Dick Cheney Warns GOP Against Moderation

If the Democratic party were to devise a strategy to ensure that independent voters and moderate Republicans (those who are left) would continue to run away from what was once a big GOP tent, they'd probably pay people like Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh a whole lot of money to keep talking. Fortunately for the Democrats, Limbaugh and Cheney have taken the job for free.

Yesterday's round of "Purge the Party" was brought to us from Limbaugh, who singled out Colin Powell's betrayal of so-called Republican principles and told the guy in no uncertain terms (and very racist ones at that), to get the hell out. Today's purity test comes from Dick Cheney, who, like his friend Rush, never met a moderate he could stomach:

"You know, when you add all those things up, the idea that we ought to moderate basically means we ought to fundamentally change our philosophy," Cheney also said. "I for one am not prepared to do that, and I think most of us aren't. Most Republicans have a pretty good idea of values, and aren't eager to have someone come along and say, 'Well, the only way you can win is if you start to act more like a Democrat.'"

Apparently, Cheney hasn't noticed that "most Republicans" is a term that doesn't carry the heft that it once did. When only 21% of the voting age public self-identifies as being Republican, even if all of them agreed to Cheney's premise, that still leaves the party in a woeful state.

What's funny is that when he was in office, Cheney's own approval numbers (13% when he left office) made 21% look like a pretty respectable number. Seriously, why is this guy the messenger? Why is Dick Cheney still the GOP point man? Limbaugh has money to make, after all, and even though Republican numbers have fallen, getting even a substantial portion the 21%-ers to tune in every day means a whole lot of ad revenue. But Cheney?

Maybe the Dems really are paying the guy off. Really, they couldn't ask for a more effective spokesman.


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