A Pox on the "Moderates"

In my next few essays, I will explore the types of candidates and issues the GOP must support in order to retake the United States from the Socialist Democrats.

Let's take the issue of "moderates." Moderates are pitched by the media as being cool-headed voters and politicians who avoid the hot-headed extremes of left and right, who are open to compromise and negotiation, who can see both sides of every issue and take a measured, thoughtful and reasoned approach to every question. There is an implication that if you aren't a "moderate" you must be a mindless zealot or fanatic.

What a crock. Moderates are indecisive, uninformed, ambivalent voters and politicians who can't make up their minds on any issue. They are fence-sitters without core beliefs or commitment to any real political philosophy. They are subject to the whims of political fads, hype and hoopla. Our goal in the GOP should not be to "appeal to the moderates," as if moderates have any specific view (their views are all over the map). Our goal with regard to moderates should be to convert them to full conservatism. Our strategy should not be to court them by appealing to their vanity as "reasoned" voters. Rather, we should seek to expose them for what they are, intellectually lazy individuals whose loyalties are subject to whatever political winds that blow.

For the record, both George W. Bush and John McCain are "moderate" Republicans. Neither has served or defended the Party well.

As John Hawkins at Right Wing News puts it:

It's worth noting that there is no "moderate" political party in the United States. When the American people go to the ballot box, we have a center-right nation choosing between the Republican Party and radical, left-wing socialists. A competent, conservative Republican Party will not only be more representative of its core supporters, it will win at the ballot box when it goes head to head with liberals. Look back to Reagan and the 1994 Revolution to see that principle in action. Now, look to 2006 and 2008 to see how an incompetent, "moderate" Republican Party does at the ballot box.

"Moderate" Republicans are those without a deep belief in the principles of their party and, in a fight, are unable or unwilling to defend them. That, no doubt, explains McCain's tepid performance engaging Obama in debate.

It also explains why Sarah Palin has a future in the GOP and the McCain staffers, who are now falsely blaming her for the defeat, do not.