Sirotablog
David Sirota is a political journalist and nationally syndicated newspaper columnist at Creators Syndicate. David writes about political corruption, globalization and working-class economic issues often ignored by both of America's political parties.
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August 8, 2007 11:03 AM
GOP Purge In Idaho and Montana?
The Idaho Statesman's Kevin Richert has been tracking how conservatives in his state are trying to change election laws to close party primaries and then purge moderate candidates/lawmakers from the Republican Party. That's no conspiracy theory. Richert points readers to the Idaho Values Alliance which explicitly states that the push for a closed primary is designed to make it "easier for pro-family candidates to survive GOP primaries, and harder for Republicans-in-name-only to get into office." Richert says, "Make no mistake - this is a purge."
The same thing seems to be happening next door to Idaho in Montana. Here was the Associated Press's report at the end of Montana's legislative session, after a group of more moderate Republicans (and that's a relative term in Montana) met with Gov. Brian Schweitzer's (D) administration to hammer out a budget compromise:
"Rep. Roger Koopman, R-Bozeman, called the meeting an 'unholy alliance' between 'liberal Republicans and a liberal governor.' Some are promising that Lange won't be the last casualty, saying they will recruit primary challengers to oust the dozen-or-so of their rank that met privately with the governor's office. 'I think it's ultimately going to cause some major changes in the Republican Party in the next election,' Koopman said. 'I don't see the conservative mainstream in the Republican party lying down to that. I see it as having a long-term positive effect.'"
A month later, Republican State. Sen. Jerry Black fired back, telling the Billings Gazette, "We need to move toward the middle - in the mainstream - and we need to be able to negotiate more effectively."
I actually think those pushing for closed primaries have a decent point. Party primaries are for parties to determine who their nominees are. They are arenas for parties to hash out their internal differences. If the Rocky Mountain Republican parties want to go off the right cliff with extreme conservatism that the public is clearly rejecting, that should be those parties' right, without the primary election input of those who refuse to even commit to affiliating with the party in the first place. Of course, I'm not saying I agree with the agenda that these conservatives are pushing nor with their efforts to purge moderates. However, I do think there's something wrong with a system that lets people who don't even officially affiliate with a party through their registration nonetheless have a say in the party's internal primary battles. It's sort of akin to thinking you should have a vote on a company's shareholder resolutions even if you don't own a share in the company. We don't allow that, and for good reason.
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About David Sirota
David Sirota is a political journalist and nationally syndicated newspaper columnist at Creators Syndicate. He is the New York Times bestselling author of Hostile Takeover. He lives in Denver, Colorado. His daily blog can be found at CREDO Action. He contributes regularly to the Denver Post's Web site, is a senior editor at In These Times magazine and is working on his second book. He has been profiled in Newsweek and the Rocky Mountain News and is widely known for his reporting on political corruption, globalization and working-class economic issues often ignored by both of America's political parties. Sirota serves as co-chair of the Progressive States Network, a 501(c)3 organization that supports state legislators and that is a partner of CREDO.
You can subscribe to Sirota's e-mail newsletter by going to davidsirota.com and signing up in the lefthand corner. To find out more about Sirota, download his official biography or see his recent media appearances. You can e-mail him at sirota@credoaction.com.
The views expressed on this blog are his own, and do not necessarily represent the views of Working Assets (publisher of CREDO Action) or the institutions Sirota works for.
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Discussion
Centrism and Moderate are nothing but BULLSHIT words to try and hide one's extremist views. Real moderates and centrists I have met are a hell of a lot different than the political hacks one would meet in Washington. As long as there is no true moderation in this politically fucked up system, any political who calls themselves a "centrist" or "moderate" is an outright baldfaced LIAR and deserves to be SHOT !
Its amusing to watch a pack of crooked businessmen who don't realize the con is up go into a death spiral like Idaho GOPers are doing.
They forget that it was the moderate and traditional GOPers who got the party into power. These folks put a human face on the party. Now the party is shedding them and replacing them with religous and corporate meatpuppets who look like freakish pygmies when compared with the moderates.
They won't have any more appeal than does Ralph Nader by the time this is over.
At the rate the GOP is imploding it wouldn't suprisement that the party fractures in '08 after they get their ass kicked again.
As for closed primaries - I'm against them. Sure it allows the opposition party to try and game the system by throwing support to the most unelectable candidate there is. But most of the time the party hacks end up doing the opposition work for them. - just ask the '04 Democrats who pushed Kerry(aka: Bush 2.0) or the GOP and its presidential ompah ompah brigade.
Or look at the all the stupid Democrats who supporting the arch crook Hillary. They don't care that she'll sell they out and bankrupt the country. Mindless ideology once trumps the candidates unvarnished greed and powermongery.
Closed primaries are rather common out here in Nebraska. Of course, even though the moderate faction of the GOP exists, it's only on social issues. Even on the environment and war in Iraq, there's quite a division in the NE GOP these days but there's one thing that keeps the party together and unfortunately, it's their ironic unity on the economy. The ironic part is many of the social conservatives used to be pro-Democratic when it came to the economy but the "if you can't beat them join them" losing mentality changed all that when they lost hope after watching the Democratic Party caving in to the sellout policies that only the GOP would normally support. The best way to test for any actual moderates these days is to run the economic issues against each of their stands and see who's really moderate.
So, the Republicans are continuing to try to slit their own throats.
It seems that they are now trying to split the Republican party by telling the more mainstream Republicans that they don't want them. Either go lock-step or go home.
The people should dictate to the party not the party to the people. When the Party dictates to the people, things can go very wrong.
Think Germany in the 1930s and 40s.
The bright side is the possibility that this would open up a split in the Republican party, with the moderate Republicans going off and starting their own party.
If they did that, they would have to start building up their new party, which will take years, and leave the Democrats as the party with the clear majority for several election cycles, if they play it right.
The rabid conservatives, in the meantime would have isolated themselves and become a non-issue. Leaving the Democrats with a clear track.
It would also be a good time for a house cleaning in the Democratic party, since the Democrat oligarchs can't use the BS excuse of needing to keep all the good 'ol boy and girl sell-outs because we need to elect all the Democrats we can.
We could boot the Republi-lite politicians, and bring the Democrats back to their true base, which is the working people, NOT either the oligarchs or the limousine liberals.
Way to go Republicans!
Butte
It doesn't work that way. Parties need external pressure/competition in the form of another party to remain healthy and honest. No competition is a prescription for disaster for a party.
We got a taste of it after the '06 elections where the Democrats did their Kubuki Dance - the 100 hours of bullshit by Pelosi. Then they went back to taking orders from K Street, gutting CAFE standards, cutting secret trade deals, doing nothing to stregthen various agencies that people depend on like OSHA, EPA, and FDA.
A major win for the Dems in '08 will only return them to their nasty elitist ways of the 1980's when they stopped listening to anyone except money men.
The only way I see it changing if Osama gets his hands on a nuke and incinerates D.C. Its the only way we'll get rid of the crooks that infest our capitol.
waltc: So what are you going to do? Just go along with the Republi-lites? Give your vote to some fly by night third party spoiler?
Grass roots pressure can work, if enough people start supporting populist candidates, campaigning for them, and contributing directly to those candidates and NOT to the DNC/DLC, DCCC or the DSCC.
The money needs to go directly to the populist candidates, and sending it to the national party is throwing it away. We need to work locally to make a difference.
Shut out the national party.
It's the only option we have to start cleaning up this mess in Washington.
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