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| Visions & Revisions |
Everything in Moderation
11/01/2005
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Which is more pressing to you, as a Republican and an affluent individual:
tax relief or budget deficits?
I think that’s a Hobson’s choice, or [laughs] maybe a Sophie’s choice, but
I’m against both. I’m not an ideologue on taxes. I’m wealthy, and when people
raise taxes, they hit me first. But if that money were going to be well used,
then fine, I would be in favor of it. For instance, in education, I would
support much higher taxes if the system weren’t so dysfunctional.
When you ran for governor, certain conservative Republicans attacked you as
being a liberal, which certainly is not your record.
I’ve been pro death penalty for a long time. I ran the criminal justice
initiative in the state, which should have marked me as an arch conservative.
However, somebody found a quote from me saying, “If I were a judge, I think I’d
have a hard time condemning somebody to death,” which I had said casually, long
before I was in politics. All of a sudden, I was branded as a liberal who
opposed the death penalty. The arch conservatives make up around 10 percent of
Republicans, but they control the primaries, and everything is ideology with
them.
Is there any way to bridge the ideological chasms among all
groups—conservatives, moderates and liberals—on hot-button social
issues?
G.K. Chesterton said that all theology can be wrapped up in two sentences:
The first is, “In God’s eyes, I’m extremely important.” The second is, “In God’s
eyes, everyone else is just as important as I am.” So whether you are saint or
sinner, gay, straight or whatever, in God’s eyes you are important. That doesn’t
mean I have to agree with you, it just means that I have to respect the fact
that you are important.
Some liberals say that Bill Clinton was the greatest moderate Republican
president the country ever had.
I think they are right. It is intriguing that two people who were
more-or-less disgraced in office—Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton—were very good
presidents. Say what you want about character, but what Clinton did with welfare
was great for the country, and he was the only Democrat who could have pulled
that off. People who are off welfare now are much more likely to be happy
and successful. Who wants to be a victim the rest of their lives?
Have you ever considered becoming a Clinton-type Democrat?
No. The liberal Democrats who control the primaries don’t want me. For that
matter, the ultra-conservative Republicans who control their primaries don’t
really want me, either.
Photograph by Gary Moss.
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