The Case Against Fighting Moderate Republicans

I've seen some talk around the blogosphere this morning that if RI Republican Senator Linc Chaffee votes to approve John Bolton as America's "man" on the U.N., then Dems must work very hard to defeat them.

OK, well, I'm not much of a party loyalist. I don't like corruption when it comes from Dems anymore than I do from GOPers.

But I would actually hate to see the few so-called moderate GOPers on the Hill picked off. In this case, we would be doing exactly what the rabid wing would like to do because they don't want anyone in Congress who is not beholden to either Tom DeLay or the Whacko Wrong.

I don't believe it's an accident that almost all the moderates are New Englanders. I think those of us up here do not see parties and party politics quite the same way as the rest of the country. Our tradition speaks of what's best for America as a whole rather than for small people or small parts of the U.S.

I also think these moderates represent more of a majority of the GOP's real people rather than politicos than do people like Tom DeLay, John Cornyn, and George Bush. I don't believe the majority of normal Republican Americans want violence toward judges, want the party to jump on the body of a brain dead woman like Terri Schiavo to ride her to glory, want Tom DeLay telling the rest of the country and world what to do, or want to see elections stolen.