- Commentary:
The need for Republican Party reform
Posted by :Drew McKissick December 22, 2008 - 12:19am
Julius Caesar once said that the only thing necessary to conquer the world was men and money. Add message to that list and you've got the fundamentals of politics - as in organization, fundraising and communications.
And our party has problems in at least two of those areas.
The first problem is principles, which goes to our message and not adequately communicating our conservative philosophy - or living up to it.
In spite of what some others may insist, our conservative philosophy is not the problem. In fact, if anything, a failure to abide by that philosophy while in power has helped lead to our current situation. The need is for a better application of our philosophy to the issues of the day and translating that into a political message that's relevant to the average American.
Unfortunately, we got off base with big-government conservatism, or "active" conservatism, as some in that camp prefer to style it. The problem with big government conservatism (apart from its obvious philosophical flaws) is that there are always big government liberals that will shamelessly outbid you every time, (because they know it's not their money anyway). It will never work, nor should it.
We do know what does work however. Reagan showed the way, as did the GOP majority in the mid 90's with the Contract with America. Simply put, be true to our conservative principles. There's no rationalizing any other approach. And it has the virtue of being politically viable.
Next is the "mechanics" or infrastructure part of our problem - as in our party has been out organized, out raised and completely bested technologically.
There are no excuses, only reasons. And it all comes down to leadership.
We haven't invested in the new tools of political infrastructure as we should. We've been too unwilling to adapt such technology due to a fear of loss of control and centralization. We have too many leaders that resent grassroots input; too many who are so stuck in the mindset of the last war that they didn't prepare for the next one, and too many who just have a financial stake in doing things the old way.
This has to change. Yesterday.
Unfortunately, politics doesn't occur in a vacuum. We have determined opposition with ideas that are diametrically opposed to ours, but who are doing a superior job of using the new-tech tools of democracy to package their ideas, ID their supporters and get them to the polls. Further, their methods better allow those supporters to feel a part of the process. Very important.
The point here is that these things are the fundamentals of politics. They don't change. But how they get accomplished is always evolving. And we are WAY behind the evolutionary curve.
The national Republican Party is the vehicle where much of this work should have been done to build the political infrastructure to enable success from the local level all the way to the national level.
But the problem is not just with the national party. It's pervasive at the state levels, local levels and within the leadership of much of the conservative movement itself. We've all been caught flat-footed. It's time to recognize it and call it what it is and determine that we will do whatever it takes to make sure it never happens again.
What's so maddening is that it doesn't have to be this way. There is no legitimate reason why we can't (or shouldn't) have the same assets and advantages as our opposition. Not money. Not a lack of available technology to make it happen. Not a lack of grassroots support. Only a lack of leadership.
That this is the case is a scandal no conservative should tolerate. We're not playing tiddlywinks here. The consequences of inaction are all too real. And they're not just limited to the jobs that certain people won't get, or the issues that won't get addressed, but also the policies that are likely to come from a liberal dominated government; policies that, like the Great Society, could drag down liberty and individualism for years to come. Not to mention the judges that will be appointed to the federal bench will represent a generational loss to the conservative movement.
In a lot of ways, a political party is like a bus. Every few years it pulls over to the side of the road, people get on and off; we argue over a destination and fight over the steering wheel - and then off we go for a few more years. In recent years the people behind the wheel have drifted off in the wrong direction and let the bus get outdated. We need to modernize the bus and get the right people behind the wheel and steer back in the direction of our principles.
To do that, we need the right leadership. At all levels.
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Follow the Outpost! 
Standing at the Golden Threshold of the Republican Party
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Conservatives are standing at the threshold of a “Golden Opportunity” to usher in a new era of leadership for the Republican Party in the US.
A wide spectrum of voters represent the conservative movement, across this fractured spectrum a deep concern for basic conservative core issues are bringing the country together.
A unity is coalescing in the ranks of conservatives and if the conservative movement continues mending its factions, conservatives will grab the reigns of the Republican Party and lead this country to victory for those basic conservative core values.
Otherwise, the conservative movement will splinter again and even further, forfeiting the greatest opportunity in decades for real change in the Republican Party and the US.
The effects of the current economic crisis, the actions of this radically liberal Administration, and the disenfranchising Democratic Congress have left US citizens believing, who the majority of which are conservative, they have no true representation in Washington.
The US is an angry nation, fearful and disillusioned with both our government leaders and the political process. This nation is ready for real change, a conservative revolution.
There are other party options, but at this time the only viable option is to elect proven conservative candidates to the Republican Party to ensure a sound conservative foundation for the US, stable in morality, economy, and defense for our next generation.
There are strong warning signs here, conservatives represent a wide spectrum of voters and must lay aside their particular agendas to unite on the conservative basics or there will be no conservative Republican Party with any real influence.
For too long the definite differences in the conservative movement have fractured the movement into wrangling factions, greatly weakening its influence and relegated it into obscurity in Washington. The 'Almost Majority'.
Should the Conservative factions remain or deepen, then history will again repeat itself only this time with far more liberal elements taking control of the Republican Party.
The raw power and energy of the conservative movement in the US is a great fear of the left seeing its influence far and wide as in the townhall meetings across the nation.
As when British Prime Minister Winston Churchill saw the US being drawn into WWII, he celebrated and declared we have just one the war! He knew waking the sleeping giant which was the US then would be fatal for the enemies of the Allied armies. Just as then, now the Conservative movement is waking to a giant majority!
Conservatives must unite on the basic issues, family values, fiscal responsibility, limiting government, strong defense, and tax cuts. Call it a coalition or what you will, conservatives must support one solid candidate who is proven in practice not rhetoric for each election.
It is critical that the Conservative movement step forward, not backward to some idealized glory days of the Republican Party. The future of the Republican Party can only be captured with a unified conservative spectrum moving forward to deal decisively with the issues facing the US currently.
Some independence is needed; Conservatives must run their own candidates who will be beholden to non other than the Conservative movement. Candidates solely promoted by the conservative movement with unprecedented promotion, giving, and involvement in the Republican Party and the elections state and federal.
The conservative movement must focus only on the foundational basic issues that will continue to unify the movement.
The American people are the true power of our nation and government "by the people for the people". Conservatives must unite and organize in time for the coming elections.
The crisis conditions today in the US are of great concern, troubling and have caused "we the people" to polarize, to coalesce, and to activate. Now is the conservative’s time. Now is the time for real conservative leadership for the Republican Party for real change in this country.
Randy Driver - Driver Post
What would doing away with Big Government Conservatism mean?
I think those who want the Republican Party to become the anti-Big Government party now need to spell out exactly what parts of Big Government they want to abolish.
Big Government comes out of the New Deal. So let's start there.
To keep the discussion simple, let's take one thing at a time:
Social Security.
Should the Republican Party come out for the abolition of Social Security?
What really happened to W's Presidency
The Real Truth About W's Two Terms
First of all, being a conservative, I was extremely disappointed with George W's last few months in office to say the least. W fell for the Democratic operatives stimulus plan hook, line, and sinker. Now we are all sunk. What was Bush thinking when he sanctioned using the taxpayers money to bail out the banks? Did he put his capitalistic loyalties above his sworn duty to protect and defend the American people? Let's examine further, as I believe this whole mess was a Democratic plan to undermine George Bush and the Republican Party.
George Bush's tax cuts led to a turnaround on a recession that had already started under the Clinton Administration. The tax cuts also created increased revenue for the government. The Democrats were back on their heels and the country looked like it would stay RED for a very long time to come. What happened? Well, first the Democrats decided they had to stop this success by obstructing W's ideas before they could even gain momentum. The Republican Congress then unwittingly aided and abetted the Dems by spending the new revenues like they were their counterparts on steroids! This set up the mid term elections. The now disgusted conservative base, fed up with the pork spending by the very party who promised to shrink government and control spending, was no longer going to support these out of control Republican Congressman. This gave the Dems and their water carrying media allies like Wolf Blitzer, the opportunity to create a fire storm over a Republican Congressman's discovered inappropriate behavior with young male pages. This sealed the Republican majority fate and now the Dems would have even more leverage in their plan to Sabotage W's presidency.
Now here is the plan the Dems came up with in my opinion. They attacked where they felt Bush was weakest. If they could plant seeds of destruction for the economy and hide it by giving the appearance they were helping and supporting capitalism, no one would know the better. They used their old socialist programs to force banks to lend money to people who had no business getting loans. It worked because the capitalists in charge were getting rich and had no concern for future fallouts. Bush was suckered in by the temporary boost to the economy, and even bragged about how many minorities were new homeowners under his administration. As you can see this was the perfect set up. When Bush was made aware of the possible fall out from all these shaky loans, the Dems stonewalled any attempts for him to reign in this out of control train. Remember Chris Dodd and Barney 'of Frank, rebuffing the administrations calls for regulation on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?
So the Dems succeeded in bringing down W's presidency and turning around the country's embracement of conservatism. Now the Dems have even more control and a brand new president that would have been too radical and too left for the country before, but now seems to be palatable to Americans wanting a change from where we were heading. The Republicans have no idea what hit them to this day. I have to hand it to the Dems....they are weak when it comes to defending this country against terrorism, but they sure are the superior party when the "war game" is politics. Problem is America will be the real big loser in all this...just watch and see.
If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em?
That seems to be the attitude adopted by the Republican Party. As we witness Republicans devouring their own - throwing Rush Limbaugh under the bus - and flocking to have photo ops with the new president, one has to wonder how long it will take for them to come to their senses and once again fight for conservative values. When will Republican leaders rediscover their backbones? This could be a long and painful wait.
Steve McCullough
http://www.stevemc2.com
No time...
We dont' have that kind of time.
What a mess. The republican
What a mess. The republican bus didn't just pull over this time around it ran straight into the ditch.http://www.conservativecadre.typepad.com/
I've been saying this for weeks
That change has to come from the local level first. A perfect example of this is the Gang of 165. They were brought to us by our individual states.(Someone feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken about the number) Each state elects elects two committee members (one male and one female)and a chairperson who make up their delegation. So obviously we are not going to be able have any real meaningful impact on the decision of who this group picks soon for the new chairman of the RNC.
However if you have been bothered by the direction of the party then now is the time to become a local GOP committee members. Form coalitions to send your kind of republican to the state committee. If you can manage to become a committee person then do so.
One of the reforms we need to enact, and be very vocal about, is openness about who represents the committee at each level. If you travel to the RNC website you'll be unable to find a list of who the the Gang of 165. I live in New City these days and the same issue exist at the state level. There is no list of who the state committee people are. And forget about finding one locally. If my experiences with the YRs are any indication of how things work you'll be fortunate to even find a functioning website at the state level.
We can be so much better than we have been if we are willing to make it happen. It starts at the local level so start finding out how you can become a committee member.