Its clear that the base of the GOP will be satisfied with nothing less than a dogmatic ideologue

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.thebradentontimes.com/news/2011/07/14/opinion/if_huntsman_is_too_moderate_the_gop_may_be_in_trouble/

If Huntsman is too Moderate, the GOP may be in Trouble

Published Thursday, July 14, 2011 2:10 am
by Dennis Maley

<snip>Barely out on the trail, Huntsman is being attacked for having taken stimulus money while governor of Utah and for saying that the $787 billion package should have been larger. Utah's Massachusetts-style health care plan is being used to tie him to the Democratic president who he also, get this – said nice things about when he was nominated by him as Ambassador. He's been against gay marriage, but in favor of civil unions, which still rubs many on the far-right wrong. He also joined the Western Climate Initiative, a cap and trade coalition of states led by then California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger .

There was a time when Huntsman was considered the premier moderate in the party – someone who could unite various factions and bring moderate independents and even some Democrats under a bigger tent. Today, that doesn't seem good enough.

For his part, Huntsman seems to be taking the tried and failed route of running to the far right and reinventing himself as just another ultra-conservative candidate. That's too bad. He's not going to outdo the most conservative in the field and even if he were to secure the nomination that way, what would that do for him in the general election? Perhaps he should ask John McCain.

It seems clear that the base of the GOP will be satisfied with nothing less than a dogmatic ideologue that checks all of the blocks – no gay marriage, no tax is a good tax, global warming is a hoax, guns and God are ALWAYS good, drill baby drill, protecting the environment just kills jobs, unions are ALWAYS bad, privatize EVERYTHING, kill Social Security and Medicare, teach creationism in public schools right after morning prayer, give women NO control over their bodies and make English the “official language.”

[no_hypocrisy]

1. I'm not convinced "the base" is in sync with Cantor and his Tea Party.

I see them as a minority group that hasn't been challenged by the true "base" of the republican party. 400 corporate executives have sent a letter asking for a straight up or down approval to raise the debt ceiling. That doesn't sound like "the base" cited in the article.