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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
May 6, 2009
/ 12 Iyar 5769
Lost principles, lost votes
By
Jonathan Gurwitz
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Arlen Specter's defection to the Democratic Party carried two reminders one bipartisan and one strictly for Republicans.
The bipartisan reminder is that for too many politicians, self-preservation is job one. Specter, who enjoyed the support of George W. Bush and conservative luminary Rick Santorum during his bid to win a fifth Senate term in 2004, didn't switch parties as a matter of principle.
About this, he was perfectly candid: "I am unwilling to have my 29-year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate."
Translation: "I am 20 points down in the polls to a GOP challenger, and I have a better chance of winning a sixth term in the Senate running as a Democrat. I'd be short-changing the American people if I left Congress after only 30 years."
The reminder to Republicans is that they are still in deep trouble. In 2006, Republicans lost 30 House seats, six Senate seats and majority control in both chambers of Congress.
In 2008, they lost 21 more House seats, eight Senate seats and the White House. The downdraft from federal elections wiped out GOP candidates in states that only four years earlier had been solidly Republican.
With Specter's defection, Republicans are still playing a game of political subtraction. You only win, however, by addition.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Democrats were subtracting, Republicans adding: Bob Martinez in Florida, Ben "Nighthorse" Campbell in Colorado, Norm Coleman in Minnesota, Phil Gramm and a young legislator named Rick Perry in Texas.
Now the arithmetic is reversed. No one will mistake Specter for the ghost of Ronald Reagan. But Specter entered the Senate in 1980 as a member of Reagan's big tent Republican Party. His departure, after two electoral expulsions for Republicans, leaves behind a depressingly small, increasingly regional tent.
How do you rebuild a bigger, national party? For starters, you show tolerance for Republicans who win in states or districts that aren't reliably red but who aren't necessarily ideological pole sitters. Specter's first vote as a Democrat was against the Obama budget.
Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, a real conservative and fighter for reform in Congress, said he'd rather have 30 principled Republicans in the Senate than 60 without a set of beliefs.
DeMint is wrong on the timing. When you have a large majority, you can afford to purge your ranks. When you're one vote shy of becoming a politically irrelevant minority without the ability to filibuster, it's the equivalent of calling in fire on your own position.
But he's right about the principles. Republicans won a congressional majority in 1994 two years after a disappointing election in which they lost the White House by offering a clear alternative to the scandal-plagued, profligate spending Democratic majority: limited government, fiscal responsibility, accountable leadership and individual freedom.
By 2006, those principles were gone. And still in 2009, even with Nancy Pelosi, John Murtha, Harry Reid and Chris Dodd running Capitol Hill, most of the public can't tell the difference between an old Democrat and a new Republican.
Two events in recent years make clear there's still a large national constituency for principled conservatism: the outrage of Americans at the Supreme Court's Kelo decision in 2005, and the growing movement of citizens who realize a massive expansion of government power and spending will bankrupt our nation.
Those should be Republican voters. In 2008, however, they voted Democratic, wasted their votes on third parties, or stayed home. And they'll continue to do so, as will a majority of Americans, until the Republican Party offers them a clear alternative.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment by clicking here.
JWR contributor Jonathan Gurwitz, a columnist for the San Antonio Express-News, is a co-founder and twice served as Director General of the Future Leaders of the Alliance program at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. In 1986 he was placed on the Foreign Service Register of the U.S. State Department.
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© 2009, Jonathan Gurwitz
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