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12/1/2008
Meyer: GOP must compete in 21st century political marketplace
In the wake of the November election’s repudiation of Republicans, there is a controversy among pundits about what Republicans need to do to stage a legislative comeback, much less, avoid extinction from the political landscape.
First off, let’s be perfectly clear. Whenever an opponent suggests something so drastic, such as, that the conservative movement is dead in America, you can bet the hubris of such prognostications will be the stumbling block that ultimately makes the current liberal wave, a short-lived cultural tsunami.
But the general controversy is in deciding whether the Republican Party needs to moderate its current social platform, or instead must purge the moderates, fence-sitters and "RINO’s," for a platform espousing traditional conservatism that is clearly and confidently articulated.
My lot is cast with the second choice. If political leaders want to attract a larger, more diverse constituency by standing for nothing, why shouldn’t the idealist go with the Democratic platform to imbibe the real thing, rather than watered down versions of the failed policies he/she yearns for?
The wrong-headed view is a story-line that goes something like this: The Republicans must jettison the influence of the "religious right," which for a number of years has hijacked the party. The people expressing this story line have short-term memories. Evangelical Christians were excited about the Democratic nominee in 1976, Jimmy Carter. But after his disastrous and disappointing presidency, evangelicals migrated to support the Republicans, who under Ronald Reagan, promoted a platform that attracted values voters in large numbers. If party officials snub this important portion of the base, they will find themselves back in the Goldwater desert of 1964.
The other choice is much better. As a conservative, I have never wavered in the conviction that we lay claim to the better ideas, the more sound and rational ideological positions. What we are lacking are the statesmen to articulate those ideas, and the willful conviction to implement and execute those concepts into public policy. Furthermore, we need the methods and means to compete in the 21st century political marketplace.
In the last election, Obama had the logistics and the message to harness the enthusiasm of young Americans. The Republicans ignored that entire approach, while Obama capitalized on the blind spot.
It’s well beyond the scope of a short piece like this to analyze policy strategy in great detail, but an example may help start the conversation.
Obama attracted young voters. Young voters pay into Social Security, but in large numbers, assume they will never collect future benefits. For such a constituency, the proposal of personalized SS account should be a winning ticket, since it contains the promise of a future benefit that the current system can't seem to secure. In spite of that, the issue was hardly raised in the recent presidential debates; indeed, the Democrats have owned the issue by using it to scare senior citizens.
When we stop snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, we will be on the way to another Reagan revolution.
Robert E. Meyer, Fox Valley
COMMENTS
Maybe if the Republicans DID jettison the religious right, it would be a good thing--they could hang onto an old washed-up, dead, liberal party, or join the Democrats; while we "religious right" could form a new party that would actually stand for something.
emily matthews (Mon Dec 01 22:22:53 2008)
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