Conservatives Beware — Lest You Drive Moderates to Extremism!
Just a final point about the Limbaugh/Powell question which is really a small part of the whole moderate/hardline question.
Sveral weeks ao I thought it would be a great idea to have Rush and Colin run for the GOP nomination for a senate seat in an important swing state. The Republicans need to be viable in the large swing states that seems to always decide presidential elections and having them compete head to head would help decide the question of whether the party should move to the center or the right. Of course, this is never going to happen. Neither man seems too interested in leaving the sidelines and actually getting into the game. It’s a pity because I would find a contest like that to be very exciting.
So in lieu of Limbaugh and Powell, we have an interesting contest shaping up in Florida. Nobody can dispute the importance of a state like Florida for Republicans and although Rush and Colin aren’t going to compete the contest is shaping up to be the showdown I was looking for. Instead of Limbaugh/Powell, the standard bearer’s for the two factions are Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio. Crist has support from the usual party insiders and high RINO appeal. Rubio has support from key interest groups and a potetial army of dedicated conservatives. Crist will have large donors while Rubio will have an abundance of people willing to write $100 checks.
Personally I think Crist will win (poll numbers look pretty good for him), but this is really a double or nothing proposition. Whoever wins the nomination will have to prove themselves in the election itself. A Crist win in the primaries followed by defeat in the election will hurt the moderate cause. The same can be said for Rubio and conservatism. Although a Republican senate win won’t be conclusive proof that one facction is better than the other, a loss will be a setback to whichever faction wins the primary. You can count on whoever loses the primary to say “See I told you so”. If the winner can’t carry the state.
I don’t know much about which senate seats are up for grabs in 2010, but for the GOP what happens in Florida, win or lose, will be a major indicator of which direction the party should take. As someone who watches this sort of thing like many watch their favorite sport, I can’t wait for this showdown.
