The mantra of the mainstream (read: liberal) media is that the Republican Party is in disarray. Discord, dissension, dysfunction, disunity, disharmony -- oh, just think of a word that starts with "dis" and that describes the GOP.
The Associated Press, moving ever left as the once vaunted news agency continues to lose clients -- and newspapers -- piled on this weekend.
"Conservative conference highlights GOP divisions," the A&P wrote. "The nation's top Republican leaders are courting conservative activists gathered in suburban Washington this week, highlighting the tug of war over the soul of the GOP."
It's nothing new. The bigs all write the same story month after month, year after year. The thrust is that the party can't even get its own house in order, so how could it possibly govern America?
But the fascinating thing the know-nothing, couldn't-care-less press corps misses is that the Republican Party really has once again become the "Big Tent" President Reagan once set as a top goal.
Just think of this year: You've got conservative constitutionalists like Sens. Ted Cruz and Rand Paul. Libertarians cross over for Paul; Tea Partiers like Cruz, and Sen. Marco Rubio. You've got died-in-the-wool conservatives like former Sen. Rick Santorum, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and current Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. You've got more moderate yet pragmatic politicians like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (and maybe even former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush). And you've got Establishment Republicans like Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Lousiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan.
Ryan captured the Big Tent idea perfectly in his speech this week to the Conservative Political Action Conference outside of Washington, DC.
"The way the Left tells it, the Republican Party is in a civil war," he said. "It's Tea Party versus establishment — libertarians versus social conservatives. There’s infighting, conflict, backbiting, discord. Look, I’m Irish — that’s my idea of a family reunion."
What's also fascinating is that the press never comments on how the Democratic Party marches in lockstep, with, presumably, each and every member of the cabal believing exactly the same thing. Sure, there are a couple nutball far-lefties, but there's never a word about any discord or disunity in the party, the implication being that since they're all so incredibly intelligent they simply have all arrived at pure brilliance.
While Perry sais at CPAC that "It’s time for a little rebellion on the battlefield of ideas," Christie argues "We don't get to govern if we don't win." Some, like Cruz and Santorum, say there can be no compromise on conservative ideals -- even those that are slowly killing the party, like anti-abortion and anti-gay stances -- while others, like Ryan, say the whole thing is a work in progress.
"We’re figuring out the best way to apply our principles to the challenges of the day," he said. "Sure, we have our disagreements. And yes, they can get a little passionate. I like to think of it as ‘creative tension.' ... That’s how it always is: You fight it out. You figure out what works. You come together. Then you win. It’s messy and noisy and even a little bit uncomfortable. But the center of gravity is shifting. We’re not just opposing a president. We’re developing an agenda -- a modern, pro-growth, principled agenda for our party.
"We are going to show the country there’s a better way."
