Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pleaded with his fellow Republicans this weekend to have a broader view when it comes to defining their party’s ideology. In an Op-Ed by the former governor, which appeared in the Los Angeles Times this Sunday, May 6, he also suggested elected Republicans should not be afraid to “buck” the party to do the right thing.
It's time for the Republicans who are so bent on enforcing conformity to ask themselves a question: What would Ronald Reagan have done? He worked hard to maintain a welcoming, open and diverse Republican Party…An inclusive party would welcome the party's most conservative activists right alongside its most liberal activists. There is room for those whose views, I think, make them sound like cavemen. And there is also room for us in the center, with views the traditionalists probably think make us sound like progressive softies. What's important is our shared belief in the broad Republican principles of free enterprise and small government. If we continue to fight one another without being willing to compromise, we will keep losing to big-government advocates.