At first glance, the solid victory of Critz over Burns in PA-12 appears to be a significant defeat for Republicans and a bad omen for them in November. However, a closer inspection reveals something different: yes, the Democrat won, but he won on an essentially Republican platform. He stressed that he is pro-life, pro-gun, anti-health care reform,and anti-cap and trade. Furthermore, he portrayed Burns as a tax raiser by deliberately misrepresenting his support for replacing the income tax with a VAT by mentioning only the VAT part and conveniently forgetting about the replacing the income tax part. So in certain respects, the candidate who appeared more conservative actually won. So far from being an ill wind for Republicans, this result is actually terrific news because it shows that Democrats can win only when they run as conservatives. For most incumbents, this will be impossible, and even most first-time candidates will have records from previous positions. So this result is not replicable outside PA-12, and may not even be repeatable in PA-12 depending on how Critz votes between now and November.
But what can Republican candidates do to prevent this sham from recurring? I have a simple suggestion: demand in a debate forum that the Democratic candidate pledge never to vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House. Because after all, that is the issue: however conservative any individual Democrat is, there will never be enough conservative Democrats to swing the party, and as long as they vote for the party's liberal leadership, liberalism will hold sway. Fundamentally, a vote for a conservative Democrat is self-deluding because it's still a vote for liberalism in charge. A pledge not to vote for Nancy Pelosi will shine a harsh light on that fact and put the candidates in a real bind, forcing them to choose between ideology and party loyalty. If Republicans demand pledges from enough candidates to ensure that she would not be re-elected in a Democratic 112th Congress, it could become a significant issue in the campaign.
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