A lot of questions will remain unanswered until the polls close Tuesday night, but one thing is absolutely certain:<\/p>\n
The conservative movement that cohered around former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in 2008 has emerged as the vibrant core of the modern Republican Party.<\/p>\n
Moderates and pragmatists within the GOP — leaders as varied as Michael Steele and Newt Gingrich — had staked a slice of the party’s future on leaders like Dede Scozzafava.<\/p>\n
The argument is simple: Without a chunk of moderate and even liberal Republicans winning in “blue” districts, it will be very very difficult to rebuild a majority in Congress.<\/p>\n
But conservatives see this very differently. They’re convinced that much of the GOP’s sag in recent years has stemmed from a liberalization of the Republican establishment.<\/p>\n
Even George W. Bush flirted with “compassionate” conservatism in ways that angered rank-and-file activists. <\/p>\n
Now that movement leaders — and groups like Club for Growth — have sent Scozzafava packing, they are clearly kingmakers within the party.<\/p>\n
There’s just one more big item on the to-do list, and that’s getting Doug Hoffman, standard-bearer and political phenomenon, elected. <\/p>\n
If he falls short on Tuesday, look for a fresh round of finger-pointing, acrimony and indecision with the GOP.<\/p>\n
But if he wins, conservative Republicans will have a clear message for their leaders in Washington. <\/p>\n
Don’t stray outside the ideological lines that we draw, or we’ll cut your candidates off at the knees every time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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