Bradley in DC
05-22-2008, 06:29 AM
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=13250
Dog Food for Sale
By George Neumayr
Published 5/22/2008 12:08:10 AM
As the Republicans over the last few decades unfurled the Big Tent, the Democrats rolled theirs up. This explains why Republicans are led by ambivalent candidates and Democrats are led by doctrinaire ones. A party either takes its platform seriously or it doesn't. The Democrats take theirs seriously; the Republicans just don't.
The lowest-common-denominator approach Republicans accepted with the Big Tent concept meant the weakest views in the party would ultimately define it. Maybe an ad hoc goal or two can provide momentary GOP unity, but that's about it. Robert Dole once famously said that he didn't even bother to read the platform. Could one imagine a Democratic presidential nominee making such a declaration -- saying in effect that "he doesn't take liberalism very seriously"?
The Democrats, wisely from a political point of view, insisted on the core tenets of their platform. While the Republicans were skittish whenever the media raised the specter of "litmus tests," the Democrats' attitude was: Why not?
. . .
Dog Food for Sale
By George Neumayr
Published 5/22/2008 12:08:10 AM
As the Republicans over the last few decades unfurled the Big Tent, the Democrats rolled theirs up. This explains why Republicans are led by ambivalent candidates and Democrats are led by doctrinaire ones. A party either takes its platform seriously or it doesn't. The Democrats take theirs seriously; the Republicans just don't.
The lowest-common-denominator approach Republicans accepted with the Big Tent concept meant the weakest views in the party would ultimately define it. Maybe an ad hoc goal or two can provide momentary GOP unity, but that's about it. Robert Dole once famously said that he didn't even bother to read the platform. Could one imagine a Democratic presidential nominee making such a declaration -- saying in effect that "he doesn't take liberalism very seriously"?
The Democrats, wisely from a political point of view, insisted on the core tenets of their platform. While the Republicans were skittish whenever the media raised the specter of "litmus tests," the Democrats' attitude was: Why not?
. . .