Reply #13: i don't see it. [View All]

[DerBeppo]

consistent with the party or not, miller does take a stand...it's just usually the wrong one. Being inconsistent is not one of his many faults.

any way you slice it, kicking people (or calling for it, at least) out of the party for having different beliefs is not going to play to anyone but those who post on this board.

It would be insane for the dems to kick someone out of the party during an election year that hinges on their ability to define themselves as a better alternative. If they went through something as revolutionary as kicking a conservative member out of the party it would send the wrong signal--not one of idealistic purity (the same political disease that has killed many national campaigns in the past), but one of exclusion.

Imagine the assault from the right that would come from this:

"There are plenty of liberal republicans in our party, but we don't kick them out."

"I guess if you're a democrat, you have to vote lock step to be accepted."

and on, and on.

I know many here think that things like this are what the party needs to regain control, but it really isn't. The only trait people dislike more than arrogance is uncertainty. Expelling members, for any reason shy of gross misrepresentation or criminal activity, is not the sign of a stable and forward thinking party.

Inclusion, big tent, tolerance. We can't claim to have the high ground in these areas if we prove ourselves to be worse than those we attack for not having them.