Pirate's Cove

Cathy McMorris-Rodgers is an up and coming star in the GOP. She’s the fourth leading Republican in the House. She was the person I hoped Romney would pick. Alas, she seems to be moving toward the amnesty viewpoint

(The Hill) Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) on Sunday said the GOP didn’t need to adopt “more moderate” positions, but rather needed to become “more modern” by being better inclusive of women and minorities.

“I don’t think it’s about the Republican Party needing to become more moderate. I really believe it’s the Republican Party becoming more modern,” said McMorris Rodgers, during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

In other words, she’s talking about pandering. Over the past 6 years or so, the GOP has moved away from the ultra-pandering campaign mode, since that involves promising that the Government will Do Something, which always involves money that the nation can’t afford. The problem is that the GOP view of “hey, we need some fiscal responsibility and we want to empower you” is competing against the Democrat nation of “here’s free stuff.” If I tell you “I’ll give you $25 to mow my yard so you can buy food” but my neighbor says “I’ll simply give you $15 to buy food”, which do you choose? Well, the majority of American voters chose the latter. How do you compete with the free stuff campaign?

“Whether it’s Hispanics, whether it’s women, whether it’s young people, the Republican Party has to make it a priority to take our values, to take our vision to every corner of this country,” she said.

Vision is good. But, that’s not what she means

Former Commerce Secretary and the head of GOP nominee Mitt Romney’s Hispanic Steering Committee Carlos Gutierrez said he “would lay the blame squarely on the far right wing” for driving away minority voters.

Former Utah governor and one-time presidential candidate Jon Huntsman said his party had “no vision,” adding it “needs to decide whether it wants to win or lose.”

But all three said the GOP should forge ahead with immigration reform to win support from Hispanic groups.

So, she’s joining the squishy “let’s give people who broke the law” amnesty crowd. It won’t earn the GOP any votes. But, it looks like the GOP is looking for some sort of excuse.

Sadly, it looks like Ed Morrissey is also buying into the immigration reform argument, with the hope of border security being included. Even if passed that way, the border control would never materialize.

Michelle Malkin, on the other hand, is completely un-amused by the return of Shamnesty talk and GOP squishyness.

It comes down to “are we a nation of law or a nation of men?”