The Danger of Single Issue Politics

By Dale Glading | The Save Jersey Blog

Marco Rubio“One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do…”

So begins the song written by Harry Nilsson in 1968 and recorded successfully by Three Dog Night the following year.

And unless we are careful, it will soon become the theme song of the Republican Party.

Yes, that’s right; the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan is in danger of splintering so badly that it could become irrelevant in national elections. Blame it on single issue politics.

Marco Rubio, previously a Tea Party favorite, is now being demonized for introducing comprehensive immigration reform. Likewise, Paul Ryan – our party’s 2012 vice presidential nominee – has fallen into disfavor with certain elements of the GOP.

Do Rubio and Ryan agree with most conservative positions? Of course, they do. However, because they have taken stands on single issues that are unpopular with some party members, people are ready to throw them overboard.

I can’t say that I agree with Senator Rubio and Congressman Ryan on everything and I am sure that they would disagree with me on some important issues, too. But the point remains that there needs to be room aboard the U.S.S. Republican for those with whom we disagree on occasion.

Just because we don’t see eye-to-eye with an officeholder of every issue isn’t a reason to make him or her walk the party plank. Simply put, I don’t believe in single issue politics. I will gladly vote for someone who has similar positions to mine on the majority of issues without expecting them to agree with me 100% of the time. Heck, despite being married for 28 years and counting, my wife and I don’t agree on everything.

For our 25th anniversary, she wanted to go to Hawaii and I wanted to visit Scotland. So we compromised – and because money was tight, we went to Hershey, PA for the day.

The point I am trying to make is that no one gets along with everyone else all the time. It doesn’t happen in our families, workplaces, churches, sports teams or neighborhoods. So why are we ready to write someone off simply because we disagree with them on an issue or two – or three?

To me, the only issue that demands such a lofty position is abortion. Because I am strongly pro-life and believe that life begins at conception, I will not vote for a pro-choice candidate if I am given a viable alternative. My reasoning is simple – how you treat an innocent unborn child tells me volumes about your character and how you view others.

Similarly, I would not have voted for someone who favored slavery in 1860; who opposed women’s suffrage in 1916; or who advocated racism in 1964. Some issues are so important that they stand on their own merits.

All other issues – at least to me – are not deal breakers. And frankly, they can’t be for the Republican Party unless we want to consign ourselves to being in the permanent minority.
Ronald Reagan called it a “big tent”. I call it common sense and basic math.

And so I urge my fellow Republicans not to ostracize someone simply because they don’t cross every “t” and dot every “i” the same way we do. If they hold conservative positions on the vast majority of issues, then they are one of us.

Remember, friends, when you paint yourself into a corner you are usually there alone. And it is hard to win an election with just one vote.

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4 Comments

  1. The problem with Rubio is that he said one thing and is voting the opposite. He lied.

    And amnesty IS a big issue which burned us in the 80s when we were promised a secure border and never got it. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice…

  2. @Joe I can't speak for Dale Glading, but I think his primary point is that there isn't a single viable 2016 prospect who hasn't disappointed "us" (read: conservatives) on something. Reagan had a very imperfect record as Governor of Cali. We can strongly criticize these guys when they stray and take it into consideration, but we need to stop calling for political banishment every time they depart from orthodoxy. It's a recipe for electoral disaster.

  3. Well spoken, Matt. Like you said, the Gipper wasn't the most conservative governor in California state history, but thank God the voters saw something special in him and didn't write him off. Every officeholder has votes he regrets and/or has changed positions on issues as additional information became available.

  4. Back to RR for a minute…remember that he started out as an FDR supporter before seeing the light. My main point is that no one is perfect – not voters and not officeholders – so let's stop throwing our most viable candidates for 2016 and beyond under the bus simply because we disagree with them on a few issues while agreeing with them on most.

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