RNC proposal: it's all about the principle

At the next RNC annual meeting in January there could be a resolution introduced to address the Scozzafava problem, defined as throwing party support behind a candidate better suited to be a Democrat philosophically.

According to the Washington Post, James Bopp, Jr. of Indiana is introducing this draft resolution, the "Proposed RNC Resolution on Reagan's Unity Principle for Support of Candidates", and expects candidates to be agreeable to at least 8 of the 10 - the "80 percent" rule espoused by Ronald Reagan. Here are the ten issues in question:

1. We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama's "stimulus" bill;

2. We support market-based health care reform and oppose Obama-style government run healthcare;

3. We support market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation;

4. We support workers' right to secret ballot by opposing card check;

5. We support legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants;

6. We support victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges;

7. We support containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat;

8. We support retention of the Defense of Marriage Act;

9. We support protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing, denial of health care and government funding of abortion; and

10. We support the right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership.

Well, I guess I can get money from the RNC because I support at least the minimum eight (actually to one extent or another I can go 10 for 10.) To me, this is a no-brainer.

But the supporting members who signed the resolution hail mostly from flyover country, which leads me to believe that if the elitists, who elected to financially support a candidate like Dede Scozzafava in the mistaken belief that creating a "big tent" means expanding the tent to cover any and all political beliefs as long as the candidate carries an "R" after their name, have the majority of the 168 votes they'll somehow make sure this never sees the light of day. This resolution is for those of us who believe the size of the philosophical tent is limited and it's our job to draw the voters there, winning them over by convincing them that maximizing freedom - as opposed to having the nanny state allow them crumbs at the whim of their dictates - is to their benefit. Come on, we're only talking about how Reagan won, that's all. The guy carried 49 states!

Last January's RNC meeting was interesting because of the Chair race, so this year it's all about the issues. But in the end, that's truly what elections come down to in most cases so establishing a baseline for support (sort of a Contract With America but one based on overall principles and not actual legislation) seems to me a solid game plan to build a groundswell of support for GOP candidates. Try as the partisan media of the alphabet networks might, the poor economy can easily be tied to the party in power, and that's not the GOP.

Perhaps the inside-the-Beltway crowd doesn't like the idea of a litmus test, but we tried it your way the last several years and the results were found wanting. Why have a party if it's not about principles?