaign (and its candidate) don't seem real interested in taking the conservative view.
The base is large, and growing, but the fear is that the GOP will compromise its principles in order to garner a few more votes. At which point I say, why bother?
The reason to bother in this election is that we are fighting a war on
