Having lost his best opportunity to steer the Republican Party over a cliff of squishy moderation on November 4th last year, John McCain is diligently working behind the scenes to bring about his vision of a worthless, Democratic-lite party.

His strategy is to recruit and support “moderate” candidates in his own mold – despite the fact that he was an electoral loser – like Mark Kirk of Illinois, who supported cap-and-tax.

Senator Grahamnesty rationalizes, “[McCain] has an understanding that the party is in trouble with certain demographics and wants to have a tone that would allow us to grow.”  If he succeeds, the Republican Party will most certainly not grow.  Pandering to identity groups is a strategy that has been a proven failure for Republicans. The most important demographic, which Graham unsurprisingly ignores, is the conservative base.  Lose them and the party is finished.

He also underestimates the power of attracting followers by staking out principled positions.  Reagan expanded the Republican Party with principled leadership that convinced conservative democrats to switch parties.  With the growing backlash against Obama’s massive government, many Americans not currently identified as Republicans are yearning for a principled, limited government alternative. If Republicans listen to the likes of John McCain, they will find themselves ill-prepared to rise to the challenge and take advantage of an opportunity to increase their ranks through principled leadership.

Cross-posted at Conservative Compendium.