Sorry for the delay in posting- been a busy week! Now, some quick post election thoughts...
For centrist Republicans like myself, Tuesday night was exactly what I wanted to have happen. First, conservatives made some strong gains in VA and NJ, both states that Democrats had laid claim to. This should scare some of the more centrist Democrats from swing states into thinking twice about walking lock step with Obama. Landreiu, Nelson and Bayh had better be very careful when it comes time to vote on a public option.
Second, the Conservative Party candidate lost in NY. I know this may seem at first a contradiction- but I still believe that to build a party that can govern effectively you need a big tent. If Hoffman had won it would have sent the signal to the far right to go ahead and weed out all moderates. ( Please note however that I do not think Hoffman himself was a far right candidate, nor do I think the Republican chased out of the race was a moderate- she was a liberal in GOP clothes. But the point is it would have set a precedent that I feel is bad for the Republican Party.)
So all in all it was a great night!
For centrist Republicans like myself, Tuesday night was exactly what I wanted to have happen. First, conservatives made some strong gains in VA and NJ, both states that Democrats had laid claim to. This should scare some of the more centrist Democrats from swing states into thinking twice about walking lock step with Obama. Landreiu, Nelson and Bayh had better be very careful when it comes time to vote on a public option.
Second, the Conservative Party candidate lost in NY. I know this may seem at first a contradiction- but I still believe that to build a party that can govern effectively you need a big tent. If Hoffman had won it would have sent the signal to the far right to go ahead and weed out all moderates. ( Please note however that I do not think Hoffman himself was a far right candidate, nor do I think the Republican chased out of the race was a moderate- she was a liberal in GOP clothes. But the point is it would have set a precedent that I feel is bad for the Republican Party.)
So all in all it was a great night!
2 comments:
I still must disagree with you, having the big tent is what has caused the GOP to be losing the past elections. Just because Hoffman lost, do not think that the right doesn't want more like him to be able to chose from.
The rapture-ready radical right want a lot of things. Doesn't mean it is good for the Republican Party or for the country. When did being conservative mean waging some kind of ideological crusade? I wish there were more Rockefeller Republicans around.
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