RNC members circulating 10-point “purity test” for candidates

At first blush I thought this was the new “Contract With America” that Gingrich claimed Steele was preparing a few weeks ago, but no. Apparently, Steele has nothing to do with it. It comes from a bunch of members working on their own, who want the full list put before the RNC for adoption at the next convention.

Conservative Indiana Republican James Bopp Jr. on Monday began circulating a draft resolution calling on the Republican National Committee to end funding and endorsements for any candidate who deviates from three or more of its ten planks…

Bopp said he has not talked to party chairman Michael Steele about the resolution, which Bopp said could come up for a vote at the RNC’s winter meeting in January in Hawaii. He also said he hadn’t checked to see if any candidates currently seeking RNC funds violate more than two of the document’s principles.

The full resolution’s at the link but here are the 10 bullet points. You need to say yes to eight if you want to get paid, per Reagan’s saying that anyone who agrees with him 80 percent of the time is his friend, not his opponent:

(1) We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama’s “stimulus” bill;

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

(3) We support market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation;

(4) We support workers’ right to secret ballot by opposing card check;

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

(6) We support victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges;

(7) We support containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat;

(8) We support retention of the Defense of Marriage Act;

(9) We support protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing, denial of health care and government funding of abortion; and

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

For a “purity test,” they’re not demanding much purity. The only points on which there’s any serious intraparty dispute are five and eight (and not much on the latter). From what I know of McCain’s current policy positions, even the maverickiest Maverick of them all would hit nine out of 10; Grahamnesty, who’s squishy on cap-and-trade, would score eight out of 10 if I’m not mistaken. Note also that there’s no pro-life requirement here. Point nine refers to abortion only in the context of ObamaCare. Why they didn’t draft that more broadly, I don’t know.

In fact, even a Chamberlain-esque RINO candy ass like me would pass this test. I’d vote no on numbers eight and six — the latter not because I don’t support victory but because the condition at the end would reduce the president to a rubber stamp on military recommendations. Feel free to score yourselves below. (Just kidding; you’re all tens, I know.) Exit quotation: “The challenge we have is that somebody as conservative as Jim DeMint can’t get elected nor as conservative as John Cornyn can’t get elected in some parts of the country, even as a Republican. That’s the challenge.”

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