THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 12, 1994 TAG: 9406100006
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By PATRICK M. McSWEENEY
DATELINE: 940612 LENGTH: Medium
He attacks me for ``questioning the loyalty of veteran Republicans who disagree with (me) on how the political process should work.'' That is an erroneous statement, as a casual review of the rules of our party would have shown.
{REST} As party chairman, I have a duty to enforce those rules. The central requirement for participation in any political party is a commitment to support the nominees of that party. Without such a rule, a political party would lack sufficient cohesion to be effective.
The ``veteran Republicans'' I questioned have broken this rule. My personal view about how the political process should work has nothing to do with this controversy.
Those veterans, John Warner and Marshall Coleman, achieved what political stature they currently enjoy in large part because thousands of Virginia Republicans worked hard for them and honored the very loyalty requirement that these two politicians have chosen to disregard. Now that Senator Warner and Mr. Coleman have high name identification and independent fund-raising ability, they are willing to desert the party. Is that loyalty? Is that fair to those party members who campaigned for them in six statewide elections?
Mr. Friddell misses the essential point of my criticism of Senator Warner and Mr. Coleman. I wouldn't waste my time telling another Virginian how he or she must vote. What I have argued is that anyone who wants to enjoy the privilege of participating in the party must agree to abide by its rules.
How can a political party accomplish its central purpose of providing coherence to government and politics if every member is permitted to pick what rules he or she will follow? Without a rule committing everyone who chooses to participate in the nominating process to accept its outcome, the process becomes merely advisory and ultimately meaningless. To my knowledge, every political party has a rule similar to ours.
Mr. Friddell claims to speak for all Virginians on the subject of party loyalty. He certainly does not speak for Virginia Republicans. They understand that to be a major party (and, certainly, the majority party) Republicans must have the ability to bring together and hold together a broad spectrum of voters.
Not everyone can win in a party- nomination process. The key is to agree at the outset to stick together after intraparty contests, no matter who wins. That's the only way to broaden the party.
But neither Senator Warner nor Mr. Coleman threw himself into the nominating contest. If the supporters of Ollie North really constitute a ``small, tiny group,'' as Senator Warner has said, these two veteran Republicans should certainly have been able to muster a larger number of delegates to nominate Coleman. Obviously, they didn't.
My sharpest disagreement with Mr. Friddell is over the value of political parties. I believe that this country will suffer if parties are further weakened. Mr. Friddell clearly thinks otherwise.
Political scientists have long been troubled by the demise of American political parties. In 1976, James McGregor Burns wrote:
Without parties, there could be no organized and coherent politics. When politics lacks coherence, there can be no accountable democracy. Parties are indispensable to the realization of democracy. What would take the place of parties? A politics of celebrities, of excessive media influence, of political fad-of-the-month clubs, of massive private financing by various ``fat cats'' of state and congressional campaigns, of gun-for-hire campaign managers, of heightened interest in personalities and lowered concern for policy, of manipulation and management by self-chosen political elites.
It is precisely because parties are weakened that career politicians, bureaucrats and interest groups are taking this country to financial ruin. If Americans are to reverse this national decline, they must do so through disciplined, concerted action.
Political parties, with all their flaws, are still the most effective vehicles to bring coherence and continuity to our government and politics.State GOP chairman responds to Guy Friddell
by CNB