Self-Destruct

The GOP teabaggers have made some sort of Satanic bargain with the rich folks Club for Growth to take down the most moderate members of their party, most notably in New York State and Florida.

Starting with Florida, where popular Governor Charlie Crist is running for Senate in what would think would be a walk, but has been challenged in the Primary by arch-Conservative Marco Rubio and is losing ground -- just within his own Party. Crist's sin?

By any reasonable standard, Crist would be considered a conservative. He is pro-life, pro-gun, antitax, big on law and order, a foreign policy hawk. But these are not reasonable times. In February, Crist not only came out in favor of Barack Obama's stimulus package; he welcomed the stimulator himself to Florida. There is a picture, which Floridians will see more than once before the primary, of the governor and the President arm in arm. Crist's aides can list the various things the stimulus funds have done for Florida — saved the jobs of 26,000 teachers, for starters. They will also tell you that Florida is a net "donor" state: it sends more money to the Federal Government than it receives. "Why shouldn't we get our fair share?" the governor asks. And as for his Obama hug, "He is the President of the United States. You honor the office."

Then again, according to other polls, about a third of Republicans nationally don't think Obama was born in the U.S. A disproportionate number of them are the people who go to rallies and vote in primaries.

The biggest Rubio battlecry is against "big government," although the Joe Klein piece goes on to describe the practical problems with the issue, like how hurricanes forced then-Governor Jeb Bush, Republican, to start a state home owners insurance fund, as the private insurers were sky-high, and the state fund went on to become the largest in Florida.

And furthermore, would Florida have turned down the stimulus with Rubio in the Senate? Lose all that money to keep teachers in schools and property taxes low? And wasn't it a Republican President, George Bush, who bailed out the banks? And if he hadn't, would more than half of America have been okay with losing their pension funds?

Take that Amtrak up north now to New York's reliably Republican 23rd Congressional District, parts of the district having been represented only by a GOPer since before the Civil War:

Yet polls show the Republican candidate in serious trouble. State Republican Party leaders prevented an open primary race and instead engineered the nomination of one of their own, moderate, pro-choice Assemblywoman Deirdre Scozzafava.

Angry conservatives in the 23rd rebelled, rallying to the third-party candidacy of local accountant Doug Hoffman. Hoffman and Scozzafava are splitting the Republican vote between them, allowing Democrat Bill Owen to emerge as the front-runner.

David Frum goes on to discuss the hypocrisy of GOP mouthpiece Hugh Hewitt, who chastises New Jersey independent candidate for Governor, Chris Daggett, who is drawing votes from Republican Chris Christie, but doesn't say the same about Hoffman.

A friend of mine opined yesterday that we he's tired of "us vs. them" and thinks we need a Third "moderate" Party. I'd argue that two would be nice, as long as one of them wasn't filled with disbelievers in Obama's citizenship. Since last November, self-identification of Republicans has fallen from 25% of the electorate to 20%, a 1/5 drop. I'd bet most of that 20% is in the South, making the GOP a regional "rump" party.

The fact is that teabaggers are good for Fox News ratings and rightwing talk radio because those organizations only need 1-3% of listeners to make profits, not 51% of a country or even a district to win. The Democratic Party is actually acting very moderate right now in most areas by standards of the 20th Century, even the idea of universal health coverage being first introduced by Republican President Theodore Roosevelt, and later championed by Cold Warrior and Democrat, President Harry Truman. There's a lot of folks that think the Dems could be more progressive, and in essence it is two parties within the big tent.

Maybe there could be a sane Republican party and a crazy offshoot. Maybe it needs to break in two and have 10% hardcore, 10% able to attract disaffected, semi-conservative Dems. I don't see the Dems splitting any time soon -- winning has a way of keeping everybody on the train.

The fear, of course, is the gravy train. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and I believe there should be checks against abuse. Only Communist countries have only one party. Nor do I believe that any party can deal a death blow to the other, or there would have been no Democratic Party after Carter, Mondale and Dukakis.

An opposition will return, most likely under the GOP moniker. If unemployment spikes at 25% under Obama maybe the radical right will have it's day, pace the Weimar Republic. But if this President continues to serve in good health I believe things will, slowly, get better, and if so the GOP will have a big choice to make.

Maybe the teabaggin' Glenn Beck right exhausts itself, dwindles, and the so-called GOP moderates or realists take back the Party.

But that may not happen if there are none of them left in the GOP to do so.