Some words of wisdom from Ronald Reagan on political compromise:
When I began entering into the give and take of legislative bargaining in Sacramento, a lot of the most radical conservatives who had supported me during the election didn't like it.
"Compromise" was a dirty word to them and they wouldn't face the fact that we couldn't get all of what we wanted today. They wanted all or nothing and they wanted it all at once. If you don't get it all, some said, don't take anything.
I'd learned while negotiating union contracts that you seldom got everything you asked for. And I agreed with FDR, who said in 1933: 'I have no expectations of making a hit every time I come to bat. What I seek is the highest possible batting average.'
If you got seventy-five or eighty percent of what you were asking for, I say, you take it and fight for the rest later, and that's what I told these radical conservatives who never got used to it.
Source: An American Life [link to Amazon]
Commentary
I am posting these words as a direct refutation to some of the supporters of Timothy Johnson for the position of NCGOP Chair since the announcement that Tom Fetzer will be stepping down on January 15, 2011.
These people would have the Republican party of North Carolina squander what it won in this past election by placing 'an ideologically pure' man in as chairman of the party who seems to have a history creating division where ever he goes.
Some of them have threatened to leave the Republican party [alternate link since Yelton deleted his comment from Facebook] and form a third party. I wish that they would, so that they might leave room for the adults to get something constructive done while they are at the Children's Table.
Posts
Common sense should always win out over rigid dogma every time. When we take a stand, we should be willing to step back or at least lean.