“Here a RINO, there a RINO, everywhere a RINO…”
The GOP version of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” is, in my humble opinion, a cancer on the party and a surefire recipe for one electoral loss after another. Let me explain…
Back in the halcyon days of Ronald Wilson Reagan, we had liberal Republicans, moderate Republicans, and conservative Republicans. People such as Sen. Jacob Javitz of New York and Sen. Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania were considered liberals, Sen. Howard Baker of Tennessee and CIA Director George H.W. Bush were considered moderates, and Sen. Barry Goldwater of Arizona and Rep. Jack Kemp of New York were considered conservatives.
Ironically, when he ran for president in 1976, Ronald Reagan – the arch conservative from California – selected Richard Schweiker as his potential running mate. Reagan, who was facing an uphill battle for the Republican nomination against incumbent Gerald R. Ford, figured that balancing his proposed ticket with a liberal would appeal to that faction of the party.
In 1980, Gov. Reagan was successful in winning the GOP nomination and guess who he picked as his running mate this time? That’s right, his primary opponent George H.W. Bush, a decided moderate.
My friends, if a conservative icon like Ronald Reagan could work alongside liberal and moderate Republicans without demonizing them, why are we so intent on forming a circular firing squad as we approach 2024? Reagan’s “big tent” approach led to an 8 million vote landslide over President Jimmy Carter in the popular vote and a 489-49 thrashing of the peanut farmer in the Electoral College. Just as importantly, the GOP flipped 12 Senate seats, giving it control of the upper chamber for the first time since 1955. And although the Democrats retained control of the House, the Republicans picked up 35 seats there, too.
Four years later, the “Gipper” defeated former Vice President Walter Mondale by 17 million votes and garnered all but 13 electoral votes. In Congress, the GOP picked up 12 House seats but lost two Senate ones.
Believe me, I am as conservative – fiscally and socially – as anyone you will ever meet. However, I try to live by the Reagan axiom that “The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally – not a 20 percent traitor.” To me, forming a broad coalition that doesn’t demand complete uniformity or compromise the individual beliefs of its members is the only way the Grand Old Party will win in 2024 and remain relevant in the years to come. After all, a recent Gallup Poll showed that a plurality of voters (41%) consider themselves to be Independents… with Republicans (30%) and Democrats (27%) lagging far behind.
Or we can choose to spend the next 18 months on a Republican safari, looking for RINOs behind every bush, tree, and watering hole, while shooting to kill politically. If we adopt that suicidal approach, I fear that the Party of Lincoln, McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt, Coolidge, Eisenhower, and Reagan – some of whom were conservatives and some of whom were not – will relegate itself to permanent minority status.
