Mary Matalin Defends the GOP's 'Purity Test'
From AC360, Mary Matalin does her best to spin the GOP's new purity test as a good thing for the party and not a move by the RNC to drag the Republican Party even further to the right.
HILL: In "Raw Politics" tonight, the GOP's purity test. A group of conservative Republican National Committee members is working on a resolution that could radically alter the party's look and its message and also risk to drive out moderates.
The proposal sent out new rules, a checklist really, that candidates must meet in order to secure both support and funding from the GOP.
Now many are expected here: smaller government, a smaller national debt. The checklist also includes opposition to the president's stimulus and health plan, as well as opposition to gun control, cap-and-trade-based energy reform, same-sex marriage, and amnesty for illegal immigrants.
It also mandates support for troop surges in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the containment of Iran and North Korea. So what does this list say about the party, and most importantly, perhaps, about its future direction? We're going to talk about that now with Democratic strategist Paul Begala and Republican strategist Mary Matalin. Both, of course, are CNN political contributors.
Good to have you both with us.
And Mary, I want to start with you, because this is your party here. The draft resolution written, basically, as a tribute to President Reagan. But frankly, even he wouldn't meet all these qualifications. He raised taxes. He grew the deficit. And he really was the big-tent guy who grew the Republican Party.
Is it wise at this point for the RNC to be in the business of potentially excluding people in what seems like a categorical way?
MARY MATALIN: Not excluding anybody, except Nancy Pelosi Democrats. I applaud these members who have taken the initiative to come up with these ten points, all of which -- and I defy my friend Paul to find me any blue dog Democrat that wouldn't agree with at least eight out of ten of these mainstream principles.
And if you look at your own -- our own CNN polls, all of these issues and these policies are received majority mainstream support. So there's not -- they're not going to move out any moderates. It's going to pull back in people who left the party because we became liberal light.
HILL: But one thing that's really interesting when you read this is that the resolution specifically mentions welcoming people with diverse views here. But then it outlines, as you said, very conservative positions. Maybe not unexpected. But is that really ushering in diversity?
MATALIN: I -- I don't know what -- give me an example, Erica. Every blue dog Democrat that was elected -- Rahm Emanuel, good for him, he went in and out '06 and '08 and he specifically recruited Democrats that ran on these principles. Of course, we weren't contesting government-run health care or government-run energy policy, which the blue dogs are now opposing.
HILL: But when it comes to...
MATALIN: These are not out of the mainstream.
HILL: So -- and in terms of diversity, there's no concern that they're keeping the diversity out?
MATALIN: What they're saying, what they're suggesting is you can run. If you want to run against all of these, you can certainly run as a Republican. What you cannot do is expect to be funded by the Republican Party.
As somebody who spent -- started out in the basement at the Republican National Committee, I saw those dollars, $5, $3. People aren't sending their money for us to support candidates who behave like Nancy Pelosi.
HILL: Well, which is a fairly far cry to the left. Not exactly the moderates there's been a lot of people talking about.
But Paul, want to bring you in here to be fair. Democrats not exactly speaking with one voice right now. The anti-war wing of the party is upset about the expected troop surge in Afghanistan. Pro- choice Democrats, human over health-care reform, gay rights supporters. We've heard for months now we feel let down by the president on a number of issues. Could this be maybe a good idea for the Democratic Party?
BEGALA: Well, I think -- I think Mary is making my case better than I could for myself.
The Democratic Party has a wide diversity of opinion, like the Republican Party used to. You know, these things wax and wane over history. And there was a time, you know, when I was a kid, Ronald Reagan was the president. He was reaching out to Reagan Democrats all the time. He was kicking our butt up and down the country.
This is a bid for the Republican Party now. It's all about purity. It's all about rigidity. Mary makes the point that Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, recruited lots of conservative Democrats. Yes, that's the point. See, Democrats have a big tent now. Some Democrats, and I've worked for some of them, are pro-life. Most Democrats are pro-choice. But the pro-life wing of the party is still part of the Democratic Party.
The Republicans are all about driving people out right now. And I think it's a great idea. So if you're, for example, if you believe in, like, evolution or gravity or photosynthesis or any of the stuff that Republicans are afraid of, come on over to the Democratic Party. You know, we're the party right now of the mainstream. Wasn't always the case. But God bless the Republicans. They seem to have ceded the center of the national debate to the Democratic Party.
HILL: Mary, are you seeing the center? Which as we know, moderate independents are increasingly important in every election. And 2010, not that far away.
MATALIN: I -- I'm going to ask again. I want Paul to tell me who of the 49 blue dog Democrats which constitute three quarters of what constitutes the majority of the party, who -- which blue dog Democrat would be against three of these things? I can't think of anyone in any district.
And the country is 2 to 1 conservative. And the -- it's not -- people don't identify themselves, people who do identify themselves as Republicans and Democrats are in the minority. Who identifies themselves as independents are 2 to 1 conservative. And they're increasingly opposed to these big government programs that President Obama has ushered in. And it's hurting the party.
The generic ballot for Republicans, when they were running as liberal lights, was minus seven. Now it's plus four. That's a swing of 11 points on the "would you vote for a Republican or a Democrat in your district?" So we need to get back to what -- how we got off track in the first place when we were in the majority.
HILL: And we also need to wrap this up or I'm in big trouble. So Paul, I'll let you have the last 30 seconds.
BEGALA: I'm just amused that Mary is not saying that -- I guess George Bush and John McCain, men she supported, were somehow liberal light.
I think this is great. I think the Republicans should go back to the Dark Ages. And don't stop there. Go all the way to the Stone Age. This is what I want as a Democrat. I couldn't be happier. It's my Thanksgiving gift from the RNC. And I want to thank the Republicans for trying to keep the Democrats in the center.
HILL: Well, I want to thank the both of you for coming in today. Paula Begala, Mary Matalin.
MATALIN: Happy Thanksgiving.
HILL: Happy Thanksgiving to you both.
carville's wife is supporting another repuglyKKKan meme.
I'm shocked, SHOCKED I TELL YOU!!!!!!
Some stuff you can't make up!
To me CNN appears a waste to watch.
Instead of paying attention to purity tests, we progressive might want to organize a huge consumer boycott of contributors to conservatives in the house and senate
Go see http://www.democratz.org
I have the reaction as when I see a creepy insect.
Get it away from me.
Same goes for her husband.
I guess they were made for each other.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI7WwY4a9ro
1. NO
2. uhhh no
3. I don't think so
4. NOT!
5. That's a Negative Red Leader
6. None of that
7. No no no
8. Don't even think it
9. Not over my dead body
10. NEVER!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI7WwY4a9ro
The GOP is loud and angry and alienating the rest of us (and even members of their own party). But what are real people angry about?
American Outrage
(satire)
As in pure evil.
Is it the 21st century yet?
hey, anything that isolates these anti-america assholes more then they are now is just fine with me.
It just leaves room for a real opposition party, we can be done with the repug party and the dems can be the new right and we can create a true liberal party.
I suggest to Mary Matalin and other conservatives that a far more relevant "purity test" would require them to adhere to sexual and family fidelity. Once they accomplish THAT, they can move on to "political purity".
what an unpopular idea. the repubs will never go for it.
I would be infuriated by this move by my party. The thought that I would no longer be welcome because I didn't agree with a 'checklist' someone pulled out of their ass would completely turn me against them.
It's what's wrong with Republicans. No diversity; no creative solutions to difficult problems; just vote in lock step with the party based on their collective 'core values'. It makes them difficult to deal with, as they have no interest in compromise. But it certainly restricts future growth of their party.
Regardless, I fear we're going to see them make major gains in the mid-term elections. Not because of what they offer, but because of the failures of Democrats in Congress and especially President Obama. If Dems and BO have any sense at all, they will get their shit together and begin delivering on their campaign promises, starting with withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, and jump starting this economy.
BO can continue down his bipartisan path; essentially watering down every major initiative to a point that it's no initiative at all, OR, ignore obstructionist Republicans and simply do what he was elected to do. We gave him a majority in both the House and Senate and he is completely squandering the opportunity.
But the RNC primaries are going to be an absolute BLAST!!!
Let the race-baiting, gay-baiting, alienating, eliminationist, fear-mongering hate-fest begin! Ok, lets see who can creep out moderates and independents the fastest... GO!
About you're plans to make me blue
I heard it through the TeeVee
Not much longer would you be mine.
Oh I heard it through the TeeVee
Oh and I'm just about to lose my mind.
Honey, honey yeah.
Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush, Sr. & Duhbya would not have qualified under this new plan.
don't it?
Or, the one who's slightly better than the other.
And with this "Draft Dick Cheney" site going for broke. The option is obvious.
I know the Dems screw up. But this is so draconian. It takes absurd to a whole new level. Eh, I suppose such things are to be expected from the party who ran rough shod over the country for 8 years.
They'll never learn.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
1) You support war but for somebody else or somebody else's kids to fight
2) You support stimulus for the military industrial complex but not the middle class.
3) You believe gay marriage violates the sanctity of heterosexual marriage while you yourself have at lease one mistress.
4) You're against Islamofascism over there but support Christofascism over here.
5) You never violate the 11th commandment: "Thou shalt say nothing bad about Rush Limbaugh"
6) You don't drink tea but you keep a cupboard full of Lipton.
7) You're against tax payer funded healthcare, similar to kind every Republican in congress has and refuses to give up.
8) You pledge blind unquestioned loyalty to tax cuts, small guvment and the Baby Jesus.
9) You refuse to evolve, even in the face of overwhelming evidence that refutes your position.
10) You believe Sarah Palin resigned for the good of Alaskans, Glenn Beck speaks for you, and Michelle Bachmann ain't crazy.
8 out of 10, you are considered by today's standards to be a moderate Republican.
9 out of 10, you're starting to make Newt Gingrich and Saint Ronnie look librul.
10 out of 10, congratulations! You are a "pure" Republican!
... not to call it what it really is.
I mean "CONTAMINATION TEST" or "DOGMATIC PARALYSIS TEST" or "BRAIN DEADNESS TEST" -- those don't have the same ring as "Purity Test."
Clever marketeers. The GOP is soooooo much better at tricky slogans.
Smaller government and smaller national debt are empty slogans. When they are in charge, the government swells and dept skyrockets more than it does under Democrats.
Who are going to say to themselves...WTF! I'm not a republican after all.
But we should never underestimate the GOpers and their lack of morals.
They'll figure something out.
But, I would suspect that this will make a low turnout for the GOP.
That's just my opinion.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
Which is why it's particularly annoying that they continue to call themselves "Democrats" and receive funding from the DNC.
They're Rahm Emanuel's creation....
Yeah..... you've driven out members because you're too LIBERAL. uh huh. sure. whatever you want to believe.
Only the elites could dream up something like this while they continue the task of removing the middle class from the equation and effectively getting rid of it.
I don't love it. But I guess that's because my goal isn't electing more Democrats. I want better Democrats and think the blue dog wing has hurt that cause.
A retarded Republican party doesn't help our country.
They can still tap someone's toes in a mens restroom, boink a campaign staffer, quit half way through their term, and hike the Appalachian Trail
Predictable hag will defend any Republican, no matter what they do.
pounds another nail into your irrelevance, Mary, and the crooked bastards you shill for like a tweener wetting herself at a Jonas Brothers concert. Every year that goes by, more kids graduate from college and HS with no job prospects because your "free market" principles offshored the economy. And you think they're going to see you and your 10 bullshit points as the answer?
I want what you're smoking.
...many of those who have lost the prospect of a real 'middle class' way of life buy into the GOPer bullshit that it's all because of government spending.
These idiots really think that if we just gave up 'big guvmint' we'd all be rolling in dough. Which is why real economists aren't republipukes.
Hang in there! Is Diebold still operational? I thought so. As a Republican I was raised with many quirks: go ahead and cheat in college the ends satifies the means. Go ahead and lie, a little, if it gets you out of trouble.Then lie a lot if it works...people are stupid! Nothing wrong with a bribe, the person wanted it anyway. We don't care how we win the game, just win. This is why the mafia is republican. It's a republican moral thang.
Matlalin is justifying a plan to cheat. Reagan cheated, gave weapons for hostages and much,much more. Bush cheated. Nixon cheated. It's their moral fabric...I say: rip up that moral fabric by being prepared for MASSIVE CHEATING IN THE NAME OF GOD...RONALD666WILSONREAGAN IS THE ANTI-CHRIST...YOU NEED 6 LETTERS IN ALL THREE NAMES JUST TO QUALIFY...(* but the real devil will deny that.) We need more computer hackers in the blue party...Anybody up to helping us defeat the devil?
Republican thinking, in this day in age, is scum! Be alert "blue". Red is dead....kill it!
And they feel the need to project all of those traits onto us, as if the only reason they could fathom for doing anything like National Health Care is just to control people's lives. And environmentalism has to be all about the money. It's the only way they are able to see the world, and they are incapable of fathoming another, therefore our motives must be the same. In much the same way, we assume there to a be an actual moral human being in there somewhere, when really, no such animal exists....
See further proof that she is a Whore (never did defend the remark against a fellow woman, so this is justified), a brainless twit working ever so hard to prove that without a doubt she is the one to spread the BS of the party.
She further proves that she and all women that join the party do NOT have to think just parrot and after a few hours of rehearsing and some couch time with various members of the coach team you can go on MSEM and prove you are a) a Whore b) a brainless twit c) so self respect for yourself and fellow women.
Sure Mary...and your plastic surgeon doesn't burst into laughter whenever your face is on the screen.
She bought and paid for a face like that? She should sue somebody.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
The Nation is against Health Care Reform, twice as many Conservatives as Liberals, lie after lie. Matalin, Bill Bennett, that slimey Castellanos, these people don't know or care about the truth.
And Jesus thought the poor were just lazy. And liberalism caused the great depression, 9/11, and is the reason we are stuck in Iraq and Afghanistan. And if any problems ever seem to occur because of conservatism, it's really because you just weren't being conservative enough...
ROFLMAO!
Rush Limbaugh is what a smart person thinks a stupid bigot sounds like.
By accident or by design, I can't say.
But the GOP, by filtering out all the Moderates, they all end up running as Democrats and thereby "polluting" the Party platform.
We've already seen the havoc a handful of Conservative "Bluedogs" can do.
* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.
and this harpy, Ms Matalin, would have us believe that DeDe Scozzafava, the GOP candidate in the recent NY 23 race, is a 'Nancy Pelosi Democrat'. harhar. hardly, you shrew. shes more of a Republican than you are.
Meaning she's a political foot soldier.
She has to come up with her own arguments on the topics she's given.
She's not very good at thinking on her feet.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
My brain's not located in my toes either.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
I have a few Republican friends and none of them, not a single one, think that GWB's administration did anything wrong. Holding people without trial was fine, because they were terrorists, which apparently some were not. Spying on all Americans is fine because it was to fight terrorism. Running up a debt of over $5 Trillion was necessary to fight terrorism. According to them we invaded Iraq because Saddam was a brutal dictator, like the ones the US supported in the past, namely Pinochet and Pol Pot.
When I ask them what did the government do for you, the answer is always tax cuts.
They do not take responsibility for anything. Their hero Palin proved it in her book. Absolutely nothing was her fault. It is not the fault of Phil Gramm allowing the removal of Glass-Steigall and causing the banks to get into things they should never be allowed, it was the Democrats fault. The economy is in poor shape because the Democrats won't allow more tax cuts for the rich, even though it will further bankrupt the country.
The purity test is nothing more than fascism. Can we relabel them the Fascist Party of America now?
And I've already got Republic acquaintances telling me that everything going on right now is "Obama's fault"... It's amazing how far these people can go to prove themselves right in their own heads....
.
Gang
Of
Phascists
.
Starve the WAR Beast...
... Feed Americans.
.
They can make a purity test, and a purity pledge...
... But wait until they make you take the Loyalty Oath.
.
Starve the WAR Beast...
... Feed Americans.
But wouldn't political purity mean the repugs would have to stop the social conservative movement in their ranks?
Whattever happened to, "You can't legislate morality?"
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
I'll get you my pretty......... and your little blue dogs too AH HAHAHAHAAAA!!......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-X_jTl4zOE
Reality has a liberal bias
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Xsz2S3-dcY
.
Starve the WAR Beast...
... Feed Americans.
mary thinks it's only fair for the whole party to go through (and probably fail) what she went through on her pre-wedding night.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
>"what she went through on her pre-wedding night."
And failed.
into believing those are the things most people want. I'm as much of centrist their is, I wouldn't vote Republican with people Mary Matalin behind it.
Goodnight, Frau Blücher
I used to be a centrist, until I realized that the Republican party, and the "Conservative" movement in general were empty talking points walking around in nice suits, pandering to the most ignorant of our society as if the opinion of a man who refuses to accept fact as fact is as valid as any of a learned man.
I can't get behind either party anymore, both have lied to us, both say things people want to hear and yet their actions don't match. The list of hypocrisy in both camps is so long and ugly there isn't enough room to type about it all.
Goodnight, Frau Blücher
...from "average Americans."
Probably the only contact she has with a working stiff is her hairdresser, who sure as shit isn't going to say what she really thinks because she'd lose the account.
is because they continue to have the same program format Jon Stewart so beautifully ridiculed on Crossfire years ago. He said, she said, bickering does not inform the viewer of anything. They have a beltway mentality that is little more than elite dinner table blather. It is insulting to the viewer and painfully boring to witness. Thanks to C&Ls for the occassional video so that we don't have to tune in to see that nothing has changed.
is because they continue to have the same program format Jon Stewart so beautifully ridiculed on Crossfire years ago. He said, she said, bickering does not inform the viewer of anything. They have a beltway mentality that is little more than elite dinner table blather. It is insulting to the viewer and painfully boring to witness. Thanks to C&Ls for the occassional video so that we don't have to tune in to see that nothing has changed.
Does no one else see the irony in those who compare Obama to Hitler, designing a "purity" test to cull their membership?
Are they going to send those members that don't agree on all ten points, but that are still seen as valuable fundraisers to re-education camps?
I just hope that this is seen for what it is, and signals the end of the GOP.
This just goes to show that the current GOP know nothing about Ronald Reagan. What these people are doing is counting on Americans to forget what life was like under GOP rule. When Bush was in office the spending was outrages, and he never vetoed not one spending bill from Republicans. Now all of a sudden they are the party of fisical responsibility?
I agree. The shitty part is to watch Democrats like Begala use Reagan as an example of something good. Only an ignorant SOB would do that. Reagan sucked completely.
He simply cited Reagan as politically successful without a judgement as to whether what he stood for was good or bad; only that as a political figure he was successful.
IMO the lilly-white, trailer trash party doesn't need anymore purity. There's plenty enough to go around right now. They might want to go ahead and invest in their hood's though. Seems appropriate to beat the rush that they expect.
Why does anyone pay attention to this woman any more? She's proven that she's a loyal foot soldier/apologist for Republican idiocy. She has nothing original to offer.
When asked about her concerns that the Reagan Purity Test would threaten the diversity of the RepuglyKKKan Party, Matalin said something about people can run for office as a RepuglyKKKan all they want and they will not be opposed by the Party. However, the RNC just won't support them.
Did any one get that bit of doublespeak? Anyone? I mean if that bit of crap could be used as an arguable defense in court, people could actually get away with murder. Seriously:
"Your Honor, I move to plea that my client is not guilty on grounds that he did not commit murder on any of the 16 victims in question this morning. My client merely punctured their anion arteries with a knife but determined that it was not necessary to staunch the bleeding afterwards. He did not commit murder!"
I can imagine the refusal letters to Party candidates:
Dear Party Hopeful,
We at the RNC prize diversity as an American tradition and encourage it in our members. We, in fact, run each Party member through a 10-point questionnaire to ensure that their diversity matches our diversity. You may remember this questionnaire as the Reagan Purity Test that we sent you upon first receiving word of your desire for inception.
We wish to inform you that, with a score of 70%, you did not meet the 80% minimum threshold. We wish to clarify that this does not bar you from running as a Party candidate. However, you do not qualify for any monies from the RNC that will make your campaign viable. We at the RNC wish you good luck in your exorbitantly expensive endeavors for political office.
Thank You,
M. Steele, RNC Chairman
P.S. As your campaign inevitably sinks in the quagmire of disillusionment and debt, you may wish to console yourself in the knowledge that Ronald Reagan - the President our Purity Test is named after - scored a 60%.
The sad part is that if conservatives had made all elected Republicans sign their purity pledge in 2000, 2002, or 2004, they would have willingly done so. And it would not have mattered one bit.
True republicans have always been:
1. straight
2. white
3. rural
4. evangelical Christian
5. male
6. undereducated
7. angry
8. unempathetic
What was wrong with THAT purity test? It seemed to be working fine.
have the fringe right wing split off and form it's own right wing radical party. Dems already have multiple parties under them. Maybe America can have a multiparty system without one major party destroying the country *ahem Republicans*
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