HOW RESTRICTIVE IS REINCE PRIEBUS'S GATED COMMUNITY?

A story from Mediaite:

Appearing on Morning Joe Thursday morning, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus told host Mika Brzezinski that he wouldn't let her moderate a GOP debate, because he needs to "choose moderators that are actually interested in the Republican Party." ...

"... I'm not going to have you moderate the Republican debate," Priebus said. When Nicole Wallace asked why not, he continued, "Because you're not actually interested in the future of the Republican Party and our nominees. That's not a slam on you, Mika, but I have to choose moderators that are actually interested in the Republican Party and our nominees. It's not going to be NBC, if they continue to go forward with this miniseries." ...

It's generally conceded that Priebus's war with CNN and NBC has less to do with upcoming Hillary Clinton movies than with Priebus's desire to limit the number of GOP debates in the 2016 campaign, and thus limit the number of opportunities Republican candidates will have to say stupid, embarrassing, and extreme things.

But I'm not sure why that goal is served by restricting the participation of people assumed not to be Republicans or right-wingers -- after all, one of the GOP's more embarrassing moments came at a tea party-sponsored debate in 2011, when audience members cheered Ron Paul for rejecting the notion that an uninsured 30-year-old in a coma should be entitled to medical treatment. (That debate was broadcast on CNN and moderated by Wolf Blitzer, but I don't think that was the reason for the huzzahs from the crowd.) Maybe too much right-wing participation in the debates is the GOP's problem.

Priebus clearly wants fewer debates overall, but I think he also wants to keep his party a gated community. And I wonder how far that goes -- Mika Brzezinski has said she's a Democrat, but would a moderate Republican be acceptable? If Colin Powell were a newsman, would he be an acceptable moderator? Would David Frum or David Brooks? Should Priebus just go all the way and allow activist groups in the party to primary debate moderators? Or just ask Limbaugh, Hannity, and Coulter to moderate every debate?

Ultimately, why do Republicans even run for president of the United States? They don't consider the citizens of many states (or most cities) to be real Americans -- why run to be head of state of a country that's been mongrelized by un-American liberalism? Shouldn't Republicans just limit themselves to running for president of Red America (a/k/a Foxistan)?