Changing the Republican Playbook
With the Republican Party facing significant challenges in the upcoming elections here’s some advice from a friendly fiscally conservative Independent.
1. Recognize that the reason this election has been branded a ‘change’ election is that people are fed up with President Bush and his associates, and realize why they are fed up.
The President’s low approval rates aren’t simply issue based. There have been almost two decades of elections that show that the American people are split about 50/50 Republican and Democrat. The low numbers reflect a distaste for how things have been done. There has been an arrogance that often accompanies power that people are sick of. There is a perception that the president doesn’t consider opinions other than his own, and that loyalty to the President is valued over loyalty to ones country. Finally, campaigning has frequently been done in a less than decent manner and it has not only worn thin, but has become obvious and heavy-handed.
2. Fess up to mistakes.
A Republican strength has always been fiscal conservatism, low spending, low taxes. Admit that Republicans didn’t follow the wishes of their constituency on spending, and then prove that you will fix it. Admit that mistakes were made at the beginning of the Iraq War. It doesn’t take a foreign policy genius to realize this, and not admitting it makes Republicans look foolish.
3. Pick your issues.
Pick what is most important and run with it. Whether it is conservative judges, second amendment rights, fiscal conservatism, or a conservative foreign policy, there are plenty of people that support those positions, don’t whine if someone doesn’t agree on every issue that’s normal. The demands for party or candidate conformity will only disenfranchise people, focus on areas of agreement to pull people together.
4. Do what Republicans do best – Win.
For all the political hand wringing, what Republicans did in the primaries was pick the most electable candidate. John McCain provides a resolution to most of these problems. While the Democrat’s goal is to tie McCain to Bush there have always been significant differences between the two, and Senator McCain is the Republican most capable of running as a ‘change’ candidate. He has shown exceptional loyalty to his country, and he is known as a maverick because he doesn’t always follow the party line. He has repeatedly embraced bi-partisanship to get legislation passed. He has battled against pork barrel projects for years. He has been bold in pointing out the mistakes made in Iraq, being the only Republican to call for Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation, and being an early vocal supporter of the surge. He campaigns with decency and was the only Republican to condemn the Swift Boat ads against John Kerry. While this may have upset some Republicans, this gives him credibility with the American people, while maintaining a traditional conservative viewpoint. The party should take a cue from the electorate and embrace the changes that McCain represents. People are frustrated with the current political situation. Republicans don’t need to mope about it, just adjust. A McCain Obama race is one that Republicans can win. Take your cues from your nominee and run a good strong race.
Tags: bi-partisan, conservative, George Bush, mccain change, McCain Obama, party conformity, President Bush, republican playbook, Republican victory, Swift Boat
May 18, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Why Don’t Macain’s team potray Obama as Jimmy cartar’s Second term insteading of letting them potray Macain as Bush’s third term?
May 19, 2008 at 10:42 am
If I hear another person say “gas was 1.46 when Bush took office, I’ll get violent!” I think we need to remind people that when the dems were came back to power in congress, gas was 2.19. So it took 6 years under the republicans to bring gas up .73 cents. It took a year and a half for the dems to bring it up $1.81 cents!!! Pin this on them!!!!! Admit we built a bridge to nowhere, but the dems took us over that bridge and blew it up!
Secondly, we always sold our brand with a simple idea and a snappy saying, like ‘government is the problem, not the solution.’ We need a new one that exemplifies what we want to accomplish and who we are. I suggest ‘Republicans want to get governments hands out of your pocket and it’s ass out of your house”. Note the ass could be taken as a democrat also. Of course this would require us to just abandon any social policy (which is the way McCain is going anyway) but that’s OK because I don’t see Obama doing a reach around for social conservatives anyway. My 2 cents….
May 19, 2008 at 11:11 am
Great Idea for a commercial
before the election of 2006 cost of gas was 2.19
housing was booming
Consumer confidence was 6 pts above a 20 year high
Average incomes were on the rise
benifits were on the rise
63% of americans thought there financial situation was in good shape
(all of these facts from ABC news http://abcnews.go.com/Business/CreativeConsumer/story?id=2619221&page=1)
As of May 2008
Gas is $4.00 per gallon
Housing boom went bust! and banks have failed
Consumer confidence is down (http://www.conference-board.org/economics/ConsumerConfidence.cfm)
Average income is stagnant
Benefits are on the decline
82% of Americans think were on the wrong track.
Only one thing has changed in our government since 2006
Democratic control of the house and senate…
that ought to play day in and day out at every commercial break untill november.
May 19, 2008 at 11:23 pm
the reason why bush has a low approval rating is mainly because of a) the economy b) high gas prices c) iraq (even though things are getting better now since the surge, many people’s minds have already made up) d) tired of bush after 8 years.
the worst thing a republican can do is to admit that iraq was a mistake. and we should pull out ASAP.
but yes, admit some mistakes in the execution of strategy.
yes, be different from bush. BUT dont throw him “under the bus.” that’s the second worst mistake a GOP candidate can make.
i have a better idea. republicans should follow mccain’s lead on issues except for immigration. become “mccain republicans”. the mccain campaign should have a hand in recruiting House candidates to run in districts and mccain should help campaign and endorse them.
mccain should present himself to independents and democrats as an acceptable alternative to a still inexperienced barack obama. promote the virtue of “checks and balance” against the excesses of a Democratic House and Senate majority.
for republican candidates, follow the leader (McCain). be strong in iraq.
May 20, 2008 at 7:59 am
Great ideas. I think ‘Seattle’s’ post about running against Congress make so much sense. In ‘fessing up to mistakes’ didn’t mean to imply that anyone should say that we should withdraw from Iraq, simply that there has has been an attitude by the present adminstation that everything went great, and it’s offputting to many of the middle-of-the-roaders that need to be won over. He has a difficult line to walk of not throwing Bush under the bus, but acknowleging people’s frustration with the President.
Love your new slogan for the party Mike.