• About Us
  • Activity
  • Advertising
  • Books
  • Business
  • Contact
  • Dashboard
  • EB5
  • Entertainment
  • feedback
  • Forgot Your Password?
  • Government
  • Home
  • Interviews
  • Login
  • Members
  • Meme generator
  • National
  • Nevada
  • Nevada News and Views
  • Newsmax
  • NN&V Ads
  • Opinion
  • Pick a New Password
  • Politics
  • Polls
  • Privacy Policy
  • Profile
  • Recent comments by me
  • Recent comments on my posts
  • Register
  • Submit post
  • Subscribe
  • Subscription Confirmation
  • Survey
  • Survey
  • Terms of Service
  • Today’s Top 10
  • Travel
  • Travel
  • Travel
  • Welcome!
  • Yop Poll Archive
Nevada News and Views
  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Contact
  • More
    • Nevada
    • Opinion
    • Business
    • Travel
    • News
    • Sports
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Pinterest

  • RSS

Politics

Hickey Invokes Reagan, Completely Missing the Point

Hickey Invokes Reagan, Completely Missing the Point
N&V Staff
November 19, 2013

aThe Washoe County Republican Party held its annual fundraising dinner last night, which was blown off by the party’s supposed titular head, Gov. Brian “BS” Sandoval (R&R-Partners) because the Guv’s campaign had intentionally or amateurishly double-booked him for an event in Las Vegas on the same evening.

In his absence, Assembly Minority Leader Pat Hickey took to the podium and proceeded to talk out of both sides of his mouth, as usual.

According to a report by Ray Hagar of the Reno Gazette-Journal, Hickey complained about the GOP becoming a “small tent party.”

Of course, he left out the part where a few weeks ago he went on a Reno radio program and cheered the fact that fewer minorities and young people would be turning out for next year’s election, maintaining that was great news for Republicans. Go figure.

Anyway, Hickey went on to complain about what he calls “pup tent party politics” in which conservatives are “trying to take out ‘our own’ in primaries against Republican incumbents because they are not ideologically pure enough.”

That takes a lot of chutzpah for a moderate who is behind-the-scenes trying to unseat a fellow conservative legislator in Douglas County, Assemblyman Jim Wheeler.

Hickey then invoked Ronald Reagan’s name, a standard defense tactic of moderates trying to excuse their lack of conservative conviction, calling for “principled center-of-right conservatism, that is inclusive, not exclusive, like Reagan was.”

I think he meant right of center, not center of right – which makes no sense – but let’s not quibble.

Of course, Hickey is completely misrepresenting Reagan in an effort to deflect well-deserved criticism of his band of Gumby Republicans in the Assembly this last legislative session.

Reagan was a conservative Republican who compromised to the right of center with conservative Democrats. Hickey and his gang are a bunch of moderate Republicans compromising to the left of center with liberal Democrats.

BIG difference.

What Hickey and the Gumbies want – and this includes Gov. Sandoval – is a Republican Party that stands for nothing so they’ll feel comfortable not having to actually fight for something.

It’s the difference between wanting to “be” an elected representative rather than wanting to “do” something as an elected representative.

It’s the difference between being comfortably numb in your minority party status, happy to pocket some table scraps from the Democrat majority, rather than doing the hard work of being a true opposition party.

Look, I don’t mind having moderate confrontation-averse, political conscientious objectors like Pat Hickey in the big tent. But he should be one of the spectators, not the ringleader.

And if he truly wants to emulate Ronald Reagan, then he should be “raising a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors which make it unmistakably clear where we stand on all of the issues.”

In reality though, a banner of pale pastels would be a dramatic improvement over the current practice by Hickey and the Gumbies of raising a white flag at the sound of a popped balloon.

The problem in the GOP isn’t the conservatives, the libertarians, the tea parties or the Paulbarians. And the problem isn’t some perceived political cleansing in pursuit of “ideological purity.”

But on BIG philosophical and ideological issues – like $600 million tax hikes to make government bigger – yeah, grassroots conservatives take issue with moderates like Hickey and Senate Minority Leader Moderate Mike Roberson who give aid and comfort to the other side by voting for such things.

And seriously, folks, is it really asking too much to ask candidates who run as Republicans to at least READ the party’s platform, even if they don’t agree with it 100%?

Moderate Republicans like Pat Hickey abhor the idea of conservatives challenging moderate incumbents in Republican Party primaries. And he tries to protect such moderates from challenge by invoking Reagan’s name.

But let’s not forget that such conservative challengers are simply following Reagan’s example from 1976, when The Gipper took on incumbent moderate President Gerald Ford in the GOP primary. Simply put, it’s the “right” thing to do.

So step up to the plate conservatives. Challenge the RINOs and the Gumbies. Bring on Conservageddon!

Prev postNext post

Related Items
Politics
November 19, 2013
N&V Staff

Related Items

More in Politics

Lombardo: My Promise to Nevadans

N&V StaffNovember 4, 2022
Read More

Question 1 on Nevada Ballot is Not What It Seems

N&V StaffNovember 1, 2022
Read More

Some Cheerful News on Flat Rate Taxes

N&V StaffOctober 21, 2022
Read More

Viguerie: If We Stand Up for Parents’ Rights Now, We Will Win!

N&V StaffOctober 7, 2022
Read More

Our Cops Have Had to Pay for This

N&V StaffOctober 5, 2022
Read More

Help a Sheriff Fire a Corrupt Governor?

N&V StaffOctober 4, 2022
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Subscribe Free By Email

Looking for the best in breaking news and conservative views? Let Chuck do all the work for you! Subscribe to his FREE "Muth's Truths" e-newsletter.

* indicates required
Nevada News and Views
Nevada News & Views is an educational project of Citizen Outreach Foundation, a non-partisan IRS-approved 501(c)(3) organization. It is not associated or affiliated with any political party or group. Nevada News & Views is accessible by the public at no cost. It funds its operations through tax-deductible contributions from donors and supporters and does not accept government money or grants.

TAGS

Featured Article Nevada Politics business Muth's Truths government Opinion Government Muth’s Truths Obama Ron Knecht News Donald Trump GOP Republicans

Copyright © 2022 Citizen Outreach | Maintained by VirtualAlly

Brian Sandoval, my governor…NOT
GOP Primaries are as American as Ronald Reagan