I'm loving the fratricidal path of self destruction they're free-wheeling down.
OLBERMANN: After Republican tea baggers undercut and sabotaged moderate Republican Congressional candidate Dede Scozzafava in New York, some members of the Republican National Committee have come up with a plan to make their party bigger, kick more people out. In our third story tonight, they're doing it in the name of Ronald Reagan, except that the plan they have chosen would have resulted in them kicking out Ronald Reagan.
A proposed RNC resolution says President Reagan considered his friends those he agreed with 80 percent of the time. So it would deny funding to any Republican candidate who did not agree with 80 percent of ten Republican principles.
One, smaller government, reducing taxes and the deficit.
Two, oppose health care reform.
Three, oppose cap and trade.
Four, oppose card check.
Five, oppose amnesty for illegal immigrants.
Six, support military recommendations like troop surges.
Seven, contain Iran and North Korea.
Eight, support Defense of Marriage Act.
Nine, oppose health care rationing and federal funds for abortion.
Ten, oppose gun control.
Sponsor Jim Bop (ph) told the RNC this would free the party, quote, "future party splitters," such as former Senator Lincoln Chafee, no longer a Republican. Senator Arlen Specter, no longer a Republican. And Scozzafava herself.
Who else would fail the Reagan litmus test? Number one, Reagan expanded the government taxes and the deficit. Number five, he supported amnesty for illegal immigrants. Number six, he ignored the military recommendation to pull out of Beirut. Number seven, he sold weapons to Iran Number eight, he opposed California's anti-gay prop six, and hosted the first openly gay sleepover at the White House. Number ten, he signed a gun control law in California and supported the Brady Bill after he and his press secretary were shot. President Reagan, four out of 10.
Welcome back to the Democratic party, sir.
With us tonight is democratic strategist Chris Kofinis. Thanks for your time tonight, Chris.
CHRIS KOFINIS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good evening, Keith.
OLBERMANN: Stuff like this, measuring your standing in a political party versus its past greats, that probably goes back to Andrew Jackson and the early Democrats. Isn't the first rule of it, though, pretty obvious, fix your tests? Stack it so the guy you're comparing everybody else to would have gotten 100 percent, not 40 percent?
KOFINIS: It is kind of ironic that Ronald Reagan would fail the apparent Ronald Reagan test. But this is kind of a statement of where the Republican party is today, that they're even discussing these kind of purity tests. It is a party that is completely out of touch with mainstream America When you see these type of purity tests, it just reinforces it.
They seem to be kind of trapped in this model of trying to find new innovative ways to self-destruct. Maybe put it another way, they're subscribing to thunder dome politics. Two Republicans go in, one conservative out of touch Republican comes out. It is not a recipe for electoral success. I do not understand why they seem to keep choosing to go down this path, at least-or even discuss going down this path.
OLBERMANN: Is there a better way, can you think, off the top of your head, to make the party more open or more successful or just larger?
KOFINIS: Yeah. Don't do purity tests. I mean, it's really simple. A purity test, especially one that is this out of whack with reality, even for the Republican party, let alone for Ronald Reagan, is kind of the equivalent of a chastity belt. We know how that works.
It just doesn't make any sense. You end up alienating the very voters you're trying to attract because you set up this kind of artificial criteria about who you decide is qualified to be part of the Republican party.
It is Orwellian that the Republican party would even be discussing this. But given where they are right now in the country, even with the various troubles that the country faces, they still have not been able to capitalize. I would argue the reason is they continue to find ways to alienate themselves with the very voters they're trying to attract.
OLBERMANN: Plus, you build up a false reality. These are the same folks that proposed this proposed the resolution that would have the RNC members refer to the Democratic party as the Democrat-Socialist party and Michael Steele had to talk them down from that one. Have they gotten more powerful in projecting their own vision of the world over the majority vision of the world?
KOFINIS: I think they've gotten more vocal. I mean, they seem to be the ones that are only-the ones that are shouting in the Republican party, and that seems to scare the Republican party, including folks like Michael Steele And they just freeze. I mean, the reality is the leadership of the Republican party sees these elements, these birthers, these tea-partiers-they see them as the grassroots of the Republican party. And because they've been vocal and active and ginned up by Glenn beck, Sarah Palin and others, they're unwilling to stand up to them.
The problem is now they're a prisoner to them. Until they realize you cannot appeal to moderates if you're simply trying to appease the most radical, out of touch elements of your party, they're going to continue to deep this rabbit hole deeper and deeper. So Michael Steele, I think, is probably in a tough position, but it is a tough position that he has made for himself and the party has made for themselves, because they're unwilling to stand up to people who clearly don't understand politics.
OLBERMANN: And counting. They don't understand counting. You have to have more votes than the other guy. Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis, veteran counter, who is tonight welcoming Ronald Reagan back into the democratic fold. Great thanks, Chris.
KOFINIS: Welcome to Ronald Reagan Thanks, Keith
OLBERMANN: The willful self delusion is so powerful that some on the far right think Saturday night was complimenting sister Sarah What they saw wasn't a Palin presidency followed by an apocalypse. They saw was an apocalypse followed by a Palin presidency. They're in favor of that.
It's official, also, there are no conservative feminists. Beck and Limbaugh each call Mary Landrieu a, quote, prostitute, and no right wing woman complains, let alone demands they be fired.
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