The Myth Of The “Good Republican”
By Mitch Berg
Jim Ramstad is officially out of a gubernatorial race that he never actually announced he was in.
Ramstad’s a good guy. He’s a fellow Jamestown, ND native, so he has a huge head start. And his nine terms in the House made him one of Minnesota’s most experienced politicians.
And I’d never have voted for him.
Oh, that’s not true. If the DFL had nominated a typical “East Is Red” crypto-Maoist and the Ventura “Indy” party had nominated pretty much anyone in their party, I’d have held my nose and voted for the Rammer, after having joined with whatever pressure group was out to drive him to the right a la Brian Sullivan vs. Tim Pawlenty in 2002. At least with an “R” in front of the name, there’s a fighting chance there’s a working brain trapped in there somewhere. It doesn’t always work (ipse the Congressional GOP caucuses since 2000), but I am pragmatic enough to know a Jim Ramstad, “moderate” as he is (his ACU rating is a point or two to the left of John McCain) will make a better governor than a Susan Gaertner or a John Marty or whatever other indistinguishably-“progressive” hamster the DFL throws up.
But in the weeks before Ramstad bowed out, you started to hear the most dreaded sentence anywhere in politics; DFLers saying “I’d vote for Ramstad!” With some, you knew they meant it, more or less.
But I remember when McCain was every Democrat’s favorite Republican, putatively a “maverick” who’d as soon take on the conservative establishment as vote with it. He was “the Good Republican”…
…until he got through Super Tuesday. And then, out came the knives. Overnight, he became Karl Rove’s spawn. He “ran to the right” and “embraced the theocrats”, supposedly – I keep asking, but nobody can exactly tell me how he did any of this. But no matter.
Just remember – whenever the left sets up a “good Republican”, it’s for the sole purposes of tearing them down when and if they become a threat.
Had Ramstad won the nomination, he’d have been labelled as “Pawlenty Lite” overnight (ironic, since Pawlenty is hardly a rock-ribbed movement conservative – although he’s delivered in the clutch on taxes and spending, and gotten the labels from the local left and media to prove it. Pardon the redundancy).
Republicans can not win if we don’t present an alternative to the Democrats – in Minnesota or nationwide.
July 16th, 2009 at 8:57 am
Mitch,
I agree – you should pull the party as far into the extreme as you can – that way, the power of the wealthy to run politics in this country might SOMEDAY be curtailed because their minions and sychophants will have moved so far away from what the public wants that the rich won’t have the votes to prevent changes to healthcare, financial services, and labor practices.
Thank you for your work.
July 16th, 2009 at 9:26 am
pull the party as far into the extreme
Right! Exactly! Because anything to the right of Jim Ramstad is…
…THE EXTREEEEEEEEEEME!
Sheesh.
July 16th, 2009 at 9:32 am
But, think about how many times, circa 2000-2006 you heard a Democrat say “John McCain is one Republican I would vote for”, but when he made a serious run for President, and got the nomination, suddenly he became a right wing wacko. Same thing would have happened to Ramstad.
July 16th, 2009 at 9:41 am
Oh, it’s been awhile, so:
Peev, the insufferable shit,
Who comments and simply won’t quit.
Thinks he’s quite smart,
But his skull’s full of fart,
Which is something he’ll never admit.
July 16th, 2009 at 9:49 am
Of course Ramsted did run against some of the most hack leftist around. There was the multi-failure radio host (vote for Mom). Before that, some guy who compaigned using his home printer to make campaign “materials”, poorly written diatribes against the corporatist. Basically vote Ransted or toss your vote away, like around 30% did every other year because to be/vote Republican reguardless of how middle of the road you really are evil.
July 16th, 2009 at 9:50 am
Yeah, Mitch. You wingnutz need to completely abandon your principles! You need to embrace government control of every aspect of your life! You need to submit to the ultimate authority of The State!
You need to become a Democrat tic tic tic.
July 16th, 2009 at 10:34 am
penigma paraphrased:
“I say you are extreme sir, and magically so, because I cannot put forward one shred of evidence to support my statement.”
July 16th, 2009 at 11:00 am
The only “Good Republican” is a dead republican.
Oops, I take it back – dead republicans are still bad.
The only “Good Republican” is the one that votes democRat and is not in power.
July 16th, 2009 at 11:01 am
Interesting that you mention Ramstad’s “9 terms in the House,” when he faithfully promised (and was elected promising) to term-limit himself to FIVE. I never voted for him after that.
July 16th, 2009 at 11:54 am
The only “Good Republican” is the one that votes democRat and is not in power.
In certain precincts those would be the “dead Republicans.”
July 16th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
I agree with the sentiment of your thought:
“Republicans can not win if we don’t present an alternative to the Democrats – in Minnesota or nationwide”
But some seem to think that is the beginning and end of the process.
What we need to present is candidate who present and alternative and can get elected.
Some seem to think that all you need is a hard “true” conservative and we automatically win the election.
Ron Paul is exhibit “A” for this being false at a national level
In Minnesota Judy Lindsay is exit “A” here in MN.
Despite tons of money and effort being spent on her, she lost in a Republican district.
So it takes more than just being the alternative – It takes candidates who can also win elections.
Sadly, I fear that in some GOP locations they are more interested in finding the perfect alternative for a debating society instead of find candidates who can actually implement that alternative as an elected official.
July 17th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
I caucused for McCain, my only stint ever at the Republican caucus. He only lost me when I learned that Phil Graham (someone I have a visceral reaction to) was his economic advisor. I went in the tank for Obama when the economy started free falling I realized whatever McCain’s foreign policy chops, he was an economic lightweight and Warren Buffet’s Obama endorsement took me over the wall. Pallin didn’t even figure – I was already gone by then. I also voted multiple times for Carlson, Durenburger, and the Rammer.
So yeah, I’m the kind of guy that movement conservatives love to snub or “explain about the world to”, but they’re only leaving votes on the table when they swing the party from the party of Lincoln to the party of Limbaugh. Suit yourselves. I’m sure you’re having fun, but don’t look for my vote.