The political term "moderate" is an invention of the Left to describe RINOs who vote with Democrats. In this context, it does not mean a reasonable alternative between two extremes. At best, it can be equated to a driver who, criticizing the advice of others as to which lane to drive in, choose to straddle both lanes. A more appropriate term would be "middle-of-the-road," a recipe for disaster.
The reason the Democrats extol the virtues of these "moderates" is that they prevent the implementation of conservative policies, which than shine a bad light on liberal policies such as Obamacare.
So let's stop giving these mealy-mouths the benefit of the doubt and start calling them out: Either get with the program or switch party affiliation and let us vote you out.
Oh good. Another purity purge. This time from the right. I am one of those Moderates you detest. I voted Trump in 2016, and Obama before that. But perhaps you can decide for me who I should vote for in the future.
I am pro Second Amendment, and don't believe we need new laws to "control" guns.
I am in favor of a Woman having the right to an Abortion.
I don't think that Abortion should be paid for by the Taxpayers.
I am in favor of a strong military. I think we are losing, actually, that we have already lost the war in Afghanistan.
I support the other amendments outlining our rights with the same dedication as the Second. This means I am opposed to roadside searches by the Police after a dog scratches himself.
I am opposed to Civil Forfeiture.
I am not in favor of trade deals with anyone other than essentially equal economies. NAFTA with Canada would be fine by me, with Mexico not so much, because as we have seen all that happens is offshoring of jobs.
I believe that the Unions can and do provide a needed voice for the workers, and I believe that the same Unions are perpetually in danger of ignoring the workers in favor of power in political arenas.
I believe in States Rights, including the right of the State to decide to refuse voluntary cooperation with Immigration Agents.
I believe the Federal Government can cut off Grants, Grants being gifts, and no gift is ever guaranteed.
I am opposed to the militarization of the Police, and disagree with the policy of giving cops military equipment including fully automatic weapons and armored vehicles.
I am a member of the ACLU and the NRA. I agree with the NRA on the Second Amendment and agree with the ACLU generally speaking on the rest of the Amendments.
By Georgia standards, where I live, I'm pretty liberal. By the standards of San Francisco, I'm a right wing lunatic.
But thanks to your asinine post, I realize that I'm not allowed to believe in all of that. I'm not allowed to think that the Fifth Amendment should prohibit Civil Forfeitures. If I believe we are losing or have essentially lost already in Afghanistan I'm a defeatist.
Here's the secret. The secret that the purity purge folks on the left and yourself don't get. You need us. When we shift left, the Democrats win. When we shift right the Republicans win. Now, you are just as arrogantly wrong as the idiots on the left who scream that we are voting against our interests. Nonsense. We are voting the way we believe our interests line up.
If you are willing to represent those interests, we're willing to vote for you. But make no mistake. You are not doing us a favor by running for office. We're hiring you to do a job, and that job is to represent our interests in Congress, or as President. If you don't do it, we'll find someone who will. We aren't lucky you are willing to take the job, you're lucky if we decide you can be entrusted with it.
The job is Representative. The Politicians who represent their constituents are the ones who get re-elected. The rest of the Republican Party may not feel as adamantly about the issues as you do, but you need them too. Because that "moderate" Republican you denounce is giving you the majority in Congress. Now, if you chase away all the Moderates, you end up back in the Minority, where you can stomp your foot and scream unfair as the Democrats do what the Republicans are doing now.
A Liberal from San Francisco can't get elected in Georgia. But even a moderate Republican, or Democrat from Georgia is too conservative for San Francisco. Different regions have different values, and interests.
We aren't traitors refusing to march in lock step with you. You're probably the one who is out of the mainstream.
So get over yourself, and get off the soapbox and figure out that we have to learn to talk to each other. Find issues that you agree with the majority on, and make some progress there. Don't just pout and stomp your foot like a petulant child and scream that everyone is wrong because they don't think like you do.
Oh, one last thing. Everybody doesn't think like you do. A majority don't even think like you do. That's why Purity Purges are so destructive. You weed out all those who aren't pure enough, and you're left with a handful who do meet the requirements, and then you scream it's not fair that you can't get anything done with ten people in Congress.