Compounding the GOP's troubles

As if Republicans don't already have enough troubles, they face an ideologically focused assault from the far-right wing Club for Growth.

Rather than wield its significant resources against Democrats, the Club for Growth targets moderate Republicans in conservative House districts, hoping to elect more dogmatic candidates.

"If there is any single role that Club for Growth plays, it is to hold Republicans accountable for votes that betray the Republican agenda," said [Club for Growth President Stephen] Moore, who hopes to discover and nurture the next generation of Ronald Reagans. "We think we play an important role in disciplining the party."

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"We have a lot of members who are more driven by ideology than party," Moore said during an interview in his office, rented from a Washington law firm. "We think we are starting to change the culture of the party."

This quest for ideological purity will be one of the key reasons Democrats will do well in November. Not only will voters be more likely to vote for a moderate Democrat over a Club For Growth-sponsored wingnut, but Republicans are wasting their money fighting each other:

In response, a moderate Republican group, the Republican Main Street Partnership, has jumped into the race to defend Gilchrest, spending at least $100,000 on a week of television ads and a get-out-the-vote drive on election day.

The group's executive director, Sarah Chamberlain Resnick, said the effort is an answer to Club for Growth's attacks on Republican moderates like Gilchrest and New Jersey Rep. Marge Roukema, who barely survived a primary challenge by a club candidate in 2000 and avoided another this year by retiring.

"It's unfortunate that they keep going after moderate Republicans," Resnick said. "We thought it was time to stop them."

Each dollar these groups spend fighting themselves is one less dollar targeted against a Democratic candidate. And, so long as the GOP's wingnuts deliver candidates like California's Bill Simon and Iowa's Gangske, it will ease the inevitable return of Democratic majorities throughout the land.

Posted September 04, 2002 11:31 AM | Comments (0)