Redstate

By David All Posted in 2008 — Comments (4) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

[Cross-posted from TechRepublican]

Front-page of the Politico - House Republicans yet to seek consensus on an "agenda." An agenda is a small, limited set of core principles that everyone in the Conference should get behind and support.

I get the importance of agreeing to a core set of principles. In January 2006, I worked with Congressman Kingston on his American Renewal Project which was embraced, but not widely.

Indeed, six months before an election, it seems like everyone has a plan of ideas for the "limited" agenda items that they will, together, take forth to the American people. Everyone thinks their ideas are the way to go forward.

Among other plans out there:

* John Boehner has a Republican Agenda to fix a broken Washington.

* Mark Kirk has a Suburban Agenda.

* Jeb Hensarling has an Action Plan for House Republicans.

Gone are the days of Newt Gingrich's Contract for America, a plan which every Republican got behind and backed. A unified agenda back in 1994 was possible because of Newt Gingrich's intoxicating personality and strong leadership style; but it was also a different time, a time before the Internet inspired a culture of choice and information.

Today, thanks to the Internet, each Member of Congress can and should be fighting in the trenches for the hundreds of issues which drive their voters to the polls under the banner of the Republican Party. The Internet provides a medium to distribute our message like never before. We can fight on thousands of fronts.

Rather than being forced to to pick a few, limited set of agenda items, House Republicans should change the game and act more like iTunes and NetFlix -- offering conservative, libertarian, and independent voters a lot of different choices -- all of which can only be found under the larger brand -- Republican.