Keeping Those Crazy Uncles in the Attic

The Republicans have been pretty dependable in recent years at pretense, turning a moderate face to the voting public come convention time, and keeping the ring-wing crazies well out of sight, and this year is no exception. At their national convention, they'll be highlighting in primetime such non-mainstream Rs as Michael Bloomberg, Rudy Guiliani, John McCain, and Arnold Schwarzenegger -- guys that DON'T agree with El Presidente on a wide variety of cultural and budgetary issues.

National Review's Kate O'Beirne grumbles, "The only announced speaker who actually agrees with President Bush on major issues is Democratic Senator Zell Miller of Georgia. The decision to showcase rogue elephants as representatives of the modern Republican party is not the mark of a self-confident party establishment. If the lineup is intended to make an overwhelmingly conservative party attractive to swing voters, it does so by pretending to be something it's not. The Republican party seems to habitually internalize the criticisms of its opponents. When the only Reagan Republican to enjoy a prominent supporting role at the party's convention is a Democrat, the GOP has a serious identity problem." (O'Beirne's comments, found on Howie Kurtz's blog.)