Posted by
JayPeriod on Thursday, November 06, 2008 12:27:05 PM
The election is over and the people have spoken; the Republican party is out of touch. For the second straight national election, Republicans have been handed defeat and a message. After the last election, they did not get the message, obviously, but will they get it now? Where does the party go from here?
There has been much speculation since Tuesday night that there was a division within the McCain/Palin camp as to who was to blame for the loss. It's clear that before he picked Palin, there was very little energy in the Republican campaign. Palin, for whatever shortfalls she may have had, got the conservative base interested in the election. She did not support amnesty, did not favor limiting free speech, and did not work to alienate conservatives just to win a few moderates. The election was as close as it was because of her.
Clearly, the Republican Party must move backward to go forward. They need to go all the way back to the Reagan era and collect themselves. They must eagerly embrace conservative values, fiscally and socially, and put candidates up for election who embody these values. They must remove from office and leadership those individuals who are the furthest from these values. No more "Log Cabin" Republicans. No more pork spending Republicans. No pro-illegal Republicans. No pro-choice Republicans. We must be the true conservative party, or it is time to start a new one.
There are many faces on the horizon who can do just that. Sarah Palin and Bobby Jindal are just a couple that come to mind. The Party must begin to promote and recognize them. They must parade them out and give them serious face time. They must tout their records and accomplishments. There are others, too, that must be given the spotlight. These individuals can show the American people that the Party has heard their message, loud and clear.
Finally, they must cast off those who do not fit this mold. Those in congress who have helped the Left grow government to unimaginable size, those who feed at the pork trough must be left to fend for themselves. The Party must put up REAL conservatives to battle against them and fund them. They must invest in the defeat of these closet liberals and let the new crop know that those kinds of actions and votes will not be supported.
If the Republican Party will follow this direction, the country will respond, seeing that the message has been received. If, though, they feel the need to trot out more middle of the road, big spending fat cats, I can't blame them for voting Democrat. At least the Democrats let you just who they are.