A 'purity test' for GOP candidates?

Some Republican bigwigs are proposing a 10-point "litmus test" to ensure only ideological conservatives receive party support

With the Republican Party hoping to win congressional seats from the Democrats in 2010, a group of conservative RNC members is pushing a 10-point conservative "litmus test" to establish the ideological bona fides of all GOP candidatess. The 10 "principles" include opposition to cap and trade legislation and government-funded abortion, and support for the Defense of Marriage Act and a troop surge in Afghanistan. GOP candidates who are out of step on more than two of 10 positions would not be eligible for party funding. Is ideological purity a good strategy for GOP success in 2010? (Watch MSNBC apply the "purity test" to some famous Republicans.)

Purity is great for a minority party: “On the face of it,” this proposal for fealty to 10 principles seems pretty reasonable, says Alex Knapp in Outside the Beltway. If candidates don’t buy into a party’s “core issues,” why should the party support them? The problem is that all 10 of these “could be opposed by a principled conservative,” and have been. If the RNC backs this proposal, expect more GOP splintering and fewer electoral victories.

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