The Cohen Group: News: Op-Eds: Embracing a Diverse Party


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June 03, 2001, Sunday

Embracing a Diverse Party
William S. Cohen

Sen. Jim Jeffords's departure from the Republican Party occurred nearly simultaneously with the release of "Pearl Harbor," the cinematic dramatization of that "day that will live in infamy." The timing of Jeffords's decision was coincidental, to be sure, but his defection should not have come as a total surprise. The warning signs were present but either went unheeded or were dismissed by those in command. While the full effect of the Republicans' loss of Senate control has yet to be assessed, President Bush's legislative momentum is likely to suffer some deceleration. The initial reaction by some conservative stalwarts to Jeffords's declaration of independence is that it's a blessing in need of no disguise, simply an overdue cleansing of the philosophical apostates from the ranks of what has become a solidly conservative political party.

It may be that just as the attack on our Pacific fleet served to unify the American people in the call to battle, the sudden and unexpected loss of majority status in the Senate will rally Republicans to the conservative cause.

Conservatism, however, is rather amorphous and not subject to easy definition. There are movement conservatives, Christian evangelicals, cultural conservatives, social libertarians, sunny supply-side conservatives, dark deficit-reduction conservatives, free-trade internationalists and ostrich-minded isolationists. There are those who preach the need for political openness and a big tent and others who prefer to search for and summon forth only "real Americans."

There are Republicans who support the need for a strong national defense, fiscal discipline, balanced budgets, tax reductions and a non-activist judiciary. But many of these same Republicans believe our ecosystem is fragile and in need of protection, that public education is worthy and in need of significant federal support, that family planning is neither synonymous with nor a precursor to abortion on demand, and that the remnants of racism continue to harm the disadvantaged.

Sen. John McCain, for example, is a strong conservative who is devoted to campaign finance reform. Secretary of State Colin Powell and former representative and vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp support some means of assisting the victims of past and present discrimination.

Other prominent Republican officeholders believe adoption is far preferable to abortion but reject the idea that government should deprive a woman of the right of choice.

These are not simply the aberrant views of a few high-profile political figures. They reflect the sentiments of millions of Republican voters who believe that those who hold the public trust must govern from the center and not from the extreme right or left.

The question is not whether there is any room left for moderates in the Republican Party but whether the party sees virtue or villainy in tolerating, if not embracing, a diversity of views.

A political party that demands ideological conformity is likely to find its appeal reduced rather than enhanced. Those who view Jeffords's departure as a cause for celebration will have "had the experience but missed the meaning." We have entered a new century, a new era marked by seismic global and domestic change. The spirit with which we respond to the need for continuity and change, for liberty and order, for individual and collective prosperity, for energy production and resource conservation and, yes, for a "compassionate conservatism" will determine whether the Republican Party will be seen as "grand" or simply "old."

The writer is a former Republican senator from Maine. He served as secretary of defense in the Clinton administration.

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