The Failed Logic of the NRSC

For a couple election cycles, Republicans have clearly believed “the more moderate the better”. The result has been that the American people have had two versions of Democrats to choose from–the middle left and the hard left.

Forget social issues for a moment. Just think of something that affects us all: Money. When it comes to taxing and spending, both middle of the roaders and leftists believe in taxing and spending. It’s just a matter of degrees.

On social issues, Americans are more moderate than the extremes of either party. As someone who is ardently anti-abortion, but for common-sense solutions like a morning after pill, my advice to the Republicans is to look at what matters to Americans most: It’s the economy, stupid. It’s lower taxes. It’s less intrusion. It’s less debt. It’s nicer rhetoric.

But the Senate Republicans don’t get it. They have had the equation exactly backwards. The sound like crusty old, intractable throw-backs while having the soft mushy middle-left Democrat core. It’s the worst of all worlds. Erick Erickson says:

More troubling, I’m troubled by reports from too many people to count that Rob Jesmer, the Executive Director of the NRSC, is aggressively pushing a new campaign theory – moderates will win and conservatives will lose. In fact, I’m told he has been rather blunt in a few small groups that the GOP needs to reject conservative candidates in favor of moderate candidates.

Because of the moderate Republican senators we currently have, the GOP is in a very precarious place. We do not need more of them and the NRSC equation is fundamentally flawed.

The NRSC saw Chuck Schumer find candidates to the left of the Democrats and the NRSC now thinks it should replicate that success by finding candidates to the left of the GOP. We are now being left with NRSC recruits to the left of the recruits Chuck Schumer got. And that is too far left.

But this tactic will ultimately do a disservice to the American people. Americans, for some time now, have had no representatives willing to cut back their power, i.e. taxpayer money. They used to look to Republicans to be the party of fiscal responsibility. But they’ve lost that competitive advantage. These days, the only thing Republicans can say is “we’re not as bad as them”. And that’s saying something,…just not enough.

More moderates means less of what Americans want. America is still a center-right country, as Barack Obama is finding out. Why would the Republican party tack left? I don’t see how this is good for the GOP or for America.

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