Redstate

By Haley37 Posted in Elections — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Sometimes I am at odds with posters and moderators on RS, at other times we are in complete agreement. There is hope that this post will reflect the latter instead of the former, but we shall see.
GOP operatives and others in the Conservative movement read these blogs, so maybe they will take note if they happen to see this posting.

The reasons the GOP lost the Congress in 2006 has been the source of much discussion but not much debate. The rank-and-file GOP have carried the media mantra that the difficulties in Iraq and corruption issues were the culprit sources of that defeat.
They are wrong, but there are reasons why they are wrong and also reasons why they miss the real source entirely.
Let's focus on this first as we diagnose how the Republican Party is not prepared for the future and what they need to start doing if they want to remain a viable political force.

Category (A) will highlight what the party is doing wrong and category (B) will highlight what they need to do to ensure future longevity.
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(A) What the GOP does wrong

1) Party leaders and elected officials listen too much to the D.C. Beltway buzz and forget the promises to their constituents.

This has hurt the party more than anything else. A prime example is the 'Gang of 14' deal that killed the real chance the GOP had of ending the unethical and unconstitutional practice of filibustering judicial nominees. The voters who supported the GOP had worked hard to get the party enough seats in the Senate where this kind of practice could be ended by enacting the 'Constitutional Option.' Because of party leadership lacking a spine and being afraid of what would be said about them (more on this one in a minute), the party folded from a fight their voters wanted and had to take what was worked out to maintain 'comity' in the Senate. The party paid dearly for this decision as many people who had worked to get more Senate seats abandoned the GOP out of livid frustration. This deal was one of the biggest blunders the GOP has ever made. History rarely present a political party with the opportunity like the GOP was handed on the judges issue, and they squandered it for the purpose of not making the other party hate them more than they already did. In short, this was stupid.

2) The Beltway media ARE NOT THE FRIENDS of the GOP.

Nothing made me sicker than seeing the likes of Trent Lott, Lindsey Graham and others constantly going on Sunday talk shows on NBC, CNN, CBS or CNN, trying to 'make nice' with people who hate their guts. It's a spectacle, and usually these GOP officials would not defend or vociferously attack the one's attacking them, but rather they would smile and try to deflect some outrageous remark by talking about something else. This one should be easy. TAKE THE BATTLE TO THESE PEOPLE AND QUIT TRYING TO BE THEIR FRIENDS. THEY ARE NOT THE FRIENDS OF YOUR CONSTITUENTS AND THEY WANT YOU TO FAIL.
In short, the GOP needs to get a clue about the meida.

3) The media tries to bring down loyal GOP officials and the party lets them.

This is one of the most galling things of all. Democrats have little ethics, but at least they will rally around their colleagues and fight for them even when they KNOW their colleagues have lied to a grand jury (see Bill Clinton), left a woman submerged in a car underwater (see Ted Kennedy), profited from shady land deals (Harry Reid), profited from military contracts you awarded to your husband's company (Diane Fienstien) or had some questionable tax practices (John Conyers).
This is completely opposite of the GOP which won't even defend a colleague when they aren't guilty of anything but the media wants to insinuate that they might be. An example would be Tom Delay. He was a loyal Republican who worked hard and was driven from his position because he had an association with someone who had committed some white collar crimes. That didn't make Delay guilty of ANYTHING, but the media used it as a springboard (in conjunction with House Democrats), to have Delay removed from power and a sham prosecution brought against him.
Where was the GOP during this charade? They weren't out front defending the Majority Whip. No, they were all running like scared little hens afraid to get away from Delay's shadow.
In short, it was pathetic and cowardly.

4) Not defending your party leader.

Why does the POTUS need to be the one who defends himself against non-existent scandals and shrill attacks? Why doesn't the party he leads speak up and defend him?
This is just more of #3 but with emphasis on the President.
Congressmen, Congresswomen and Senators expect the party leader to help them raise $ and campaign, yet when the party leader gets unfair scorn heaped on him, why don't they come to his defense? In short, when you don't defend someone people just assume that there is truth to the charges. Again, the GOP fails miserably and shows their lack of character.

(B) What the GOP needs to do now

1) Republican officials need to pay visits to their states and districts to be reminded of why they were elected and just what their constituents expect.

GOP voters care about the following issues - smaller government, lower taxes, less federal government intrusion, a strong military, judicial restraint and free trade - and the party wins on these issues.
Things that most GOP voters don't give a rip about - health care, global warming, higher taxes, open borders, abortion on demand and gay marriage - should NEVER BE THE FOCUS OF A SERIOUS CANDIDATE IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.

2) The GOP needs a special media wing to address the growing disadvantage it faces in Liberal funded 527s and the alliance that Democrats enjoy with the network media.

Face it, just having talk radio and FOX NEWS is not going to be enough to get the party ideas out or to brunt the ridiculous charges made by political enemies. This one area is the Republican Party's greatest weakness. They need to create a media branch that is pro-active and doesn't wait around for party leaders to decide how to respond.
Information in the internet age is instantaneous, so it is crucial to have a media arm that is ready to go into combat and send out competent spokespeople (not any Lotts or Grahams) to do the heavy lifting and throw it right back when a lie is advanced or a charge made by the other side.
In short, we have to tell our story and do so forcefully. We can't use wishful thinking anymore and hope we will get a fair shake by the mainstream press.

3) The GOP needs to either defend our champions or just shut up.

I'm tired seeing the Democrats embrace left-wing nuts like Sean Penn or Michael Moore while the GOP joins in trashing intellectual and educated defenders like Ann Coulter.
When a member of the opposition party tries to bring up Coulter and charges that she is 'hateful', the GOP needs to bring up Moore, Penn, Rhodes, Krugman and ask if the Democrats embrace their hateful rhetoric.
At least the GOP can argue that what Ann Coulter writes is true because (unlike those names on the left), Coulter backs up her statements with facts. Sometimes it's like people on the Conservative side think WELL IT'S TRUE WHAT SHE SAID BUT IT'S NOT POLITE TO BRING IT UP THE WAY SHE DOES.
If you are one who thinks like this, let me challenge you to ask yourself the following question.
Is is 'nice' to let the other side compare the POTUS to Hitler?
In short, either the GOP defends the Coulters and Limbaughs of the world or they stay silent and let these people do their jobs.

4) The GOP needs to rebuild trust.

Where to start. There are a whole bunch of issues that the Republican Party has let voters down on, and the party will not recover it's fortunes until it regains the trust of the voters.

The voters don't need more promises. What they need are actions on those promises, like confirming judges, supporting current immigration laws, ending taxpayer funding for PBS and the cutting silly projects like Tad Steven's 'bridge to nowhere.'
Only when the GOP actually starts DOING can they expect voters to AGAIN VOTE FOR THEM.

** I know I covered a lot of ground in this post. Please excuse any misspelled words or sentence fragments as I was trying to say a lot in as little space as I could. As always, I appreciate thoughtful feedback. Thank you! **