Jackson Free Press

"They will learn to conform to our agenda or they will be driven from our party"

Michael Cudahy asks a provocative question in his Alternet story: "Can Republican moderates find the nerve to fight back against the neocons who have hijacked their party?" He writes:

Referred to as RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) by many hard right conservatives, they are respected by the voters in their states, but despised by party leaders in Washington. Out-organized by neo-conservative groups like the Christian Coalition, the Family Research Council, and the Club for Growth, moderates are no longer viewed as respected members of a philosophically broad-based party. They have, instead, become targets for a group of cannibalistic vigilantes bent on establishing ideological purity.

Drunk with power from their recent electoral victory, these ideologues make no pretense about their intentions. Stephen Moore, president of the Club for Growth, says his organization's goal is to punish moderate Republicans and make them an endangered species. "The problem with the moderates in Congress is that they basically water down the Republican message and what you get is something that infuriates the Republican base," Moore says.

"They will learn to conform to our agenda or they will be driven from our party," he says simply.

Previous Comments

ID

137385

Comment

This scenario is what my hairdresser in Berkeley predicted about 8 years ago. Per the Daily Show, the Dems become the 3rd party. The republicans become the first and second parties.

Author

kate

Date

2004-11-18T09:43:17-06:00