GOP Purity Test: An Oxymoron

By Doug Thompson

The Republican Party is thinking of using a 10-point loyalty test.

That’s rich.

Mark Foley was a family values man, if you took his word for it.

Former President George W. Bush said he was against big government and for fiscal responsibility.

Former Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., was driven from office in disgrace for his lewd chat with former congressional pages. Bush led his big-majority party into a political wilderness so deep, they can’t muster 41 votes in the U.S. Senate to block debate on a health care bill that contains the public option.

Now we hear that the Republicans wants to pass a “Proposed RNC Resolution on Reagan’s Unity Principle for Support of Candidates.”

Basically, it’s a litmus test of 10 questions. Disagree with the party’s position on more than two, and the party won’t support you as a candidate.

Oops. Let me rephrase that. SAY you disagree with the party’s position on more than two, and the party won’t support you as a candidate.

All you have to do is lie.

This pledge is the dumbest idea I’ve heard since — well, since yesterday, anyway.

The “Contract with America” in 1994 was one thing. It was a pretty specific and coherent political position. It was assertive. It was a pledge to do something.

The drafts in the press on the “unity principle” are no-brainers. Who would run as a Republican and not support gun owner’s right — or say he does?

Other points are against big government and increasing government power. This from people who created the Department of Homeland Security and made the president a virtual dictator from 2001 to 2006.

The Republicans might recover from the debacles of the 2006 and 2008 elections if they would only admit they made mistakes and were willing to learn from them. Instead, they seemed scared to death that the mess they made from 2001 to 2006 might call some of their principles into question.

Here’s some news, GOP folks in Congress: Your principles are not in question. It’s your sincerity.

Come up with an alternative plan for health care reform. You spend more time trying to score political points than addressing the real problem. That problem’s already eaten up one-sixth of the American economy. It makes full-time employment of many Americans a pipedream. There is no American dream when nobody can afford to pay your health care costs, including yourself. Don’t pledge. Do something. In fact, do you really want to impress us? Try going to the American people and asking: “What went wrong?” What did the GOP do that cost it a big majority in Congress and the White House? How did a party with near-total power and coherence for six years mess things up so badly that we had a backlash like this?

There would be no Obama administration or overwhelming Democratic majority in both Houses of Congress if you hadn’t messed up royally.

The “Contract with America” worked because it addressed

specific things that Americans — not just the Republican base — cared about. The “Contract with America” worked because it encouraged people to run. It gave them something to be for or against, depending on your political persuasion. It was not a list of shibboleths to further discourage a lot of people from coming to your party.

“We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama’s ‘stimulus’ bill.’ That’s pledge number one, according to a

list posted by Talking Points Memo.

Oh, please. “Smaller government?” “Smaller national debt?” “Lower deficits?” You, the party of Wall Street bailouts, are against stimulus? You, the party that went to war — to war — while cutting taxes are for a smaller national debt and lower deficits?

Want to be taken as a serious option by voters again? Stop being hypocrites. Follow your own principles and fight for them instead of just spouting them.