A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics
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A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics | |
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February 08, 2005Whitman Criticizes Social Fundamentalists In Appearance At HarvardFormer New Jersey Gov. Christie Todd Whitman criticized "social fundamentalists" who exert undue influence over the Republican Party in a talk at Harvard on January 31. According to Whitman, it doesn't matter if you have a strong record in cutting taxes or criminal justice. If you're not with them on the social issues, "you're not a good Republican." Whitman spoke for an hour before a crowd of 150 listeners, before signing copies of her book, It's My Party, Too. The Republican Party is "not the party I grew up with," Whitman said, recalling how in earlier days her father anticipated the "big tent" metaphor by referring to the Republican Party as a "big umbrella" held together by its "center handle." According to Whitman, many Republicans have reacted to her call that the party welcome moderates by questioning the need to make change given that the party is thriving electorally. Whitman's response in on two levels. First, she believes that good governance, as opposed to good campaigning, requires people who take a common sense rather than ideological approach. She called for a return to "the days of Eisenhower" when one could talk about issues on their merits. Second, Whitman argued that the Republican Party has not achieved dominance. President George W. Bush won election by a margin of less than 3% of the vote. While Republicans control Congress, state legislatures are very closely split nationally. If the Republican Party were to alienate moderates, it could lose its majority. Whitman spoke about her tenure as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. She expressed pride in accomplishments such as the Hudson River Cleanup, and the initiative to reduce emission by non-road diesel equipment. Whitman claimed that the Bush Administration's record on the environment is stronger than is generally recognized. The administration deliberately downplays its achievements in environmental policy due to a perception that the "base" is uninterested or even hostile to environmental concerns. Whitman recalled being in a meeting with Republicans from western states in which she was warned of difficulties which would ensue if there were an editorial in the New York Times which praised the EPA. Asked why she didn't leave the Republican Party and become a Democrat, Whitman answered that the Democratic Party was suffering from the same ills as the Republican Party. Instead of widening their base, the trend in both parties is to "harden your base" by appealing to divisive emotional issues. Furthermore, she still feels the GOP is the party that values the individual, while the Democrats see government as the chief avenue to solve problems. Asked about a possible third party, Whitman answered that the chances for a successful third party are worse now than ever, given how important money and a party apparatus are to a campaign. Whitman invited moderates to visit her website, mypartytoo.com, in order to get involved in promoting moderate politics. On being informed about the Centrist Coalition's plans to organize grassroots support for moderate elected officials, Whitman indicated that she welcomed the initiative. Posted by rickheller at February 8, 2005 11:41 AMComments
She's singing my tune. Posted by: Tully at February 8, 2005 12:23 PMVery interesting. She's clearly out there fighting the good fight. I saw one disapproving reference in the media from a conservative who raised the specter of her doing this to set the groundwork for some kind of campaign in 2008. But this book -- and her media tour -- are likely to lessen any chance at a VP nod or other major advancement in the party. She's just having her say, god bless her. Kinda cool that you got to tell her about the CC. Did you bring that up in a question, or did you get to chat with her afterwards? Posted by: William Swann at February 8, 2005 01:11 PMI've admired her for a long time. It's a shame that more folks like her couldn't retrieve control of the GOP from the NeoCon usurpers. Give 'em hell, Christie! Posted by: Kevin at February 8, 2005 01:11 PMI bought her book the other day. Initially I wasn't that impressed with the beginning, too much narrative about her early political background, however I really like the chapters about race relations and the environment. It always amazes me that if you try to play it down the middle on these two issues, you will get slammed from both right and left. Have any of you read the whole thing yet? I hope the rest is as good as those two chapters I pointed out. Posted by: Adrian at February 8, 2005 01:22 PMI spoke to Gov. Whitman about the Centrist Coalition during the book signing after the conclusion of her formal remarks. Posted by: rickheller at February 8, 2005 02:04 PMI think a modest goal of the CC s/b to become one of the "Strategic Partners" of the IMP PAC: http://mypartytoo.com/html/Strategic_Partners.html Posted by: Scott at February 8, 2005 02:41 PMAbsolutely. The New America Foundation is already listed, so they're not just considering Republican organizations. Posted by: William Swann at February 8, 2005 03:41 PMOK I have to ask the obvious question: if the conservatives have taken over the party why is their electoral success increasing and not decreasing? Is the American public deceived? (It seems we critisized the Dems for using that argument to explain the presendential election? If we agree the Republican party has moved too much to the right and the electorate have voted in more Republicans does that mean the "Centrist" Coalition is now a bit left of center? I'm not accusing, I'm just asking? Posted by: Chris at February 8, 2005 11:16 PMChris, If you look at the NES survey of 2002 of the 80% who expressed an ideological preference, 35% were right of center, 23% left of center, and 22% dead center. So the centrist range seems to go from slightly right of center to a bit further left of center. The median centrist may be slightly left of center! This paradoxical result is because centrists see the two poles of American politics, and identify themselves as in the middle. However, the right pole is currently stronger than the left pole at this time. Posted by: rickheller at February 8, 2005 11:29 PMSo is the Centrist Coalition ahead of the curve or behind? Posted by: Chris at February 9, 2005 12:00 AMNo, Chris we're at the top of the curve, a bell curve, with the right and left on either side. The trick is to get people to SEE this curve. Posted by: bk at February 9, 2005 09:34 AMI like Christie Whitman a lot, but her predicament says a lot about the position of moderates in the GOP (but also maybe about the positon of moderates in the Dems as well). She is clearly a woman without a party at this point. Despite all that has been written about the Republican moderates in Congress, they seem highly marginalized and much of the rest of the party seems slightly embarrassed by them, as if they are the black sheep of the family. Posted by: MWS at February 9, 2005 03:47 PMShe is clearly a woman without a party at this point. Despite all that has been written about the Republican moderates in Congress, they seem highly marginalized Maybe the world is divided into thirds: conservative, moderate and liberal and maybe each third sees itself "separate" from the others and maybe the moderates feels this most acutely because many are in a party that is "at least" 2/3 not them. A liberal Dem wouldn't be concerned about not being connected with conservatives becasue "hey, they're conservatives" And vice versa for the conservatives. Maybe centrists just need to deal with the fact that they'll be questioned by a sizeable portion of their party (if they're in a party). And if they're not in a Party they my feel "left out of the Party". So deal with it! Posted by: Chris at February 9, 2005 06:51 PM |
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