I think this exemplifies some of the problems that the GOP has in dealing with moderates within their ranks versus the True Believers. Here’s GOP Chair Michael Steele talking last week talking with the press after a meeting with Wisconsin party faithful.
“All you moderates out there, y’all come. I mean, that’s the message,” Steele said at a news conference. “The message of this party is this is a big table for everyone to have a seat. I have a place setting with your name on the front.
“Understand that when you come into someone’s house, you’re not looking to change it. You come in because that’s the place you want to be.”
Now, I’m very much into hospitality. I like the idea of a big table (as folks who have come to our house know).
But when we invite people over to sit at table, we always try to ask (if we don’t already know) if people have food allergies or aversions. We tailor the menu to accommodate their needs when we can. We allow them to bring over side dishes, salads, desserts. We try to make them feel welcome, to make them part of the household for their stay.
We don’t say, “Hey, come on in from the cold — now eat this and like it, or get out.”
Further, this metaphor is even more telling. Steele is talking about treating moderates as guests. Not, tellingly, as family. They’re outsiders being invited in, not insiders being invited back.
So, yeah, if strangers came into my house for a party and immediately started offering suggestions about changing the carpeting, repainting, rearranging the furniture, etc. I might be a bit put out. I’d treat them courteously, but it would seem, yes, a bit rude.
But family and friends? They get to (and do) make such suggestions all the time. And, amazingly enough, we sometimes follow their advice.
It’s not just that we want a place where “people want to be,” but we want to have those people there with us.
As long as the GOP treats moderates as strangers given to chair to fill, and who are expected only to sit quietly and nod and eat what’s put before them, they’re not going to be very successful at getting many people to respond.