E.J. Dionne paints the picture that the Republican Party faces a serious crisis as "party faithful" attempt to wrestle control away from the "party establishment". Some sense can be made of it if we just define a few terms.
Establishment - These people are bound by ideas. They are true economic, social, and national defense conservatives in the mold of William F. Buckley, Jr. These people are actually the party faithful (misidentified by Dionne).
Faithful - Incorrectly identified in the article. These folks are liberals, moderates, independents, and populists that do not have a home in the modern Democratic Party -- a party whose platform is overtly hostile to mainstream American family values.
Think about it. Why is Mike Huckabee a Republican? Shouldn't a big government, tax raising governor that doesn't like free trade, and has a soft record on criminals be running on the other side? Mike Huckabee is a Republican because his evangelical faith defines him, his conviction is genuine and always has been, he respects life and family, he understands the importance of the 2nd Amendment, and he loves our troops and our country. My hunch is that Huckabee would be polling somewhere behind Joe Biden if he were running as a Democrat with those positions.
Where E.J. Dionne sees a party cracking up, I see a big-tent party that has something for everybody. As a member of the GOP, I enjoy having Mike Huckabee, his campaign, and his followers bringing their vision for America to our side of the debate. Only a generation ago, Huckabee might have been a Southern Democrat.
When Dionne predicts that "Huckabee will be crushed by the establishment" he conjures images of Wall Street fat cats parterning with their Inside-the-Beltway buddies to take out the little guy. In reality, the establishment are conservatives bound by ideas (the real party faithful) across this great land who like both Huckabee and Romney on social issues, but believe Romney's vision for America is closer to theirs on economic and national security matters.
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It is good to know that the "Big Tent" still exists somewhere (the SBC used to describe itself as the "big tent" before they kicked out everyone who didn't think like they did). But that Big Tent will let me be a part of your campaign someday hopefully advising from the inside alongside Butters.
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