Kincaid: Republicans Invite Bad Press Coverage

[Terri]

By Cliff Kincaid
November 18, 2008

The Washington Times has a front-page story about House Republican Eric Cantor, who charges that "the Republican Party in Washington is no longer 'relevant' to voters and must stop simply espousing principles..." The story seems designed to help Cantor capture the number two position in the House Republican leadership. But deep inside the article we learn that Cantor "ended up voting for the Democrats' [Wall Street bailout] bill."

Voting for the Wall Street bailout was completely inconsistent with Republican principles, as outlined in the 2008 Republican national platform. That document flatly opposed bailouts and urged the preservation of free markets.

The problem in Washington is not espousing principles, it's living by them.

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[RiverKing]

This scenario is exactly the kind of RINO hypocrisy that lost the '06 and '08 elections. Kyl, Boehner, Cantor & Company are good at preaching conservative principles but not very good at voting based on those principles. Constituents must put them on notice that "moderate conservative" is an oxymoron, a synonym for "closet liberal", and will not be supported for re-election.

... the media became cheerleaders for the [bailout] plan, and this added to the pressure.

This should have been a strong clue that the bailout would contradict conservative principles and might be a bad idea.