The GOP Debate Last Night: Pitney's View on GOP morals

Admittedly, I'm posting a bit too much already, but in the unlikely case you missed it, our professor has written about the GOP's moral problem in The National Review Online.

Early in the debate, there was a discussion of Larry Craig. Toward the end, a college student asked Rudy Giuliani whether his personal life sets a good example. Together, these two moments suggest a question that will haunt Republican candidates for all levels of politics. In light of Craig, Vitter, and God-only-knows-who’s-next, some voters will ask: “How can Republicans preach about moral issues when so many of you are moral menaces?”

It’s a tough question, but Republicans could turn it around in support of conservative principle. Here’s one way to answer: “Everybody on this earth is flawed. That applies to members of my party. It certainly applies to me. And precisely because we’re imperfect, we need policies that support the better angels of our nature. Schools should teach about virtue. Children should have the chance to pray if they wish. And couples should have every encouragement to choose life.

“That’s what our party stands for, and I’m proud of it.”

“The question isn’t whether the messenger is faultless. It’s whether the message is right.”

This way, Republicans could stand firm without inviting charges of moral arrogance and hypocrisy. And the acknowledgment of human imperfection has the added advantage of being true.

— John J. Pitney Jr. is the Roy P. Crocker Professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College.

I wish I could agree that this strategy will work, but I'm less than enthusiastic. Giuliani divorced his wife on national television, after all, and Gingrich, who may or may not enter the race, divorced his wife on her death bed. The Moral Majority might have a difficult time holding its nose and voting for Giuliani, a politician with a penchant for dressing in drag. I find it difficult to imagine that any GOP operative could spin these issues in favor of the GOP. Please tell me I'm wrong.