Noemie Emery: Conservative crisis management

[Valin]

The Washington Examiner:

 

Noemie Emery

3/5/13

 

When in a hole, keep right on digging. That's the attitude of a number of movement conservatives, who, in reaction to last year's shellacking, seem to want to make certain they never climb out.

 

The plan, should there be one, seems to come in three parts: First, whine, lament and rend garments in public; second, blame everyone else for your failure to win much since Reagan left office, and third, having come out of a cycle in which you lost increasing numbers of various people, do try your hardest to lose even more.

 

As to point one, shut up, because nobody cares what a pundit is feeling. As to point two, don't complain about Republicans running the Bushes, John McCain, Bob Dole and Mitt Romney, when you run Alan Keyes, Pat Buchanan and Rick Santorum against them. If you want to win nominations, you might try running candidates. (And a better message might help matters, too.)

 

As to point three, check the urge to purge heretics, which died out long ago in most of the world. Movement conservatives now scourge their party's most popular governors........(Snip)