True North

Since I do harp on Senator Coleman an awful lot, and in my opinion for very good reason, I probably should give him credit when he deserves it. And recently he finally did something that sort of deserves some measure of credit.

Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman today introduced legislation condemning states that issue driver's licenses to aliens residing in the United States illegally. Coleman's Sense of the Senate resolution would make it the official position of the Senate that states who issue government identification to illegal immigrants are disrespecting and disregarding federal immigration laws.

Well at least the sentiment is right, and for that he deserves some measure of credit. I award him one point, he remains only 32,174 points* in the hole. However, this does highlight a critical issue that bothers many conservatives.

Many conservatives upon gripping about their "Republican" elected officials, will be lectured by the nearest party-hack about the 80:20 rule. Which basically states that if someone votes with us on 80% of the issues, it doesn't really matter how they vote on the other 20%, they are on our side.

That theory has never sat well with me, and this is a perfect example. Let's say votes/bills/resolutions like this make up 80% of his record. Great, his heart is in the right place, but the problem is "Sense of the Senate" resolutions and naming post offices are meaningless. Let's say the the other 20% of his voting record, he's voting against conservatives principles, but that 20% includes things like amnesty comprehensive immigration and socialized health care SCHIP.

In the case of a politician like that, I would argue that calling them a good "Republican" just because they technically fall within the 80:20 rule is stupid and self-destructive. Sure this is an extreme example, but the fact of the matter is we have a lot of Republicans who will vote with us on the small meaningless things, but when our backs are really to the wall. When the vote really counts. When other issues pale in comparison, they vote against us. Sure those votes may be few and far between, but they can't be discounted as just 20%.

This same concept has been demonstrated in the business community for years, under the name of Earned Value Management (EVM). Just saying that a politicians has cast 80% of his votes correctly is insufficient. Just as EVM teaches that not every task is equal, not every vote is equal. One must consider the effort necessary of each task, or in the case of politics the importance of that vote. Once you take that into account, I think you'll find that many of these same politicians who are defended with the 80:20 rule, don't even come close to 80%.

And in cases like that, rather than defending them and look the other way as they sell out conservatives. I'd rather stand up and call a RINO a RINO. If you feel the label is unfair, prove me wrong, as I'd welcome it.

* According to the Department of Numbers-I-Made-Up

[Crossposted at EckerNet.Com and comments accepted, possibly even welcome.]