Remove the wart, don't hide it.

Political Suicide?

sarabeth and I are in accord; the GOP's clumsy purity test is nincompoopery of the first rank.  But for different reasons. “ It doesn’t seem to occur to them that lurching to the right will only cause disgruntled party members to peel away from the center. And drive a larger proportion of Independents to vote Democratic instead of Republican. ” Piffle. No, I see a knee jerk response by party leaders who don't understand what's happening.  This litmus test is cosmetic legerdemain.  If the warts weren't there, no makeup would be necessary, right?   And make no mistake, the party flourishes when conservatism prevails. An Arlen Specter will affirm his belief on every point of any litmus test (of any party).  A Republican Party adhering to principles they claim to espouse would look at the record, retch, and support a Pat Toomey reflexively. They did not.  John McCain would never have been the Party's 2008 candidate, if its leaders weren't McCains themselves. Why hasn't this GOP made it clear that Mark Rubio, not Charlie Crist, is the man in Florida?  Party chairman, Michael Steele is not  conservative, and views Sarah Palin as threat to be dealt with, not listened too.  The answer then is to move them out, and turn the reins over to conservatives who don't need a primer on conservative values.  They know, love, and live them.