The Republicans' Little Tent

The Republicans want to make sure that only the True Believers get their backing, so they're considering instituting a little test dreamed up by Jim Bopp, the same genius who wanted to pass a resolution mandating that the RNC label the Democrats as the "Democrat Socialist Party," to see if their candidates pass muster. Here's the list of qualifications as reported by Steve Benen:

(1) Smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama's "stimulus" bill

(2) Market-based health care reform and oppose Obama-style government run healthcare;

(3) Market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation;

(4) Workers' right to secret ballot by opposing card check

(5) Legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants;

(6) Victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges;

(7) Containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat

(8) Retention of the Defense of Marriage Act;

(9) Protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing and denial of health care and government funding of abortion; and

(10) The right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership

Mr. Bopp is calling it the "Resolution on Reagan's Unity Principle for Support of Candidates," the idea being that Ronald Reagan once said that if you agree with 80% of the Republican platform, you were still a Republican.

One small problem: Ronald Reagan would have flunked the test since he supported immigration reform, sold military hardware to Iran, raised taxes, ran up a huge deficit, and supported the Brady gun control bill. George W. Bush would have been drummed out of the party, too, based on his economic record, his expansion of "government-run" healthcare with the passing of Medicare Part D and the prescription benefit, his enabling of North Korea, and his comparatively humane stand on immigration. Even Barry Goldwater in his later years would have been an apostate for his support of a woman's right to choose and gay rights.

If this is their idea of how to reach out to attract more people to the party, they have a funny way of going about it.