Supporters call this “Reagan’s Unity Principle,” but that’s unfair to the Gipper. If the elections in Massachusetts and 2006 and 2008 showed anything, it’s that Republicans can’t win with their base alone. They need independent voters. Those independents don’t want to be told that every GOP candidate must first bow to big-shot party vetters.
President Obama’s agenda has alienated enough independents that Republicans have the opportunity to compete again in New England, the Upper Midwest and even parts of the Pacific Coast. The National Republican Congressional Committee is vowing to field a candidate in all 435 House districts. Yet the party will be wasting money and credibility if it intends to make candidates in Illinois or Oregon meet a test crafted by Republicans who can win in South Carolina.
The better route is the pragmatism the GOP showed in uniting behind Mr. Brown. The Massachusetts Republican is a fiscal conservative, but his more moderate cultural views made it difficult for Democrats to define him as out of step with most Bay State voters. Mr. Brown’s promise to be an independent voice for his state was crucial to giving Republicans their 41st Senate vote.
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