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The GOP’s Purity Problem
Source: Slate
The GOP’s Purity Problem
What the Renee Ellmers race in North Carolina says about the Republican Party.
By Jamelle Bouie
The Democratic presidential primary is in its final stretch and its outcome will dominate airwaves Tuesday night. But under the radar in North Carolina, a very different politician than Hillary Clinton is fighting her own battle against an ideological challenger in a race that almost acts as a microcosm for all the problems and dysfunctions of the Republican Party—the same ones that propelled Donald Trump to its presidential nomination.
When Renee Ellmers entered Congress in 2011, she was the hero. One of dozens of conservative Republicans elected in the Tea Party wave of 2010, she made national news as a vocal opponent of the proposed mosque at Ground Zero and won support from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as one of her “Mama Grizzlies.” Ellmers campaigned as a hard-right conservative and for the most part, she’s acted as one, building a solid conservative voting record in her three terms as representative for North Carolina’s second congressional district.
Unlike many of her Tea Party peers, however, Ellmers seems to think government should function on the day-to-day. A close ally to former House Speaker John Boehner, she backed both debt ceiling increases (in 2011 and 2013) and was a skeptic of the 2013 shutdown, eventually supporting the deal that reopened the government, preserving the Affordable Care Act against right-wing demands. Aligning herself with constituents and Republican leadership, she backed a limited immigration proposal that gave “earned legal work status” to some number of unauthorized immigrants. She voted to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, which supports thousands of jobs in her district (and is opposed by conservative libertarians), and removed a provision from an anti-abortion bill that would have required rape survivors to report a rape to police in order to get an abortion after 20 weeks. None of this is liberal—it’s the record of a typical conservative Republican. But it’s enough to make her a target for conservative activists.
Now, Ellmers is the villain, a stand-in for the “corrupt” Republican establishment. ...
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None of this—conservative voters and conservative groups turning against a conservative Republican for insufficient hostility to government—is new, but it takes on new resonance in the Age of Trump. This relentless drive for ideological purity, itself tied to a broad prohibition against compromise with anyone outside a narrowly defined tribe of fellow travelers, has done nothing but paralyze the Republican Party’s ability to accomplish anything from the routine maintenance of government to larger policy goals. And it’s produced figures like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who treat functional government as a bona fide betrayal of conservative values.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
What the Renee Ellmers race in North Carolina says about the Republican Party.
By Jamelle Bouie
The Democratic presidential primary is in its final stretch and its outcome will dominate airwaves Tuesday night. But under the radar in North Carolina, a very different politician than Hillary Clinton is fighting her own battle against an ideological challenger in a race that almost acts as a microcosm for all the problems and dysfunctions of the Republican Party—the same ones that propelled Donald Trump to its presidential nomination.
When Renee Ellmers entered Congress in 2011, she was the hero. One of dozens of conservative Republicans elected in the Tea Party wave of 2010, she made national news as a vocal opponent of the proposed mosque at Ground Zero and won support from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as one of her “Mama Grizzlies.” Ellmers campaigned as a hard-right conservative and for the most part, she’s acted as one, building a solid conservative voting record in her three terms as representative for North Carolina’s second congressional district.
Unlike many of her Tea Party peers, however, Ellmers seems to think government should function on the day-to-day. A close ally to former House Speaker John Boehner, she backed both debt ceiling increases (in 2011 and 2013) and was a skeptic of the 2013 shutdown, eventually supporting the deal that reopened the government, preserving the Affordable Care Act against right-wing demands. Aligning herself with constituents and Republican leadership, she backed a limited immigration proposal that gave “earned legal work status” to some number of unauthorized immigrants. She voted to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, which supports thousands of jobs in her district (and is opposed by conservative libertarians), and removed a provision from an anti-abortion bill that would have required rape survivors to report a rape to police in order to get an abortion after 20 weeks. None of this is liberal—it’s the record of a typical conservative Republican. But it’s enough to make her a target for conservative activists.
Now, Ellmers is the villain, a stand-in for the “corrupt” Republican establishment. ...
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
None of this—conservative voters and conservative groups turning against a conservative Republican for insufficient hostility to government—is new, but it takes on new resonance in the Age of Trump. This relentless drive for ideological purity, itself tied to a broad prohibition against compromise with anyone outside a narrowly defined tribe of fellow travelers, has done nothing but paralyze the Republican Party’s ability to accomplish anything from the routine maintenance of government to larger policy goals. And it’s produced figures like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who treat functional government as a bona fide betrayal of conservative values.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/06/how_north_carolina_rep_renee_ellmers_became_a_gop_villain.html
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Also: Can Donald Trump save this moderate congresswoman with his first endorsement? (Washington Post)
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Source: NPR
How A Tea Partier Became Its Villain — And Why She Could Lose Tuesday
June 6, 2016 6:03 AM ET
JESSICA TAYLOR
On Tuesday, Renee Ellmers may see her political career cut short by her one-time allies.
Six years ago, the North Carolina Republican was a rising star swept into office with the 2010 Tea Party wave. But now conservative groups have her squarely in their cross hairs, arguing she's lost her way since she went to Washington. Upset with her votes on spending and budgets, and on an abortion bill, opponents who once backed her have now spent over $1.1 million trying to defeat her in the state's special primary.
Ellmers is fighting for her political life in the special June 7 primary, in part thanks to an unusual mid-decade redistricting. She's facing fellow Rep. George Holding in the redrawn district, along with physician Greg Brannon, who has unsuccessfully run for the GOP Senate nomination twice.
Because of the intraparty face-off, at least one incumbent will become the first GOP casualty this year. But will the more pragmatic approach that Ellmers brags about triumph — or will conservative groups propel one of her rivals to win, claiming victory for conservative orthodoxy?
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
June 6, 2016 6:03 AM ET
JESSICA TAYLOR
On Tuesday, Renee Ellmers may see her political career cut short by her one-time allies.
Six years ago, the North Carolina Republican was a rising star swept into office with the 2010 Tea Party wave. But now conservative groups have her squarely in their cross hairs, arguing she's lost her way since she went to Washington. Upset with her votes on spending and budgets, and on an abortion bill, opponents who once backed her have now spent over $1.1 million trying to defeat her in the state's special primary.
Ellmers is fighting for her political life in the special June 7 primary, in part thanks to an unusual mid-decade redistricting. She's facing fellow Rep. George Holding in the redrawn district, along with physician Greg Brannon, who has unsuccessfully run for the GOP Senate nomination twice.
Because of the intraparty face-off, at least one incumbent will become the first GOP casualty this year. But will the more pragmatic approach that Ellmers brags about triumph — or will conservative groups propel one of her rivals to win, claiming victory for conservative orthodoxy?
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.npr.org/2016/06/06/480845342/how-a-tea-partier-became-its-villain-and-why-she-could-lose-tuesday
