Confessions of a Moderate Republican

Bruce Bialosky
Monday, May 04, 2009

With Arlen Specter turning Benedict Arnold on the Republicans, there have been hordes of speculation about whether moderates exist in the Republican Party. Senator Olympia Snowe immediately wrote an article expressing her concern about her existence as a moderate within the party. Senator Snowe, I am a moderate Republican and I feel quite comfortable in this party.

The problems that Ms. Snowe and Arlen Specter have are multi-fold and they are not issues of conscience. They would want you to believe that, but if it were so then they do not understand what being a Republican is in the first place.

Some would want you to believe that being pro-life is a hallmark issue of being in the Republican Party. It is not and don’t fall for that. There are many people who happily exist in the Republican Party who are pro-choice. In fact, I would say at least 80% of Republican Jews are pro-choice. Of course, we are not whacked-out on the issue. We generally believe in parental notification, do not believe in late-term abortions and prefer the government stays out of the process all together -- including funding.

We moderates believe there are bigger issues that tie us to the Republican Party. The first issue concerns tax policy and fiscal matters. We believe that government should not be and cannot be the answer for all economic ills. We moderate Republicans were as upset with the Republicans in Congress during the Bush Era for not trimming expenditures as any Conservative. We felt more government programs should have been given a merciful death. We are beside ourselves with angst about Obama’s economic plans and the Democrats’ attempt to usurp the healthcare system under the guise of providing universal healthcare.

So Senator Snowe, along with Senator Collins and Arlen Specter, should know that we are just as aggravated and possibly more than the Conservatives with them for their naïve endorsement of the “Stimulus Bill.” We did not need Rush Limbaugh to tell us that the bill was a gargantuan mistake, with multiple Trojan Horses planted by the Democrats.

The reason we are probably more aggravated is two-fold. First, you tarnished the good name of moderate Republicans by signing on to that turkey. Second, we understand that politics is a team sport. Do we like everything about our most conservative Republican friends? Absolutely we do not. But when the team says we are going one way, we don’t appoint ourselves as special arbitrators and undercut everyone else in the party.

Next, we consider national security sacrosanct. For the most part, we think Democrats are namby-pamby on the issue and we don’t trust them. They have a left flank that is downright scary about protecting this country, and totally naïve about the dangers that exist in the world. The current leadership of the important Congressional committees and the President have little clue as to what to do on the international stage. They think they can talk nice to bad people and make them do good things. The closest hope they have of doing that is sending Vice-President Biden to negotiate for the purpose of putting the bad actors in a coma from boredom. We moderate Republicans believe in Ronald Reagan’s policy of negotiating from a position of strength and principle.

We think the Democrats and the teachers unions have thoroughly screwed-up our educational system, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure that out. Who has run every large city educational system in the last 50 years? The Democrats have. Who has stymied every educational innovation in the last 25 years? The Democrats and their Siamese twins, the teachers unions.

We think the Democrats are leading us off the edge with their wild-eyed ideas about global warming which are based on shady science. While the President speaks about bringing science back to the Administration, he totally ignores the use of nuclear energy to help solve our environmental and energy needs.

These are just some of the core beliefs of moderate Republicans. I could continue with the issue of judges or more, but why beat a subject to death. Senator Snowe, need I remind you that Arlen Specter voted for and recently considered again voting for card-check? Let me say this clearly -- no Republican, not one, could possibly be in favor of card-check. If someone does not have clarity on this issue, then they have distinct confusion in their political principles.

Arlen Specter became a Democrat not because of the Republican Party shifting its focus, but because he was going to get creamed in the primary. He is more concerned with remaining a Senator than any political principle. Recently, I met with the head staff person for the Jewish Republicans and told him I was going to give Pat Toomey money to run against one of the few Jewish Republicans in office. I made clear I found Arlen Specter an embarrassment as a Jew and as a Republican. I assure you I am not alone among Jewish Republicans.

Senator Snowe, we want to keep you and Senator Collins in the Republican Party and any other moderate. We believe there is plenty of room for us moderates under the big Republican tent. But if you continue to act like Arlen Specter -- being a cowboy and more concerned about your political hide than political principles -- then we will also have a big fiesta for your departure.