John Hawkins lists seven reasons why the idea of building the Republican Party around moderates won’t work:
[T]he GOP absolutely cannot build a successful political party around “moderates.”
Why is that the case?
1) What constitutes a “moderate” changes from person to person. That’s how people like Joe Lieberman and Chuck Hagel, neither of whom would agree on just about anything, can both be considered “moderates” in their parties.
Put another way: a socially conservative, anti-abortion voter who believes in big government policies could be fairly called a moderate. On the other hand, a socially liberal, pro-abortion voter who doesn’t want any new government programs could also be fairly called a moderate.
So, since what constitutes being a “moderate” changes from person to person, it’s not possible to build a party around appealing to “moderates.”
2) Because moderates tend to be much less ideological, less knowledgable about politics, and less informed than liberals and conservatives, it’s entirely possible that even if our candidate’s views are closer to their views, they won’t be capable of figuring it out (That’s exactly how it worked with McCain and Obama, for example).
I don’t always see eye to eye with John, but it sounds as if he’s already lining up against the Squish Faction. Which is really no surprise, if you recall that he was disinvited from the Republican Convention for his forthright primary opposition to John McCain.