Rush Takes On The Tea Partiers?
Well, kinda. In his second hour monologue this afternoon, he quotes heavily a PoliticsDaily.com column on the rights "displeasure" with Newt Gingrich.
A few days ago, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich irritated many movement conservatives when he endorsed liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava over Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman for the upcoming special election (Rush's emphasis) in New York's 23rd congressional district.
Rush emphasis the fact that this was a special election with no opportunity for the more conservative Republican Hoffman to run in a primary.
Running in a conservative district (again Rush's emphasis), where the incumbent went off to be secretary of the Army, all three candidates have the distinction -- by virtue of holding one of the few 2009 elections anywhere in the country -- of seeing their race attract national attention and national surrogates.
Hoffman had previously earned the backing of prominent conservative organizations such as the fiscally conservative Club for Growth and the socially conservative Concerned Women for America PAC. In the end, Gingrich's endorsement may not matter to the outcome of that race -- Scozzafava seems to be losing steam anyway -- but down the line it may matter to Gingrich.
The former House speaker drew immediate fire from popular conservative blogs like RedState and MichelleMalkin.com, who cast him as an apostate. Erick Erickson of RedState.com wrote that Gingrich's endorsement of Scozzafava "aligns Newt with ACORN, which has twice endorsed Dede [and] with Planned Parenthood and NARAL, active supporters of Dede." Erickson went on to add that "Newt Gingrich stands athwart history and pees on the legacy of 1994."
In response, Gingrich invoked Big Tent Reaganism, saying, "If you seek to be a perfect minority, you'll remain a minority. That's not how Reagan built his revolution, or how we won back the House in 1994."
Rush takes on Gingrich for engaging in "revisionist history" here saying that Reagan's tent was "narrow but crowded...his tent was just mainstream conservatism"...but I digress. Jump ahead to the 2:33 second mark - where Rush starts talking about the "teachable moment". It is this part of the monologue that I wish to focus on.
Many are using this election to plug 3rd parties. They say that this shows that there is a real interest in 3rd parties and that conservatives should split away from the Republican Party in order to form a strong "conservative" party. This is where Rush makes his point about the difference between the 3rd party run of Doug Hoffman and a 3rd party run (say) for President. Fast forward to the 3:40 mark.....
"...NY 23 is a special election. There was no primary! Doug Hoffman would have challenged (Dede) Scozzafava in the Republican primary had there been one and he would have had the backing of New Yorks Conservative Party as is often the case there. You have to understand that the Conservative Party does not consider themselves to be a 3rd party...."
Now to all of you self professed "Reaganites" who are pushing hard for a 3rd - conservative party, pay close attention to what Rush says next starting at the 4:10 mark.
"Ronald Reagan opposed 3rd party races because he believed that conservatives needed to take back the Republican Party and not surrender it to "liberals"...He didn't go his own way and form another party. It took awhile, he narrowly lost to Gerald Ford in '76...he was the most popular Republican emerging from that convention...Reagan didn't slink away and form a 3rd party he began to take over the Republican Party! "
That is a point that I have been trying to make to my more conservative friends for the last three years! You can not "slink away" to form a 3rd party, you need to get involved in your local Republican Party and take it over from within!
For those of you who are pissed off at the Republican Party for their handling of the Scozzafava situation, take a hint from the fine folks in Utah's 3rd Congressional District - they showed up - at caucuses and conventions - and they worked dammed hard and they got their guy (Jason Chaffetz) within a few short votes of taking the nomination outright from an entrenched incumbent! When it went to the primary they worked even harder and they got their guy elected. If you don't like the direction your local party is going, pull a Chaffetz and get off the couch! It's not that hard to do.....
Cross posted at Ladies Logic where your comments are welcome.
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