Is a Party Litmus Test the way to go?
Republicans have a proposal for a litmus test for Party funding of candidates:
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While this will provide a consistent message, will it prevent the Republican Party from adapting to its defeat? Is doubling down on the policies the party espoused on it's way down the right thing to do?
The Republicans credit the Contract With America for putting them in power in the 1994 cycle, so they believe that lists make a difference. Even if lists can make a difference, will this list make a difference? Will it make the right kind of difference?
The Democratic Party didn't create a litmus test as a way to regain the majority, it broadened it's appeal to moderate voters. Rather than insuring that the tent only included true believers, they flexed their policy and message to make the ideological tent bigger. Democrats reached out to moderate and slightly Conservative candidates in order to regain the majority.
And the current President is not making any bold moves in policy. Even health care is more a product of the Congressional Democrats than the WH. That's why Liberals like myself are sometimes sidelining ourselves; we don't think that this Congress and this President are doing what needs to be done.
So perhaps making the tent bigger has its own issues?
view link
While this will provide a consistent message, will it prevent the Republican Party from adapting to its defeat? Is doubling down on the policies the party espoused on it's way down the right thing to do?
The Republicans credit the Contract With America for putting them in power in the 1994 cycle, so they believe that lists make a difference. Even if lists can make a difference, will this list make a difference? Will it make the right kind of difference?
The Democratic Party didn't create a litmus test as a way to regain the majority, it broadened it's appeal to moderate voters. Rather than insuring that the tent only included true believers, they flexed their policy and message to make the ideological tent bigger. Democrats reached out to moderate and slightly Conservative candidates in order to regain the majority.
And the current President is not making any bold moves in policy. Even health care is more a product of the Congressional Democrats than the WH. That's why Liberals like myself are sometimes sidelining ourselves; we don't think that this Congress and this President are doing what needs to be done.
So perhaps making the tent bigger has its own issues?
