Elephant In Exile

Abused, Mocked, Reviled and Needed

I'm confused? Is it now ok to be a moderate republican? The GOP leadership has been beating us up for the last four years and in some cases (Club for Growth) has even been running ads comparing people like Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe to Jaques Chirac. In the case of the NY Convention, what you see is not what you get.

Just ask Gary Bauer:

"The moderate speakers will very noticeably not address social issues, where they are clearly out of step with the party and the president," conservative activist Gary Bauer says. He and others on the right forced organizers to add more conservative speakers

.

Or the first moderate to be railroaded by Bush, Governor Whitman:

Former New Jersey governor Christie Whitman wrote earlier this year of having to "battle extremists within my own party" before stepping down as Environmental Protection Agency chief. She is now writing a book called It's My Party Too.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-08-30-gop-moderates_x.htm

From Elephant's experience, most work-a-day hill staffers fall into the more moderate (realist) camp, while those who work for the respective parties are more of the 'true believers'. (Who are often mocked). That's why many of my Hill colleagues decided to skip this years convention as it just seems to hard to pretend the party is a big tent anymore.

Are any of EOTE readers inspired by GWB? Is so, please share your thoughts.