Checking Our 'Core Principles' At The Door

There is an article in RedState written by Sen. John Cornyn, defending, again, the NRSC endorsement of Charlie Crist over Marco Rubio. You have to give Cornyn credit, he is consistent. He is consistently missing the point (intentionally?) and consistently wrong.

While this political environment appears dire and presents short-term setbacks for Republicans, I believe that it also provides us with a real opportunity for 2010. Next November could be a turning point for the future of our Party – but only if we unite and take advantage of this critical opportunity. That means holding the Democrats accountable for their records, providing real solutions, reaching out to new constituencies, and fielding candidates who can win in states where Republicans have traditionally failed to wage competitive races.

Republicans have actually been quite competitive in Florida. Note that it is a Republican senate seat that is coming open. Of Florida’s twenty-five delegates to the House of Representatives, fifteen are Republicans. The Florida Democrats in the House primarily represent the more southernly parts of the state. The southern areas of Florida also have a higher concentration of Hispanics. Thus, Rubio could well have an advantage that Crist would not enjoy in these areas.

Some believe that we should be a monolithic Party; I disagree. While we all might wish for a Party comprised only of people who agree with us 100 percent of the time, this is a pipedream. Each Party is fundamentally a coalition of individuals rallying around core principles with some variations along the way.

No we won’t always agree, but, core principles are called “core principles” for a reason. If we abdicate our core principles, then who are we? We already have Republican senators who don’t share our values. Does the NRSC, in the name of winning, want even more Senators like Snow and Collins, who vote more often than not with the Democrats, against their own party? How does that forward our agenda? If we’re going to check our core principals at the door for the sake of winning then we might as well admit that we stand for nothing.

All of Cornyn’s absurd posturing aside, this is Florida’s race and the NRSC has no business being in it until after the primary. I would also suggest that Cornyn take a long hard look at his motivations, because it appears that he is advocating selling out to win.

Reaction to the RedState post from Ed Morrissey at Hot Air:

But who’s the most qualified to select the candidates who “fit their states”? Would we get a better fit for the state by having a committee inside the Beltway picking the candidates, or the people of the states themselves? It seems to me that the former would tend to produce candidates who fit the Beltway establishment, rather than the actual will of the voters in the states. Frankly, we already have enough Republicans in love with the Beltway; we don’t need another.