Divided by Zealots
By Alan K. Simpson - Washington Post Op-Ed
This is a major divide in the Repub party, and will come to the fore after the 04 election.
Heading into next year's election, the Republicans have a very popular president and a credible advantage with the electorate on the core principles of limited government, free enterprise, strong defense and personal responsibility.
Maybe it is still about Sept. 11, but most of our fellow countrymen seem to understand what America is all about. It is about a common flag and a common language and a fractious public culture. We're never going to unite the country around a particular set of religious beliefs, nor would we wish to. If you go home at night and worship the Great Eel, that's your business. But we can unite the country around practical policies that improve the collective life of all of our people.
There is something Republicans must always remember: The media are not going to portray clarity; they are going to portray conflict, confusion and controversy. And they are going to do it every single time, especially if they can find a schism or us fighting among ourselves. I was in this contact sport of politics for 31 years. People take some good shots at you, and that goes with the territory. You learn to "take part or get taken apart."
But for some incomprehensible reason, Republicans seem to like to eat their young. We have the steely-eyed zealots trying to inflict their personal views on others. They don't care a whit whether you are with them 90 percent of the time. They are the 100 percenters, and what really matters to them is that old 10 percent, and they'll use venom and invective to tear people down. We do that too many times and it sure turns folks off. And the Democrats just love it!
On the personal and singular issue of abortion, many seem to have the attitude that government really does know best (a very non-Republican view on all other issues) and that individual Americans are incapable of thinking and deciding for themselves on this terribly anguishing and intimate issue.
As a longtime supporter of the right to choose, I have never believed that Congress or the federal government should interfere with the deeply personal and private decisions that women sometimes face regarding unintended or crisis pregnancies. A lot of Republicans agree with me -- and a lot do not. You really have to have rocks for brains if you honestly think we're going to solve that horrible conflict anytime soon.
President Bush gets it even if they don't. We damn sure don't need the vitriol and demonization from the cultural warriors on the left and the right. We have enough on our plates that really needs doing. President Bush knows all about it. He has a rugged bunch of people on the Hill who simply want to block him. Their game is: Don't let him accomplish anything. It doesn't help the country, but it's pretty good politics.
You can get around those folks by bringing people into office to help you get things done -- maybe not on all 50 things you want, but on 30 or 40. That's why the president tells us the Republican Party is the party of the open door. We want more people to get involved.
We want to grow this fine Grand Old Party. And we want to share our core principles to make America strong and secure; to provide a stable framework in which people can make their livings, raise their families and work together in their communities; and to allow every American a chance at the pursuit of happiness.
President Bush understands that we have a limited and unique opportunity to attract people to this party and to get some good things done for our country. Somebody should send the word to the zealots.
The writer is a former Republican senator from Wyoming and a member of the Republican Pro-Choice Coalition's advisory board.
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