Heller's 'gaffe' is the strong medicine GOP needs

Longtime liberal columnist Michael Kinsley famously defined a "gaffe" in politics as "when a politician tells the truth." If you accept that definition, and I do, then Nevada Republican Rep. Dean Heller committed a gaffe of canyon-sized proportions this week.

I hope he keeps it up.

By way of background, recall that Republicans won control of the United States House of Representatives in 1994 after 40 years in the political wilderness. They did so thanks to the bold promises of reform and limited government included in the widely popular "Contract with America." Alas, after just a few months of high-octane accomplishments, the movement started running out of gas. And the longer Republicans stayed in power, the more staying in power became more important to them than shrinking government.

To give you an idea of just how far Republicans drifted over the years, recall that in 1994 the GOP championed the idea of completely eliminating the federal Department of Education. Just seven years later, however, only 33 Republicans voted against the "No Child Left Behind Act" " the largest expansion of federal interference in education since the creation of the department itself.

The complete list of conservative betrayals by the Republican majority is too long to list here, but perhaps the worst and most visible was the explosion of pork-barrel "earmarks" under their stewardship. Combine the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" with both bribery and sex scandals and it's no wonder voters kicked the GOP out of power in both houses of Congress in 2006.

One would think that losing their majority would force Republicans to wake up, smell the Starbucks and realize just how far off the conservative reservation they'd wandered. But clearly they've learned nothing. And some " much like Republicans in Nevada's State Assembly " appear to be quite comfortable with their minority status; a minority that will likely get even smaller this November.

While some Republicans may have become comfortably numb with their irrelevancy on the national stage, many conservative grassroots activists have reached their breaking point. Earlier this week the Lincoln Club of Orange County, Calif. " a group that donates millions of dollars to Republican congressional candidates every election cycle " declared war on GOP leaders in the House and Senate.

"Come Nov. 5, should the current GOP leadership in either house survive to lead in a new Congress, the Lincoln Club of Orange County will review the financial backing of all congressional Republicans, and we urge others to do likewise," stated the Club in an open letter to congressional Republicans. "A GOP caucus that would re-elect such leaders is not one we would likely continue to support. Because, simply put, we refuse to support a permanent minority."

Which brings us to Congressman Heller's "gaffe."

In an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal published on Tuesday, Heller said: "I'm of the position that we really need to clean house in this Republican Party, and I think the next couple of election cycles are going to do that." The congressman said that included some members from the historic Class of '94 who have lost their way and need to go bye-bye. "It's an old mantra: they came to change Washington, and Washington changed them."

Heller's comments were, to quote Mona Lisa Vito, "dead-on balls accurate." They also infuriated some of the "old bulls" among House Republicans. According to Washington Post blogger The Sleuth, Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio) said Heller's comments "make me think they might have started storing radioactive waste in Yucca Mountain or had an escape from Area 51. The fact is, the Class of '94 created the longest serving Republican majority in recent history, and we didn't lose it until Dean showed up."

What a load of flapdoodle. LaTourette's lifetime conservative rating by the American Conservative Union " the "gold standard" of conservative ratings " is 70 percent. His rating for 2007 was a pathetic 52 percent. On the other hand, Heller's 2007 conservative rating was an almost perfect 96 percent. Steve LaTourette is part of the problem. Dean Heller is part of the solution. Out with old; in with the new. Or a "permanent" GOP minority it will be. Again.

Keep the "gaffes" comin', Congressman!

- Chuck Muth, of Carson City, is president and CEO of Citizen Outreach and a political blogger. Read his views Fridays on the Appeal Opinion page or visit www.muthstruths.com. You can e-mail him at chuck@chuckmuth.com.