Don't
call me
moderate,
I'm a
centrist
By Mark
Preston
CNN
Political
Editor
WASHINGTON
(CNN) --
A word
of
advice
if you
speak to
leaders
of the
Republican
Main
Street
Partnership.
Do not
use the
word
moderate
when
talking
about
the
organization's
politics.
Members
prefer
being
described
as
centrists,
because
the
moderate
tag
conjures
up
thoughts
of
abortion
and gay
rights.
And Main
Street
does not
take a
position
on
either
of these
issues.
Instead,
the
group of
over 60
governors,
representatives
and
senators
advocates
reducing
the
deficit,
cutting
taxes,
focusing
on
education
as well
as
environmentally
friendly
measures.
The
organization
released
its
"Promise
for
America"
agenda
yesterday.
The
battle
of ideas
within
the
Republican
Party
has not
always
been
easy for
Main
Street
members,
who
sometimes
find
themselves
at odds
with
their
own
leadership.
The
latest
disagreement
was over
President
Bush's
veto of
stem
cell
legislation.
Rep. Tom
Davis
(R-Virginia),
who
serves
as
president
of the
organization,
called
it "a
bad
issue to
make
your
first
veto" in
a recent
meeting
with a
small
group of
political
reporters.
But
Davis, a
former
National
Republican
Congressional
Committee
chairman,
was very
careful
not to
criticize
Bush or
Congressional
Republican
leaders,
who are
now
pushing
socially
conservative
measures
under
the
"American
Values
Agenda,"
banner.
"They're
doing a
great
job,"
Davis
said.
"They've
got to
govern.
They've
got to
pull
together
a tough
conference."
It
appears,
though,
that
several
members
of the
organization
have
scored a
victory
by
pressuring
the GOP
leadership
to hold
a vote
on
increasing
the
minimum
wage.
The vote
will
likely
take
place
today,
before
the
House
adjourns
for the
August
recess.
Still,
while
the
organization
counts
anti-abortion
rights
lawmakers
such as
Sen.
John
McCain
(R-Arizona)
as one
of its
members,
there
are also
many
others
who are
considered
liberal
on
social
issues.
And
these
members
vote
that
way,
much to
the
heartburn
of some
Republicans.
"Their
whole
purpose
is to
present
a more
moderate
view of
Republicanism,"
said
Stuart
Rothenberg,
editor
of the
non-partisan
Rothenberg
Political
Report.
"And to
the
extent
that
they
disagree
with the
party
leaders
or the
top
leader,
the
President
of the
United
States,
they run
the risk
of being
perceived
by party
regulars
of being
disloyal."
One
Republican
who
vocally
criticizes
Main
Street
is
former
Rep. Pat
Toomey
(Pennsylvania).
As the
president
and CEO
of the
limited
tax,
pro-growth
Club for
Growth,
Toomey
is
working
to
defeat a
handful
of his
former
GOP
colleagues
such as
Rep. Joe
Schwarz
(R-Michigan).
A
headshot
of the
freshman
lawmaker
is
featured
prominently
on the
Club's
website
with a
red
headline
"Joe
Schwarz
is a
liberal."
It also
has
launched
a
separate
website
attacking
Schwarz,
who
faces a
tough
primary
challenge
on
August 8
from a
Club
backed
candidate.
"We
don't
see it
as our
mission
to elect
Republicans,
regardless
of what
they
believe
in,"
Toomey
said in
a recent
interview
with the
Grind.
"The
Republican
Main
Street
Partnership
has
decided
to try
and
elect
liberal
Republicans.
What we
are
dedicated
to is a
set of
principles."
The Club
is also
playing
a
prominent
role in
trying
to
defeat
Sen.
Lincoln
Chafee
(R-Rhode
Island)
in the
September
12
Republican
primary.
Sarah
Chamberlain
Resnick,
executive
director
of Main
Street,
contends
the Club
is being
dishonest
in
saying
it only
targets
people
it
disagrees
with on
economic
matters.
In fact,
she
claims
it
specifically
goes
after
lawmakers
it
doesn't
consider
conservative
enough
on
social
issues.
"The
facts
speak
for
themselves,"
she
said.
"Of all
the
Members
of
Congress
and open
seat
candidates
the Club
for
Growth
supported,
they
only
supported
one pro
choice
candidate.
To
articulate
an
example,
they
attacked
(Sherwood)
Boehlert
(R-New
York)
two
years
ago and
he voted
127
times
for tax
cuts. He
never
voted to
raise
taxes.
However,
he is
pro-choice."
Toomey
disputed
Chamberlain's
assessment
that it
is a
social
conservative
organization.
He
called
it a
"dishonest
charge.
"The
reason
they do
this is
because
they are
embarrassed
by the
economic
liberalism
of their
members,"
he said.
For his
part,
Davis is
blunt
about
Main
Street's
philosophy
about
challenging
incumbent
Republicans.
"We
don't go
after
other
Republicans,"
he said.
"I
believe
in being
an
addition
and not
being a
subtraction."
And
Davis
said if
the GOP
wants to
maintain
control
of
Congress
this
year and
the
White
House
after
2008, it
needs to
embrace
a big
tent
philosophy.
"If you
want to
be a
national
party,
be
competitive
in all
regions,
you need
to be
tolerant,"
Davis
said.
The
organization,
founded
in 1998,
is on
track to
spend $7
million
in the
November
elections,
Chamberlain
tells
the
Grind.
The
group
receives
funding
from
likeminded
Republicans
such as
former
Rep. Amo
Houghton
(R-New
York)
and
Robert
Ziff of
Ziff
Brothers
Investments.
As for
Main
Street's
attempt
to
re-brand,
Rothenberg
said,
"One
man's
centrist
is
another
man's
moderate."
(An
occasional
Morning
Grind
feature
in a
series
about
organizations
seeking
to
influence
the 2006
and 2008
elections)
