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bobbyw24
10-22-2009, 07:40 AM
Pawlenty Knocks Glenn Beck, Oh-So-Gently
Digg Tweet By David Weigel 10/22/09 9:24 AM

Politico’s report on whether Republicans “are being wounded by the flamboyant rhetoric and angry tone of conservative activists and media personalities” is worth reading for the quotes from top Republicans, most of whom amble around the question. Of the currently relevant figures (sorry, Bob Michel), Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) is the boldest.

The commentators are part of the coalition, not the whole coalition. The party needs to be about addition, not subtraction — but not at the expense of watering down its principles.

Nonetheless, I think the story misses something about the party’s Glenn Beck problem. It’s not just that conservative pundits like Beck, Rush Limbaugh, et al., are unpopular and controversial. It’s that they drive the GOP into very strange places.

The Democrats are in worse political shape than they were a year ago because unemployment is at 9.8 percent, the war in Afghanistan has grown less popular, and the bailouts of struggling banks are seen as wastes of money that haven’t worked. Republicans benefit when they talk about this stuff. But Beck and the others don’t let them talk about this stuff. For the past few months, they have moved the discussion onto fantasy terrain, accusing the president of reaching for dictatorial powers and surrounding himself with “radicals” who want to destroy capitalism.

In retrospect, the successful campaign against Van Jones, the former green jobs

http://washingtonindependent.com/64732/pawlenty-knocks-glenn-beck-oh-so-gently

Elwar
10-22-2009, 07:51 AM
Pawlenty is setting up a presidential run...