John Podhoretz kindly inquires about my mood: It’s fine. And my daughter is sleeping well. I just disagreed with your post. As for your follow-up: It is certainly true that a party can tear itself up in a search for purity that renders it unelectable. On the other hand, when George W. Bush got to John McCain’s right on taxes in 2000 and thereby helped himself win the nomination, I don’t think it hurt the party’s chances in November. If taxpayer-funded abortion were a popular cause, opposition to it by primary voters might have the results you fear. But since the Republican party holds (a stronger version of) the position that the public also holds, I don’t see the harm.