Cornyn is accusing anyone who disagrees with his strategy of recruiting liberals to run as Republicans for Senate across the board “of being one of those troublesome conservatives.”

The premise of smager’s ill conceived post is that if Cornyn doesn’t name people anyone by name…then the plain language of what he said should be ignored and the inference that those who disagree with Cornyn are ideological purists and extremists should be ignored…

“I need to constantly remind some of my very conservative friends who want to sort of purify the party

if you ask me…his question is more disingenuous than it is fair!

The “Big Tent” analogy isn’t the correct one…the correct one is a MAGNET…we need to be a MAGNET that draws these independents in who are sick and tired of what’s going on in Washington—Fred Thompson

Senate Conservatives Fund House Conservatives Fund Michael Williams for Senate

Marco 2010 Toomey US Senate SarahPAC

Is where the money he needs to raise is coming from. And, in the cold calculus of “electability” the NRSC seems to be playing they are not only selling short conservative principles, they are making mistakes in their analysis.

A “moderate” candidate not supported financially or in significant volunteer numbers may start higher in the polls and then will lose ground to the Democrat. The “conservative” candidate may start low and then will gain ground because his base rallies behind him. The truth of the matter is that all politics is local, and it is the money and the volunteers that drive the elections by helping a candidate win on the local issues and drumming up support where it can be found. A candidate without that base of support will always flounder.

“I need to constantly remind some of my very conservative friends who want to sort of purify the party – and, in so doing, cast us in a permanent minority status – that Ronald Reagan said the person who votes with me 80 percent of the time is my friend and ally, not a 20 percent traitor,” Cornyn says.

Cornyn plainly states that he believes that holding to conservative values dooms us to a “permanent minority status”. He does not believe, as I do, that conservatism is, in fact, the way to a permanent majority. Anyone who thinks this way cannot be a conservative. In his Republican Party, we will be tolerated as a faction, much as we are expected to tolerate the moderates, but we will not set policy.

This is a tremendous shame. We should be fighting the socialism of the Democrats, but I’m afraid we must first fight for the control of the Republican Party. And make no mistake, this is a fight. We cannot coexist in this party with Cornyn and his ilk. They cannot abide a party where they do not rule, and a party where they rule is one that does not provide a vehicle for conservatives to advance their cause. And as I have said elsewhere, if the party does not provide conservatives with a vehicle to realize their policy goals, there is no reason for conservatives to stay.

Charlie Crist has decided to erase the lines altogether

John Cornyn’s manure is so thick it could build dung huts in Texas

John Cornyn knows better than you conservative boobs and he wants you to know it.

I’d be OK with language like that if someone could show me where Cornyn had said something as harsh about social conservatives. (I’m presuming that they’re the group that Cornyn has “targeted” here). Has he used language like this? Could someone point me to a link?

I’ve said this before, and apparently it needs to be said again: Cornyn is a partisan. A NRSC partisan. His primary goal in life right now is to elect GOP Senators.

I wish he hadn’t done what he did. But, given his viewpoint on things, I can see why he did it.

Erick, I respect the hell out of you for the sacrifices you’ve made in making Redstate what it is.

But, I am VERY worried that this whole tack and tone of conversation is going to be counterproductive. You can’t label the GOP leadership as toxic and then expect them to work with you. If nothing else, base human pride will make them shun you and this site. What then?

he indicates in a crystal clear manner that he has not been and has no intention of paying attention to the arguments against the endorsement.

Have you considered this possibility: he’s paid attention to your arguments, and rejected them? I think it’s possible for a reasonable person, in Cornyn’s position, to look at the same facts you did and come to a different conclusion. You seem to be taking that as smoking-gun proof of malfeasance on his part.

Senator Cornyn’s presupposition is that we are an unreasonable angry mob of wingnut activists. We know this from his platitudes.

OK…what platitudes? I’ve reread the Cornyn quote you posted in the original article, and I’m sorry, but I don’t see where it justifies harsh language like this. What else has Cornyn said?

And, if I may, there are some conservatives whose rhetoric indicates that they hold a pretty dim view of moderate Republicans. This blade cuts both ways.

If we cannot stand together, we will continue to hang separately on Election Day.

I think the problem, seriously, is that these politicians stay in DC too long. Eventually, the inside-the-beltway echo chamber gets the best of them. Thereafter, every calculation is focused on how to get reelected with less effort.

To me, this is the only logical explanation for the general lethargy of the Republicans in DC. They have done little to nothing in terms of pushing back against Oban’s rush to Socialism.

As I’ve stated elsewhere on Red State, I think we need to raise as army of Citizen Candidates for 2010. Personally, I’m considering a run against a 12-term Republican incumbent (US House) with a decent voting record. Frankly, I think 24 years in the DC echo-chamber is an indication of entirely too much tolarence for BS…..or, more likely, evidence of soft corruption of the echo-chamber variety.

Turning Citizens into Statesmen seems possible. I hold no hope for turning Politicians (of any stripe) into Statesmen.

While I will agree we need to attract people to vote republican, I fail to see why so many people think the way to do this is to be democrats. Why did Spector ever call himself a conservative? Why is Colin Powel calling himself a republican? Like Arnold, these guys hold 90% liberal views. If I felt that way, I’d be a democrat. I don’t know of a single Rhino who was ever elected president on the republican ticket, in fact, one just lost the big race. I am sick and tired of voting for one person simply becasue the other person sucks more.

And this hue and cry against pro life Christian Republicans confuses me. As far as Crist goes. the big rap against him is his support for porkulus, I don’t even know where he stands on abortion.

One last question, do the republicans in Washington even listen to us? I, for one, feel completely voiceless. I know Feinstein and Boxer could care less what I think. Does anyone out there who has a republican senator feel differntly?

It was not my intention to start a flame war by trying to answer a very legitimate question.

I’m tempted to shut down the comments so this does not escalate.

Who will stand on either hand and keep this bridge with me?

Look, I have no problem with the NRSC taking sides in a primary if they did the work to draft a candidate to run long before anybody, credible, jumps in the race. However, Florida was different. Jeb was the only star, and everyone took a back seat to him to see if he was going to run. Once he said no, several qualified candidates began making it known they were seriously considering jumping in - all viable candidates. This is the kind of situation where the NRSC should save its cash and credibility and let the candidates sort it out.

If we we’re talking about NY, VT, CT, MA, CA, WA or IL, I’d understand the NRSC jumping in. But it’s not, and FL ain’t that kind of place. This was an unforced error. Hopefully, FL GOPers will make a good decision, regardless of what Washington does.

*As for Sen. Cornyn, I think he’s a good guy, doing a mostly good job. But when there’s nothing wrong with letting him know of our displeasure on an ill-advised decision When we do it, let’s remember he’s one of ours and we’re on the same side.

And I AM upset with Cornyn’s interference in what has been a Republican administration for the last 11 years. Crist is popular in Florida but not with who you think. He is popular with moderates,
the left wing media and left leaning independents. He has over and over again made decisions unpopular with the staunch republican base here. He’s become a classic RiNO. Voting against energy independence, supported the destructive fiscal policies of this socialist administration etc etc. And then after the party in general states the need to court the latino vote here in Florida he basically
disses Rubio who is a solid Latino conservative and popular here with the base. It would be, without a doubt, much better for Florida with Rubio as senator and leave Crist as governor.
Cornyn’s interference in these elections WILL split the vote and possibly hand the Governorship AND a senators seat to the Democrats. Florida was NOT a place that the NRSC needed to
interfere with and could very likely damage our standing in Florida.

I mean stop for a minute and think about this, Cornyn thre his support behind a republican who has stated that he would have
followed along in the footsteps of some of the most disliked republicans in our party and he said this NOT in a blue state in which such a statement might be understood as needed.
When a so-called republican drops the fiscal portion of our platform and is questionable on the social portion etc is he still a republican? Was Specter a Republican all these years? Or was that R after his name just a bit of window dressing?

If we keep watering down the differences between Us and the Democrats there will end up being no reason to elect any of us.
This previous Presidential election was proof of this. As I and others have pointed out in the past McCain was doing ALOT worse
BEFORE he chose Palin. An obvious moderate republican who dissed his base regularly was losing horribly until a conservative was added to the ticket. Is that such a tough thing for moderates to see and understand? It seems so obvious.

I’m working for and voting for Rubio for Senate if he isn’t run off
by the same party who constantly says it needs to support him.
If Crist were going to run again for Governor and there was nobody better I’d probably vote for him but the man is NO Jeb Bush thats for sure.

Intro to Federalist Papers; section 5;
paragraph 4.
“…dangerous ambition more often lurks behind the specious mask of zeal for the rights of the people than under the zeal for a firm and efficient government.”

I’m an embarrassment to Barack!

I only scored 17 on the Obama Test

[Thanks for proving me right, retread. – NS]

Cornyn getting his marching orders from McCain, Graham and even Colin Powell? Certainly Graham made it clear last weekend he doesn’t “get” our party and remember his hissy fit when Specter changed sides — he was going to call Ridge posthaste to run against Toomey — McCain– well don’t need to say anything there and same with Powell except Cornyn is sounding more like that gang than our more conservative senators — and we do have them, they are being drowned out by the “moderates.” Cornyn either needs to figure out the pulse of the party (Steele seems he has finally figured us out) or I will never give another dime to the RNSC.

If my refusal to support the movement of the Republican Party towards an ever more statist, value-free political force displeases anyone, they can kiss my tuchis. If the Party insists on continuing the trend, I have no problem leaving the club.

I can’t threaten to withhold funding since I stopped giving to the RNC and NRSCC years ago, preferring the more efficient method of supporting candidates and groups with whom I agree on the critical issues. I can guarantee they will NEVER get a dime from me as long as they use the money to support the likes of Chaffee, Specter, and Crist.

If the price of “winning” is abandoning everything we stand for, what exactly have we “won?”

If we don’t get down to it here and other sites we will just be lemmings following the party….you see these tools in DC they don’t get how big the internet is how they cannot just step in and make a backroom deal anymore without the populace knowing what is going on and I am grateful for that.

A decade ago we would not have been having this discussion about Crist/Rubio only those in Florida would but WE Conservatives can give and give large to Rubio for a fight to beat Crist…..he would have probably just bowed out in the past….think of how many GREAT Conservatives just picked up their ball and went home when the NRSC or RNC or NRCC decided whom they wanted. So as angry as everyone got here on both sides of the issue I am THRILLED that WE CAN DO SOMETHING! That NEVER again will these party snipes just go and do something…..LIGHT AND DISENFECTANT and all that!

Look upon this diary and all those diaries where everyone beat the crap out of each other and know man this is the best thing that every happened in politics!…OBTW if you are Conservative and want Rubio to win this battle go over to his Senate site and donate or just sign up for emails BUT let him know you are out here!

Whoever has his enemy at his mercy &
does not destroy him is his own enemy

is what made me go from being a regular participant to more of just a reader at RS. Somehow, we as a party have gotten to the dark place that moderates (aka liberal republicans) can question the motives of the conservative base of the party.

If I opposed Romney, I was called anti-mormon. If I oppose my party endorsing a liberal republican before the primaries even happen, I’m somehow for “purging the party”. If I oppose Rudy I’m somehow a social conservative misfit. Heck, I didn’t like the socon candidate Huck because of his pro tax leanings. (FWIW, I was roundly criticized because I said I would vote for a conservative, and not the “lesser of two evils”. I held my nose and voted for McCain, but wrote that I believe that a vote for a pro-abortion candidate like Rudy was outside of my own concious. I respect those who place the party ubber alles, but I don’t). I wanted Thompson to win, but would have had to abstain for either Rudy or Romney based on how I saw their stances on abortion.

At times I’ve defended conservatism, only to be reminded that RS is meant help the republican party even if we have to swallow some sour medicine. Yet we (as republicans) seem to play whichever side is convenient at the moment. Frankly, I stopped giving to the NRSC years ago. Our party favored the Chafees and Specters and now the Crists for far too long. When in power, we spent like drunken sailors and increased the size of government. The only thing that ties me to the republican brand right now is that we have been consistent on keeping America safe and giving us two excellent SCOTUS justices.

But the GOP hasn’t fought for lower spending. They haven’t fought for lower court judges. I don’t expect them to fight fire with fire when the next liberal justice comes up (we always give them a pass, and feel we need to hide the originalist or constructionist nature of our own justices). The dems are clearly worse, but the GOP hasn’t stood for much since the Contract in ‘94. I’m not happy with being th party that just “doesn’t spend as much as the dems”. All of this infighting reads like a lot of mindless garbage one gets on Kos.

Frankly, I salute Erick for taking a stand. This isn’t about purity, purges, socons, or anything of the sort. We have a dysfunctional NRSC that makes choices before the members of the party at the local level have spoken. That is wrong on its face. That the NRSC did so, and chose the liberal candidate makes it more egregious. Simple. If Rubio doesn’t win the primary, that becomes the time to assist the other candidate. We just went through this egg on the face with the NRSC supporting Specter, just before specter came out of the closet as a democrat. Why? Because Specter knew the base wouldn’t support him. Then the NRSC had to change their fickle minds. Toomey deserves (should he choose to) to berate the NRSC for backing a democrat before the voting base of the GOP even had a say.

Let me know when our party decides to grow up and to start supporting politicians that support GOP ideals (ie conservatism). Then, let’s see it put into practice when we have a majority. This petty sniping at one another makes only one thing clear: We have moderates and liberals who will make any excuse to use the GOP as their own vehicle. They should stick with the dem party, instead of trying to bring us down. Conservatism wins votes. Liberal republican office holders don’t vote our way at any rate, so electng them does nothing for us (except the empty “but we won that race”).

As long as some people on RS make excuses for liberals and moderates, we’ll continue to see the republcan brand lessened. When we return to a party that stands for something unifying, we’ll return to being a majority party. That isn’t “purge” talk either. If a liberal wins his primary, the NRSC should go ahead and support that candidate. In the present case, the primary hasn’t even happened.

Are playing the game of stating that they feel ostracized so that they can ostracize the more conservative. I think all of us need to have the three legs of the stools asked of all of us and where do we stand on those stools. I’ll start.

Fiscally-I believe in a smaller non-intrusive government that does not spend money on things, it is not constitutionally obligated to spend money on.

National Defense,- I beleive in a strong national defense, and in giving a beating to those that attack us and our interests.

Socailly- Here, I am more of a live and let live person. I don’t think govenment should outright ban abortion. I don’t think I want prayers of a certain religion in public schools, and I don’t fully believe in an abstinence only sex education if the states mandate sex education as part of the core curriculum, but abstinence should be taught as the only 100% effective birth control.

Does that disqualify me from being a conservative? I have voted for republicans in about every election I took part in, mostly because the republican is less bad than the democrat. But if I can find the 66 2/3% republican that believes in my first two points, I will go to the mattresses for them.

I know I need to wade into this, seeing as it was my comment that apparently set parts of Redstate on fire last night…

…but I’m not just ready yet.

It’s Happy Hour at the hotel bar. It’s been a long day at work. I’ve ordered dinner, and I promise to read these comments and reply to those who deserve a reply from me.

Honest.

I don’t like doing this. I certainly don’t like doing this against a Senator I like very much. But there is no other way.

If you set out to take Vienna…take Vienna.

Pray tell, what will the GOP leadership do in response to your verbal thunderstrike on them?

Do you really think they’ll abandon Crist? Withdraw their endorsement?

You had no other option besides saying that Senator Cornyn could build dung huts and thinks of conservatives as boobs?

My concern is that Redstate, as a tool for supporting GOP electoral operations in 2010, might be badly damaged.

Personally, I didn’t join this site so I could rant about how I was right and most of the other earth was (a) wrong (b) not a real conservative or (c) both. I came here to try and do what the left was doing: use the Internet to mobilize people to vote for Republicans.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I live on Earth. On Earth, in this imperfect place known as the United States of America, lots and lots of imperfect people vote in our leaders, And, lots of imperfect people run for office.

For those of you who live with me on Earth, or who visit occasionally, you might notice that Republicans got crushed in the last two elections. That means we Republicans who are left need to be looking to team with like-minded people. Not repel them.

If Roosevelt could partner with Stalin, then we can partner with moderates.

A quick reminder about recent history: I agree that Crist shouldn’t have done what he did.

However, I think the response from Redstate has been way out of proportion. I don’t see where you use language like we’ve used here, and then expect your target to fall into ranks with you.

Maybe, eventually, they will—AFTER we’ve worked through a lot of emotional static,

Given our electoral position, we need all the allies we can get.

Here’s what I think is going to happen. Cornyn and the GOP leadership is going to stick with its current decision to support Crist. They’re not going to back down. But, even if they do, they’re going to remember, and there are going to be hard feelings.

Now, if you are of the mindset that it’s OK to burn down the GOP, in order that a purer party can rise from the ashes, maybe you don’t care about what happens in 2010.

I do. My son’s money is being wasted as we speak. If we don’t stop it there won’t be much left.

Right now, I’m willing to partner with Stalin. I want to save my village, without destroying it first.

who else are you going to vote for Obama? We are taking charge, you had your fun destroying the party let the real men take over! So, now it is your turn to decide who you are going to vote for Obama or the conservative candidate. Oh and I do not believe in the three pillar stool, a conservative should be so in all three areas otherwise you are a squishes. Life, Smaller Govenment and Strong Defense. Any other way and you have a definite COI.

who else are you going to vote for Obama? We are taking charge, you had your fun destroying the party let the real men take over! So, now it is your turn to decide who you are going to vote for Obama or the conservative candidate. Oh and I do not believe in the three pillar stool, a conservative should be so in all three areas otherwise you are a squishes. Life, Smaller Govenment and Strong Defense. Any other way and you have a definite COI.