CONSERVATIVES AND THE STATE GOP
November 20th, 2006 by Peter
Leave it to the blogosphere to provide the best commentary on the state of the CT GOP. Doug Wrenn slams the preference for ambition over principle:
A former State Representative once told me that most pro-lifers (supposedly) don’t remain “pro-life” for long in Hartford because the atmosphere and pressure to conform to the faction of the proponents of infanticide (whose victims, contrary to the euphemism have no “choice”) is crushing, while there is (supposedly) significantly less support from the pro-life community. The pillar of principle himself, the not at all honorable ex-Governor and felon, John Rowland, once supposedly said that he changed his stripes from being a pro-life Congressman from the more conservative Waterbury area to a pro-infanticide candidate for Governor because “no one can win a statewide race if they are pro-life,” or words to that effect.
And Don Pesci surveys the wreckage:
It is important to understand that conservatives in Connecticut have played no part in the destruction of the Republican Party – none. The real opposition to Democrat programs, such as it is, has come from frustrated conservatives, who have been vigorously opposed by the Democrat majority, Republican moderates and abettors of the one party state in Connecticut’s truckling media.
[Kevin] Rennie, a former Republican legislator from South Windsor, writes: “Worrisome for the GOP is that in the North, Bush increased his share of the vote while other Republicans were losing.” Yes, but why? Rennie doesn’t tell us.
That’s too bad, because it was the most important sentence in the entire “Last Word” issue [of Northeast magazine]. The GOP in New England tends to distance itself from President Bush’s pro-family positions out of the belief that those positions will hurt them here. But if the main difference between Bush and the New England GOP is Bush’s pro-family stance, and Bush did better in New England than the local party, what does that say about local GOP reluctance to embrace the pro-family cause?
Unlike the national party, Connecticut Republicans suffered significant losses last month. If the state party had been as firmly committed to protecting marriage as the national party—and ran explicitly on that commitment—the results would have been different. Instead, the state GOP has dug itself into a hole by its reluctance to fully embrace the pro-family cause. It’s time for them to reconsider.
