The bane of congressional Republicans are liberal Republicans representing districts filled with conservative Republicans. Said Republicans are often derisively referred to as RINOs - Republicans in Name Only. And a number of those RINOs were culled from the GOP herd last November, including the King of RINOs at the time, Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island.
The thing to bear in mind here is that it’s one thing to be a liberal Republican representing a liberal district; it’s another thing altogether to be a liberal Republican representing a conservative district. In such circumstances, a strong GOP primary challenge is absolutely, positively what the doctor ordered.
Which brings me to Maryland’s 1st Congressional District, currently mis-represented by liberal Republican Wayne Gilchrest. The district covers primarily the rural Eastern Shore of Maryland and the largely GOP suburbs north of Baltimore City. It is one of only two Republican districts in the entire state. This is decidedly NOT a district that only a liberal Republican can win and hold.
So is Wayne Gilchrest a liberal Republican RINO? Oh, yeah. Big time.
His Lifetime American Conservative Union rating over his 16 year career is an anemic 62. But he’s been decidedly worse in recent years. His 2006 score was a pathetic 48, and in 2005 just 42.
On the issue of gun rights, the National Rifle Associations has generally rated him anywhere from a C to a D– over the years, while Gun Owners of America consistently rates him a “Zero.” On the other hand, the gun-grabbing Brady Bunch has rated him anywhere from 77 percent to 100 percent.
And last spring, when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her Democrat Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys attempted to override President Bush’s veto of a bill that would have established a date certain to retreat from Iraq, Gilchrest was one of only two Republicans who joined them and voted to hoist the white flag.
And then there’s this week’s RePORK Card issued by the Club for Growth. In it, congress-critters were rated on their votes on 50 amendments offered to strip out pork projects from various spending bills this year. 50 would be a perfect score. Gilchrest joined 81 Democrats who chalked up a big ol’ goose-egg.
Indeed, it’s faux Republicans like Gilchrest who are ruining the Republicans’ conservative brand. And since he represents a Republican-friendly district, the man is ripe for a primary challenge.
Fortunately, Republicans in Maryland’s 1st Congressional District will have a choice this election cycle. Andy Harris, an experienced and consistently conservative state senator, will challenge Gilchrest in the GOP primary next year and is getting sufficient financial support to make this a winnable race. You can get more information on Sen. Harris’ campaign by going here.
In response to the Harris challenge, Gilchrest told Reason magazine in a May interview, “I don’t worry about a primary challenge. It’s inconvenient. My eternal soul will last a lot longer than my short, pathetic political career.”
Well, he’s certainly right about the pathetic part. And with any luck, the Harris challenge will be more than an inconvenience. Indeed, this just might be the RINO hunters’ #1 target in 2008.
Posted on August 11th, 2007 by Chuck Muth
Filed under: National
I googled Congressman Gilchrest, and one of the references was to the Republican Main Street Partnership (RMSP), of which Congressman Gilchrest is a member.
The RMSP’s mission is “to promote thoughtful leadership in the Republican Party, and to partner with individuals, organizations and institutions that share centrist values.”
The website goes on to state, “The Partnership is comprised of party members and public officials who are fiscally conservative deficit hawks. The Partnership is working to Grow Our Party through a pragmatic approach to governing that reaches out to a broad base of Americans who share the Republican ideals of fiscal responsibility and limited government. The Partnership contributes to the nation’s governance through developing and promoting creative public policies for implementation at appropriate levels of government.”
Among the accomplishments touted on its website, RMSP claims credit for supporting federally funded stem cell research, helping to kill oil drilling in ANWR, and the re-establishment of Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements in New Orleans after President Bush had suspended them immediately after Hurricane Katrina.
Given that the RMSP’s priority is proclaim its fiscal conservatism, it’s pretty ironic that the Club For Growth gave Congressman Gilchrest a zero on fighting pork barrel spending this year.
If Congressman Gilchrest is indicative of the RMSP’s philosophy in action, the bad news for Nevada is that Congressman Dean Heller joined the RMSP this year (if Wikipedia is be believed).
Wikipedia is NOT to be believed. I personally confirmed with Rep. Heller’s chief-of-staff earlier this year that Rep. Heller did NOT joinn RMSP.
That’s good news to read. It seemed a little hard to believe that Congressmen Heller could get a 100% on Club For Growth’s RePork Card and be a member of RMSP.