A few pundits and others in the press have decided that moderate Republicans are making a comeback.
They have decided this true because the number of Republican Senators & Congressmen who are members of the self-declared centrist group, the Republican Main Street Partnership has grown.
Here’s the Political Fix blog of the Washington Post –
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/house/the-myth-of-the-dying-moderate.html
For all the talk about how the tea party has pushed Republicans to the right, the most high-profile moderate group in the GOP — the Republican Main Street Partnership — has its most members ever, at more than 40.
And here’s the usually sensible Frum Forum –
http://www.frumforum.com/davis-centrist-gop-wing-growing-in-clout
The state of the centrist Republican coalition is better than it has ever been before, according to former Rep. Tom Davis, President of the Republican Main Street Partnership, a group that represents moderate Republicans in Congress.
This year, the Republican Main Street Partnership’s membership has ballooned to its highest number ever. A preliminary number for its membership – which is still being worked out – now includes 45 congressmen and 4 senators, a gain of about a dozen members.
There’s only one problem with this theory – few members of the group are really moderate.
For example, the From Forum article highlights the fact that one of the Main Streeters, Fred Upton is now the Chair of the important House Energy & Commerce Committee.
But just a few days after the article appeared, another one appeared on the Frum Forum and said:
The right to pollute is getting a big push from pals of the fossil fuel industries, most of them aiming at curtailing the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
…
House and Senate committee leaders Fred Upton (R-MI) and James Inhofe (R-OK) would strip EPA’s authority to limit CO2 and methane under the Clean Air Act.
Some moderate!
What about abortion?
One of the first bills introduced by the new Republican majority is H.R. 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. It has 200 sponsors. 28 are members of the Main Street Partnership!
Is that moderate?
How about Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Only 15 House Republicans voted in favor of repeal and some of them are not moderate Main Street members but libertarian leaning conservatives
And then there’s the Health Care bill. Since every Republican voted in favor of repeal, I guess the Main Street Partnership feels that’s the moderate position on the issue.
I think one comparison can tell you all you need to know about the so-called surge in moderate Republicans. The Main Street Partnership has 4 Senators in its’ membership, One of them is John McCain. His ratings from the American Conservative Union for the last two years – 100% & 96%. Senator Joe Lieberman’s record for the same two years – 4% & 20%.