President Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment was “Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican.” Yet Republicans are famous for breaching that commandment, much moreso than Democrats it seems.
Here’s an example. In vying for the 1980 Republican presidential nomination George HW Bush said that Reagan’s plan was “voodoo economics” and the media used that phrase to hammer Reagan for years.
But when Reagan cut taxes on top earners by 60% (from 70% to 28%), the resulting economic boom did not reduce income to the Treasury by 60% but actually increased revenues to the Treasury by 91%.
As expected.
The phrase stuck, however. Because it was introduced by another Republican. Because the Media Left in America love it when Republicans attack each other.
And that shows why Reagan was right and wise to issue that “commandment”. Because he knew how the media operated.
In 2000 John McCain and George W. Bush disliked each other viscerally. Thus the Media Left embraced McCain for years afterward because he gave them anti-Bush material coming from “a fellow Republican”.
In 2008 Mitt Romney was intensely disliked (to put it nicely) by other GOP candidates Huckabee, Giuliani and McCain and the media picked up on that feud to smear the GOP.
In the 2012 Republican primary we have had many egregious violations of Reagan’s commandment and the media have amplified every one. In a divisive contest we have had Newt Gingrich savaging Mitt Romney’s investment firm Bain Capital and now we had Rick Santorum saying this about Romney:
“You win by giving people a choice. You win by giving people the opportunity to see a different vision for our country, not someone who’s just going to be a little different than the person in there. If they’re going to be a little different, we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk ….”
In other words, Santorum was saying that the country might be better off with Obama over Romney(?!)
Wow. Kaboom. And while Santorum afterward clarified his comment to say that he would certainly vote for Romney and was speaking off the cuff and hypothetically, this is certainly the last straw for the Santorum candidacy. Because his mathematical chances of winning the nomination are long gone. And for a good man like Santorum to go out with a gaffe is hardly a signature ending for a candidate who obviously has a major role to play in American politics going forth.
This quote is going to harm Santorum for the future. The Republican Establishment that backs Romney has a long memory, rest assured, even with the apology. And now it will use the quote as another excuse to dislike Santorum (besides disliking him for his conservatism).
Santorum’s candidacy has generally been a good one with some blunt observations that pointedly highlight what many of us conservatives see as the negative drift of America.
Unfortunately the Santorum comment also reveals – again – the big gap in the Republican party between moderates and conservatives. And it cannot do anything but inflame the vitriol between the two groups.
Yet conservatives need the Republican party structure, and the Republican party needs conservatives.
Look at the Democrats. They are all far to the left these days. There is no “moderate” Democrat party. Yet they have convinced many Americans that they represent us. And they keep their feuds generally quiet, so as not to blur their message.
But millions of Americans have come to see what radical policies like those of Obama do. The November 2010 Republican landslide showed once again that there is a rational side to the American electorate. And Obama’s sinking poll numbers point to a Republican White House victory next November.
But if Republicans start fighting all over again, that victory is less likely. And if the Republicans do not pull together to show which party really represents Americans’ interests then Obama and the Democrats will pull the wool over the voters’ eyes again in 2012.
Indeed Santorum’s comment certainly does not do him any good. But it is part of a pattern that some in the GOP find disturbing and perhaps a sign that Santorum could never be trusted with the nomination.
For instance Santorum said last Autumn that he “almost threw up” over JFK’s speech about the separation of church and state.
That’s a little harsh for a national candidate and really kind of cheap.
Are conservatives going to rally around Santorum for his strong views?
Yes, but it would be better if they rallied around him for saying “I vehemently disagreed with the JFK speech” or that “Romney is better than Obama by a mile, but I am better by two miles.”
Then again Santorum is running his campaign on a shoestring. He certainly does not have a lot of highly-paid advisors and coaches. And so he is going to slip up from time to time. All candidates do. But all in all he has done remarkably well.
Rick Santorum is a very smart guy and a very decent man. Operating on grass-roots power, he has elevated himself to a national figure from simply being that guy from Pennsylvania who was defeated for his own US Senate seat in 2006. His campaign travels must be very tiring and he certainly can let his guard down and say things that are not wise or germane.
Let’s hope that senator Santorum finally goes out on a positive note, not with guns blazing. Because Ronald Reagan would never approve of that.