The Party of Purity: GOP in SC County

RichieC

I is quite an interesting story I thought warrented sharing. the GOP in a south carolina county must vow to live, and have lived a er.. pretty tame life:

According to new rules just adopted by the Laurens County GOP, no candidate will wind up on the primary ballot who hasn't passed a purity test.

Among the new requirements to run as a Republican in this county in the June 12 legislative primary, according to The Clinton Chronicle , are that aspiring candidates must have abstained from sex before marriage.

And once they ace THAT test, they must take a pledge that "You cannot now, from the moment you sign this pledge, look at pornography."

Other required Republican pledges include:

"You must oppose abortion, in any circumstances.
"You must uphold the right to have guns, all kinds of guns.

"You must endorse the idea of a balanced state and federal budget, whatever it takes, even if your primary responsibility is to be sure the county budget is balanced.

"You must be faithful to your spouse. Your spouse cannot be a person of the same gender, and you are not allowed to favor any government action that would allow for civil unions of people of the same sex.

"You must have:

"A compassionate and moral approach to Teen Pregnancy;

"A commitment to Peace Through Strength in Foreign Policy; and

"A high regard for Unites States Sovereignty."

this isnt the full list, it hasnt been relesed afaik.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/corey-hutchins/new-sc-purity-pledge-for-_b_1320174.html

I can't help but laugh..

Denerick

I'm not sure if its inherently foolish for a political party to set definitions to what the party represents and to what values a prospective candidate must have if they wish to have the backing of that party. You wouldn't have a socialist running for the British conservative party or a conservative running on the socialist ticket for the French Presidency; why would a Republican organisation have a liberal running for office?

Believe me, there are many, many things we can laugh at the conservative movement about, but I don't really think this is one of them.

RichieC

What if you're a non Christian GOP member? suddenly to run in the party you have to stick to these ridiculous and arbitrary moral rules set in the bible?

What if you're a libertarian GOP member? Peace through strength? how do you demand balanced budgets while keeping that monstrosity of a military?

It's a terrible idea that can only lose them members.

sarumite

I think this highlights the conflict between the dogmatism of modern politics and pragmatism required to being a politician. I think many of those who laugh at this charter will probably be the same people who chastise politicians for not sticking to pre-election promises.

sarumite

RichieC wrote: »

What if you're a non Christian GOP member? suddenly to run in the party you have to stick to these ridiculous and arbitrary moral rules set in the bible?

Like any club, know the rules before you join. If you don't like the rules, don't join.

What if you're a libertarian GOP member? Peace through strength? how do you demand balanced budgets while keeping that monstrosity of a military?

Most liberterians in the US seem to believe that the governments main responsibility is to defend the country against foreign and homegrown threats. As such, they would support this measure. They are opposed to the US getting involved in conflicts that do not directly relate to US security.

It's a terrible idea that can only lose them members.

The worst thing politically a party can do is commit itself to strict adherence to predefined principles. However chastising a party for saying "this is what we stand for and this is what we will always stand for" seems a little bit unfair. Agree or disagree with their priniciples, at least they have them unlike the vast majority of demagogues who pass for politicians nowadays.