by Paul West
In his first comments on an effort to impose a conservative purity test on Republican candidates in the 2010 election, Republican National Chairman Michael Steele stressed the counter-productive nature of litmus tests.
At the same time, Steele attempted to play down the controversy, which has focused media attention on a topic guaranteed to produce negative publicity: another rift between moderate and conservative Republicans.
"Litmus tests as a rule are not good, and I think everybody in the party appreciates that," Steele said in an interview. "I don't think that that is an appropriate approach for us to take down the road."
Steele was quick to add that "I don't think that that's the intent" of the resolution's authors, even though that is how the effort is widely perceived. He described the resolution, which surfaced last week, as "just a discussion among the members" of the Republican National Committee "that has now trickled out into the public."
Steele said it was "premature" to predict how he would deal with the measure, which is designed to be voted upon by the RNC at its winter meeting in Hawaii next month.
"Once I see what they're finally proposing, then I will weigh in on it," said Steele. He said that his staff at party headquarters in Washington is working with the resolution's sponsors, who include Jim Bopp, a Republican committeeman from Indiana.
See the rest of the report on Michael Steele and the GOP's purity test at Maryland Politics.
Comments
GOP Purity Test:
Q: Are you a lying piece of crap?
A: Yes
Q: Welcome to the GOP
Posted by: former Republican | December 2, 2009 1:20 PM
Wow, these right wing idiots are seriously forward-thinking...not. The failure of the Reagan-Bush dynasty has still not sunk in, and I am so glad to see it.
Shorter GOP Purity Test: Let's do nothing and stay the course.
Posted by: Zelda the Good Witch | December 2, 2009 1:29 PM
The GOP "test" is missing some questions.
- Tax cuts for the rich, again and again. That you can count on getting from the GOP everytime.
Everything else is just filler for Faux News talking heads, Teabagger rallies, and Saint Ronald Reagan worship meetings.
- Missing from the original long version of the GOP purity test are deregulating anything and anyone who handles vast sums of money.
- Let Ayn Rand greed run unchecked through banks and Wall Street again.
- Also missing: privatizing social security because 401K has been such a terrific idea suffering every kind of bubble from the new economy dot com scam to complete wipe out the year before baby boomers start retiring.
Did the GOP abandon invading oil-rich nations at every opportunity or is that a secret bonus offer?
Posted by: William | December 2, 2009 1:41 PM
Me thinks there's a mixup on the minds of the media sheeple.
"....which has focused media attention on a topic guaranteed to produce negative publicity: another rift between moderate and conservative Republicans."
It seems to me that the rifts between moderate and conservative Democrats these days are being swept under the Obama rug.
Let's just see how the Democrats in control treat each other during the next thirty days trying to pass some sort of Health Care package.
There are some "rifts" there worth the media's attention but...... I don't think we'll see them reported in the Swamp. Instead Mark will fill his quota of Bush bashing and Republican bashing, trying his best to create smoke screens for the total failures of Congress. Did I mention a Democrat Majority Congress?
Posted by: springfield | December 2, 2009 1:58 PM
The GOPer purity test is a lie like everything else in the GOP.
If there's a candidate (in the general) with a snowball's chance in hell of winning and he's got an "R" next to his name, the base deadenders will support him, they always do. Doesn't matter if he/she supports abortion, gay rights, gun control, or anything else, they'll support the candidate because they're a bunch of non-thinking brain washed robots. They need bodies in the house. That said, they will put as many Teabagging type wingnuts in the primaries as they can...and I wish them luck....hahaha!
Posted by: darthstar | December 2, 2009 2:05 PM
It would be a major mistake if the GOP adapts a "Purity Test" to run for office. The Republican Party needs all the members it can get. And each part of the country is going to be different. What turns on voters in Alabama may not be the same issues that excite voters in New Jersey. It seems that the extremes on the Left and Right are controlling both the Democratic and Republican Parties. Both the Democrats and the Republicans are chasing away Moderate Candidates. If this continues the Democrats will be controlled by the Far Left Wing Crazies and the Republicans will be under the control of the Far Right Loonies. And this will not be good for the majority in the political center. We will have the Left and Right Wing extremes controlling everything and Nothing will get accomplished in Washington.
Posted by: Depot- Jim | December 2, 2009 2:51 PM
Listen to Springfield playing the typical "poor little me, tortured wingnut card"......
Waaaaaaaaaah!
.
Posted by: idiots for sale | December 2, 2009 3:06 PM
Libertarianism v. Democratic Socialism:
;
If you had to choose between a pure Libertarian or Democratic Socialist state to send your children to which country would it be? Somalia or Switzerland?
;
More proof that Republicans idea of a perfect form of government is in fact a nightmare.
Posted by: GOP wants to be like Somalia | December 2, 2009 3:08 PM
Test #1...Does your insurance from the RNC contain abortion coverage.
Posted by: bill r. | December 2, 2009 3:15 PM
This talk of GOP purity tests is right up there with the Swiss vote on banning minaret building.
Posted by: strange times | December 2, 2009 3:36 PM
GOP wants to be like Somalia,
Are you talking about this?
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QDv4sYwjO0
.
Posted by: Ken | December 2, 2009 3:44 PM
Nothing tells voters that Republicans are a party of ideologues, rather than pragmatic problem solvers, like the announcement last week that conservative activists are pushing a proposal to deny funding to candidates who fail a litmus or “purity” test. The proposal is being pushed by 10 Republican National Committee members and calls for money to be withheld from candidates who disagree with more than two of 10 conservative principles. The committee will debate the proposal at its winter meeting in January.
How long are Republicans going to keep walking around, sticking their tongues into light sockets to see what the electricity tastes like? The Republican Party needs to run candidates that fit the district for which they are running, regardless of whether they pass a litmus test—“Just Win Baby.”
The only litmus test that matters is the one that matches a candidate to the issues in the specific district for which he or she is running, period. This might come as a shock to the party, but Republican candidates come in many colors and flavors, much like voters and the districts in which they reside.
Let’s have a reality check. Eight years of Republican leadership has left America choking on a $12 trillion national debt, a $787 billion taxpayer bailout, 10.2% unemployment and two wars whose purposes and astronomical costs are still unclear, with no end in sight. Middle America wants jobs, fiscal responsibility, affordable healthcare and quality public education for its children, none of which were delivered under a Republican administration and Republican Congress. Republicans had eight years to produce for America and they failed, breaking the spirit of Middle America along the way.
http://americanmuser.wordpress.com
Posted by: A. Muser | December 2, 2009 6:52 PM