I had a vision of the future for the College Republicans. I took office as their chairman eight months ago to make that vision real. I wanted to make meetings more welcoming and friendly to those with more moderate political persuasions. I wanted to talk about difficult issues and bring in speakers with whom Republican dogma may disagree. Under my leadership, the College Republicans would discuss the hard issues, duck no touchy subjects and set an example for the seemingly directionless Republican National Committee. However, recent events have led me to change directions and break from the tired, narrow-minded constraints that were placed on me as the College Republican Chairman.

I resigned, and while this individual event may not pique your interest very much, it is a microcosm of the current situation in Washington. As a leader, I failed to break the cycle of cynicism and recycled rhetoric that permeated club meetings and operating procedures. I may have failed to reform the College Republicans at the University, but that doesn’t mean I have given up my dreams of reforming the Republican Party. I want to lead a rejuvenation of the Grand Old Party that has forgotten its founding principles as its power has dwindled. I want to stand up, like so many young conservatives have before, and implement my vision for the future — one built on tolerance, conservatism and moderation.

Tolerance is something the Republican Party tends to dismiss these days. Most officials in the GOP seem incapable of accepting dissention from anyone, on any issue. This isn’t logical, since there are about one million reasons to identify as a Republican. Being intolerant of any one of them is counterproductive to political strategy. Moreover, forcing your leaders to spout party-line rhetoric is disingenuous and hurts leadership recruitment. Not many people are willing to suppress their own varying beliefs in order to project a single “pure” ideology. I volunteered to lead the College Republicans under the apparently false assumption that I would be able to express my moderate beliefs publicly. It turns out that most students in the group, and most Republicans in general, don’t want their leaders dissenting from even one plank of the GOP platform — my bad.

One problem, though: the only thing that results from ostracizing moderates like myself is a larger talent pool from which the other party can enlist converts. It is both short-sighted and prejudiced to discriminate against the more moderate members of a political party. However, it seems only the Democratic Party is currently open to a diverse set of ideas — all of which come from dedicated politicos like me. This openness and welcoming attitude serves the Democrats in immeasurable ways. Resolution among dissenting ideas is necessary to good public policy. I would hope that the Republicans among us don’t think that the best way to regain power is to “purify” the party. Because being tolerant of diverse ideology, especially in leadership, is the only ticket to Election Day success.

Conservatism doesn’t necessitate supply-side economics just as it doesn’t imply environmental irresponsibility. It appears those in the GOP have forgotten the examples of Theodore Roosevelt and Richard Nixon. Both men, Republican presidents, led the fight for the majority of environmental protection laws now in effect. Too often does the modern-day Republican Party frame sustainability and economic growth as mutually exclusive ends. The plain truth is that being “green” can become a boon for economic growth. China seems to be figuring out a way to grow economically through the production of wind turbines. Why can’t we do something similar? Ironically enough, the word “conserve” is the very root of the word “conservatism.”

What about economics? Sometimes the government needs to “conserve” its financial health by raising taxes. What about public health? How is continuing to allow tens of millions of Americans to go without health insurance “conserving” the well being of humanity? Do Republicans think the best way to uphold conservatism is to continue subsidizing suburban sprawl and cow-towing to corporate interests? It seems the Republican Party has forgotten what “conservatism” means. Edmund Burke and William F. Buckley must be rolling in their graves!

“In all things, moderation,” my mother often quips. I think that's pretty much the best advice I've ever gotten, or could ever give. It's too bad that when people think about politics, they forget this advice — sometimes they even attack it. Being a moderate in ideology suddenly becomes about impurity or treason. But it’s dangerous to map the virtue of purity onto a political ideology. When having varying views across issues becomes regrettable rather than laudable, nothing gets done. Not in city halls, not in state Houses, and certainly not in Washington, D.C.