In today's Washington Post, blogger Ben Pershing writes Tom Davis and the 'Dying Breed' of Moderates. Pershing points out that:
When Ramstad announced his retirement in September, he said he was part of a "dying breed of Republican moderates," and things have gotten a lot worse since then. Davis is now the 21st House Republican to announce his retirement this cycle (not counting House members who are leaving to run for other office), and moderates make up a full 48 percent of that list.
Using membership in the centrist Republican Main Street Partnership as a guide, Davis is the 10th self-identified GOP moderate to call it quits, following Reps. David Hobson (Ohio), Ray LaHood (Ill.), Jim McCrery (La.), Deborah Pryce (Ohio), Ramstad, Ralph Regula (Ohio), Jim Saxton (N.J.), Jim Walsh (N.Y.) and Jerry Weller (Ill.). (An 11th RMSP member, New Mexico Rep. Heather Wilson, is running for Senate.)
An interesting point, for we read the daily scorn for RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) written by our conservative blogger brethren.
Indeed, their pro-conservative tracts promise the Republican Party faithful that they will restore the fortunes of the incredible shrinking pachyderm clan only if everyone climbs aboard a right-ward sailing ark amid the rising tide of Democratic victories.
We're seeing this bombastic argument getting some extra padding and ordinary journalists seem to be helping stuff the figure as well. Indeed, Pershing himself goes on to mention moderates defeated in the last cycle:
And this isn't the first cycle to decimate the moderate Republican ranks. In 2006, the GOP was unable to protect two New Hampshire centrists -- Jeb Bradley and Charles Bass (now the RMSP's president) -- as well as Reps. Nancy Johnson (Conn.), Rob Simmons (Conn.), and Gil Gutknecht (Minn.). Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (N.Y.) chose to retire.
Pershing must be using a different metric to define "moderate," for 2006, since Gil Gutknecht was not a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership, so far as we're able to determine. And we've met Jim Ramstad, and Gil Gutknecht is no Jim Ramstad.
An old Project Vote Smart page lists Gutknecht's caucus memberships:
Floor Leader, Minnesota House Republican Caucus, 1992-1995
Congressional Family Caucus
Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus
Vice-Chair, Congressional Study Group on Germany
House Immigration Reform Task Force
Medical Technology Caucus
Republican Study Committee
Theme Team
Co-Chair, Upper Mississippi River Congressional Task Force
Our attention was drawn to Gutknecht's membership in the Republican Study Committee, a conservative caucus in Congress that's often contrasted with the more moderate Main Street Partnership. See, for example, Spending proposals leave moderates in tough position, an article originally published in the March 20, 2006 National Journal:
Looking over Nussle's shoulder is the Republican Study Committee, more than 100 members strong, which is insisting on reconciliation. "You don't lose weight until you get on the scale every day," Pence, the RSC chairman, said in an interview. "We're adamant."
Conservatives say that their party must appeal to its base, and they contend that moderates haven't been hurt by fiscal conservatism in the past and wouldn't be hurt by it this November. "There were moderates in the Congress when we passed the Contract With America in 1994," said Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz., a former RSC chairman.
House conservatives expect their chamber to agree on another round of reconciliation -- and the Senate, too, once the budget resolution goes to conference. "Sooner or later, we expect the Senate to get this," said Rep. Gil Gutknecht, R-Minn.
For their part, Republican moderates believe that any large reconciliation measure will doom them on Election Day. "Their constituents are watching how much is being cut," said Sarah Chamberlain Resnick, executive director of the Republican Main Street Partnership, a moderate organization with members on and off Capitol Hill. "The real key is that the base in a swing district is very different than the base in a Republican Study Committee district."
Yup, two years ago, Gutknecht was doing cameo appearances as a conservative for the Republican Study Caucus. His December 6, 2006 farewell roast by the caucus is noted in the Congressional Record (H8876-H8882). As much right-handed back-patting as one would ever want to read.
So when did he get spun into a moderate by the D.C. Press Corps? A couple of "maverick" votes were cited by Vin Weber in a 2005 article about a possible U.S. Senate bid. The Strib's Kevin Diaz wrote him up as a "maverick" in the fall of 2006, despite his voting over 90 percent in his party and President. Next, Gutknecht was tapped as a "moderate" by writers at The Politico last fall.
And here we are, with former Congressman Gutknecht now described as a full-blown moderate, despite his conservative voting record, conservative caucus memberships, and all. It took less than a full electoral cycle for Gil Gutknecht's reincarnation as a full-grown RINO in the memory of the Washington press corps. We can only wonder who fed them that line.
This fable might help help conservative bloggers paint by numbers and the candidates in the three-legged race for GOP endorsement in the First mud wrestle over who is the "true" conservative closest to the heart of the deep red beating heart of the district.
The truth remains, aside from all these grim fairytales. Gutknecht was a conservative defeated by a Democrat in a swing district that's trending blue in a state legislative races as well.
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