Moving forward, my advice to Republicans is simple: Don’t go back and check on a dead skunk. The question Republicans now need to answer is: How do we once again convince the public that we are in fact the party many Democrats successfully pretended to be in this election? To do so, Republicans will need to shed their dominant insecurities that the public just won’t understand a positive, national vision that is defined by economic opportunity, limited government and individual responsibility.
We need to remember Ronald Reagan’s legacy and again stand for positive, big ideas that get power and money out of politics and government bureaucracy and back into the hands of individuals. We also need again to demonstrate an ability to be good stewards of the taxpayers’ hard-earned money. If Republicans do these things, they will also restore the public’s faith in our standards of personal conduct. Personal responsibility in public life follows naturally if your goal is good public policy.
Besides the obvious impact on the House and Senate, Tuesday’s elections will no doubt redefine the Republican field going into early presidential primary states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. It will be up to grassroots activists in those battlegrounds to establish a constituency of expectations that anyone aspiring to be the next president of the United States must satisfy. To voters I say: Demand substance and you will get it. To Republican candidates for office I say: Offer good policy and you will create a winning constituency for lower taxes, less government and more freedom.
republicans didn’t just lose. they surrendered. they were willing to compromise rather than fight for the issues that conservatives considered important. conservatives looked at the republicans’ record and simply said “that’s not good enough for us”. that’s the lesson they need to take from this election. support from democrats and independents is never guaranteed, but losing your base in addition to those two groups is never a great formula for winning elections.
we can do better as republicans. we can learn from this defeat, and maybe even return to the small-government idealistic vision that reagan gave us. that’s the best way to win elections. in the meantime, we need to get our credibility back…one small step at a time.
there’s just one main thing that concerns me about the democrats controlling congress. president bush hasn’t been able to stop congressional republicans on the spending, and he has supported the senate immigration proposal. he is no fiscal conservative and doesn’t see any problems with the minimum wage. what makes anyone think that he will stop the democrats from implementing most of their agenda?
tags: ’06 election, republicans
Well, I don’t know if they surrendered. On some issues they in fact
relied too much on their base. Compromise isn’t so bad when
it’s in one’s interest. The war certainly has been difficult for
the party, but fortunately there won’t be a precipitous
withdrawal.
How much of a workout is Bush’s veto pen going to actually get?
Does he even know where it is? Bush agrees with way too much of the Democratic agenda for my liking, and I’m afraid he’s going to continue compromising with them. Just as long as he doesn’t do that with terrorism-related stuff, I can hang on until the next batch of Republicans is elected.