Frank Rich really lit into the Republican Party yesterday:
a riotous and bloody national G.O.P. civil war.
a G.O.P. killing field
confirms just how swiftly the right has devolved into a wacky, paranoid cult that is as eager to eat its own as it is to destroy Obama
would gladly see the Republican Party die on the cross of right-wing ideological purity
To the right’s Jacobins, that’s cause to send her to the guillotine.
The wrecking crew of Kristol, Fred Thompson, Dick Armey, Michele Bachmann, The Wall Street Journal editorial page and the government-bashing Club for Growth all joined the Hoffman putsch
the Stalinists of the right
Wow, that's a lot of harsh metaphors. What is the basis of this bloody, paranoid, martyr-seeking, Jacobin, Stalinist putsch? Well, I'll let Rich describe it:
The New York fracas was ignited by the routine decision of 11 local Republican county chairmen to anoint an assemblywoman, Dede Scozzafava, as their party’s nominee for the vacant seat. The 23rd is in safe Republican territory that hasn’t sent a Democrat to Congress in decades. And Scozzafava is a mainstream conservative by New York standards; one statistical measure found her voting record slightly to the right of her fellow Republicans in the Assembly. But she has occasionally strayed from orthodoxy on social issues (abortion, same-sex marriage) and endorsed the Obama stimulus package.
So wait. Some GOP hacks appointed a relative moderate to represent a district that could probably sustain a much more conservative representative, and conservatives are trying to elect a more right-wing alternative. What exactly is the problem here? Rich paints Scozzafava's heresies as minor. But suppose this was a solidly Democratic district, and party bosses put forward an anti-stimulus, anti-abortion, anti-gay rights nominee. Would Rich really oppose a liberal campaign to elect a more like-minded representative? Would he employ such virtiolic metaphors? There's a lesson here about making a moral cause out of a procedural argument you're not prepared to back in opposite circumstances.
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COMMENTS (3)
I certainly agree that they should have had a primary there, since Hoffmann doesn't even live in the district he might not even have won the primary, and maybe Dede herself wouldn't have won, but she also would have had a good chance. In any event, whoever would have won the open primary would have had unqualified support, but as of now if I were a resident of that district I would also be annoyed that outsiders are trying to impose their choice (again, the guy doesn't even live in the district and is clueless as to local issues). I have to imagine a lot of moderates and independents want someone to represent them. I will be honest and say if outside Democrats did the same, imposing a cluele ... view full comment
I certainly agree that they should have had a primary there, since Hoffmann doesn't even live in the district he might not even have won the primary, and maybe Dede herself wouldn't have won, but she also would have had a good chance. In any event, whoever would have won the open primary would have had unqualified support, but as of now if I were a resident of that district I would also be annoyed that outsiders are trying to impose their choice (again, the guy doesn't even live in the district and is clueless as to local issues). I have to imagine a lot of moderates and independents want someone to represent them. I will be honest and say if outside Democrats did the same, imposing a clueless Dennis Kuchinich type person in a reliable Dem. district over a local Democrat who more accurately reflects the district and who truly wants to represent the district, and the opposition were a sensible and local Republican, I would vote for him. It will be interesting to see how many people there feel the way I do. The district would only be Democratic for one year but would send a pretty strong message to the yahoos.
From whence comes Chait's war on Frank Rich, and if it's so important, why wasn't Chait laying into Rich yesterday, when, you know, it mattered? Coming in swinging a day late, a full 24 hours after every right winger with internet access has already gone online to make exactly the same points is a Kirchickian move. It's half-assed and cheap and bush league and I expect better of the actual grown-ups at TNR.
And that's just the timing. The substance of the screed above makes me retract my accusation of being Kirchickian. This is not like something Kirchick would write. This is something Kirchick would write. Frank Rich is simply right this time; the conservative activists ... view full comment
From whence comes Chait's war on Frank Rich, and if it's so important, why wasn't Chait laying into Rich yesterday, when, you know, it mattered? Coming in swinging a day late, a full 24 hours after every right winger with internet access has already gone online to make exactly the same points is a Kirchickian move. It's half-assed and cheap and bush league and I expect better of the actual grown-ups at TNR.
And that's just the timing. The substance of the screed above makes me retract my accusation of being Kirchickian. This is not like something Kirchick would write. This is something Kirchick would write. Frank Rich is simply right this time; the conservative activists who've overwhelmed the GOP party apparatus in this race are in fact more interested in purging their party of dissent than in building and maintaining a national party capable of winning local elections across the country. This one district in New York may be winnable by a rightwing nutter, but the pressure exerted against the GOP candidate here makes it marginally harder for Republicans in any less-conservative district to persuade the 80 percent of voters who are not conservative nutjobs to trust them.
In case it's not fresh in his mind, Chait would do well to spend a few evenings soon refamiliarizing himself with the historical literature on the collapse of the Democratic Party as a national institution from 1854-1860. Start with the middle chapters of Potter's The Impending Crisis for the best, if somewhat dated, overview of the literature. The parallels between modern movement conservatives and antebellum Southern conservatives and how they are exercising control of their respective parties to the disadvantage of their non-Southern partisans are striking; almost eery at times.
Also, what blackton said.
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Reality Politics
A couple of points from the Rich piece, to answer "Would Rich really oppose a liberal campaign to elect a more like-minded representative?".
Note: "...conservative Republican contenders in the two big gubernatorial contests this week have frantically tried to disguise their own convictions.". It isn't clear voters know what they're in for.
Further, Hoffman is more than guilty by association if he rides the wave of lunatic propaganda. He's a willing prop or proxy for the unelected underbelly. Districts across the country will have contests where liberals and not so liberal Democrats will compete, but they'll do so as Democrats. In my 54 yea ... view full comment
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Reality Politics
A couple of points from the Rich piece, to answer "Would Rich really oppose a liberal campaign to elect a more like-minded representative?".
Note: "...conservative Republican contenders in the two big gubernatorial contests this week have frantically tried to disguise their own convictions.". It isn't clear voters know what they're in for.
Further, Hoffman is more than guilty by association if he rides the wave of lunatic propaganda. He's a willing prop or proxy for the unelected underbelly. Districts across the country will have contests where liberals and not so liberal Democrats will compete, but they'll do so as Democrats. In my 54 years I do not recall Democrats succumbing to a purging of their party that was led by people who denied an affiliation (official or not) with the party.
Finally, this isn't an isolated case and more a trend than a fad. The GOP is being attacked by conservatives who have no desire to fit into a nationally viable profile. Palin, Beck and Rush show no indication they're willing to work within the GOP. Are they driven by fame and money or a cogent plan to win an lead? Their dollar value increases in proportion to their ability to spoil. Entertainment value. ratings and speaking fees aren't the measure of any person I'd like guiding Democrats.
So, for me this is not a "...procedural argument you're not prepared to back in opposite circumstances.". I'd be just as wary of anarchy from outside, if non elected or radical leftists placed their self-interest above governing.
I may be wrong. but Nader is proof of how little progressives will tolerate. I dare say he's radioactive to Democrats yet no one on the right has the courage brush off the wolves who are howling outside the walls of their party. Their attitude seems to be, "If we can't run it, we'll wreck it.". No, I won't back that in opposite circumstances.
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