Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment
14 January 2008During Ronald Reagan’s 1966 campaign for governor of California, Republicans established the so-called Eleventh Commandment: “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.”
It was proposed by State Republican Chairman Gaylord Parkinson to help prevent a repeat of the liberal Republican assault on Barry Goldwater that laid the foundation for Goldwater’s trouncing in the 1964 presidential election. Just as Nelson Rockefeller and his East Coast cronies had branded Goldwater as an “extremist” who was unfit to hold office, so candidate George Christopher and California’s liberal Republicans were leveling similar personal attacks on Reagan. Party liberals eventually followed Parkinson’s advice, and the rest is history.
All the Republican candidates have invoked the name of Ronald Reagan numerous times. It seems they all want to be associated with the Reagan legacy. But most have forgotten Reagan’s eleventh commandment. It is one thing to contrast one’s record with that of another candidate. it is quite another to resort to character assassination and that is precisely what some have done.
The pundits are even worse and they don’t seem to realize the risk they are taking. The quote above illustrates why Reagan was unwilling to speak ill of his Republican opponents. He stuck to issues because he understood that it was important that Republicans won in the end the constant assaults in the primary process made that less likely.
The lesson holds true today but you wouldn’t know it listening to the pundits. I have to admit that I have been guilty as well. I’ve made my views on John McCain, for example, very clear. But as I said in my last post, I have to think about the possibility that McCain will be the eventual nominee. What do I do then? Can I reasonably blog in support of McCain at that point after all the negative posts I’ve written about him? I’m not sure anyone would take such post seriously but I’m quite sure some would use my older posts to argue in favor of whoever the Democrat nominee is.
Therein lies the problem. I need to tone down my rhetoric against McCain, Romney, et.al. in favor of arguing for my candidate. I think others need to do the same thing. otherwise we all contribute to making the Democrats’ job easier and our nominee’s job tougher once the nominees are chosen.
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