Members of the Republican Party's right wing have declared political jihad on what they call RINOs (Republicans In Name Only).
Rush Limbaugh and his fellow ideologues argue that the GOP should return to its ideological roots. They call themselves "Reagan Conservatives" and dream of an ideologically pure Republican Party taking the reins of power on Capitol Hill.
Yet the GOP was not founded on conservative principles. Reagan often wandered off the conservative reservation on major issues, and no ideologically pure party has ever succeeded in winning the U.S. Congress.
The Republican Party was founded in 1854 as a liberal alternative to the conservative Democratic Party of Presidents Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan. While most know the GOP was founded in opposition to slavery, the party's platform also included support for railroad construction, public education, and a more liberal immigration policy.
In 1888, Republican nominee Benjamin Harrison won the presidency by advocating for an expanded money supply, a protective tariff, and more funding for social services. His platform would be anathema to today's Republican conservatives.
These conservatives proudly proclaim their allegiance to Ronald Reagan and paint a picture of Reagan as a man who never strayed from his conservative principles. Yet they forget that during his presidency, Reagan invoked the enmity of his conservative brethren.
They forget that in 1982 he signed what in today's dollars would be a $100-billion tax hike, the largest since World War II. They foreget he signed legislation giving "complete" amnesty to almost three million illegal immigrants and banning firearms at public parks. They forget he appointed two moderate Republicans to the U.S. Supreme Court, both with a history of supporting abortion rights.
Congressional purges along ideological lines have proven counterproductive for both Democrats and Republicans. In 1910 Republican President William Howard Taft campaigned in congressional primaries against recalcitrant House Republicans. The GOP lost 57 House seats that year. Similarly, in 1938, Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt supported insurgent liberal candidates against incumbent conservative Democrats. The Democrats lost 72 House seats that year.
The deleterious effect such purges can have on the GOP was clearly seen in Maryland's 1st Congressional District last year where conservative state Sen. Andy Harris ousted moderate incumbent Wayne Gilchrest in the GOP primary. In 2006 Gilchrest had garnered 68 percent of the vote in the general election. In 2008, with Harris as the GOP nominee, the Republicans lost the seat.
In a system with just two dominant political parties, the only way to win and hold an electoral majority is to appeal to a wide cross-section of constituencies.
The choice for conservatives is obvious: Create a viable third party or accept and encourage an ideologically heterogeneous Republican Party that welcomes not only conservatives, but also moderates and some who are liberal in certain respects.
Democrats have learned not to let "the perfect get in the way of the good." In the last two congressional elections Democrats have supported victorious conservative candidates in conservative districts including Parker Griffith in Alabama, Travis Childers in Mississippi, and Frank Kratovil Jr. in Maryland. In effect, Democrats value winning over ideological purity, while the conservative wing of the Republican Party places fidelity to conservative ideology over the ability to win.
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Rich Rubino of Marblehead, managing editor of www.politicsdmz.ning.com, has written previously for the opinion pages.
