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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated
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To: LindyBill who started this subject4/30/2003 8:15:36 PM
From: JohnM  Read Replies (3) of 793980
 
The New Republic notes the classic dilemma the Reps face over the Santorum debacle. Salve the base and risk being pictured as bigoted. Or not. Apparently, the Reps are doing the former. Will be an interesting commentary on American politics to see just how this works out.

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THE REPUBLICANS SOLVE THEIR SANTORUM PROBLEM, SORT OF: Last week we reflected on the dilemma facing the Republican Party as a result of Rick Santorum's bigoted remarks about homosexuals: Denounce him and you alienate your base, which thinks homosexuality is a sin. Embrace him and you further alienate the moderates who recoiled at his remarks. Try to tiptoe around the issue and both groups end up unhappy.
Well, it turns out that the Republicans have decided that option (c)--which for the past several days looked to be their preferred option--is indeed the worst of both worlds, and that, having perhaps irretrievably lost a segment of moderates who might otherwise have been inclined to vote for them, they're better off trying to shore up their base. At least that was the message congressional GOP leaders were sending yesterday. According to today's New York Times, Tom Delay even went so far as to praise Santorum for "standing on principle." "I think Senator Santorum took a very courageous and moral position based upon principles and his world view," Delay told reporters.

This cut your losses approach is probably the right move from a narrow tactical perspective. It's unquestionably the wrong move from a broader integrity perspective. Somehow we're not surprised that the former impulse won out.

tnr.com
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