The major problem facing the Republican Party is integrity. They talk a good talk, but don't follow through in office. We didn't get to $16 trillion by just the Democrats holding the checkbook. I was going to mail a pen to President Bush (GW), but I kept hoping he would find his veto pen. Took way too long for that.
The other difficulty is their message of limited government and spending cuts doesn't sell. But that is politics. You don't get elected threatening to take away all of the goodies that were given out to get elected.
Some say the problem is that Republicans are too right wing. Some say they are not right-wing enough. And still others say the secret sauce is to move to the center. I think the Republican party has the center in their sights and have steadily been moving that direction. From George Bush's "compassionate conservatism" (a.k.a. "liberalism"), to John McCain's not knowing on which side of the "aisle" he belongs, to Mitt Romney's flip flopping so much he's worn himself out evenly on both sides, the Republican party has been moving closer to the center with hopes of capturing more voters. Keep in mind, for the Republican party to move to the center means they have to move to the LEFT.
Republicans don't need a new message; they need to follow through on the one they've touted for years.
© Emittravel 2012
Interestingly, I have a younger cousin ( in her 20's) who felt that McCain and Romney were being pushed too far to the right and that if they were moderate they might have won. In the meanwhile, I recall that many felt that McCain was too moderate. I wish I could figure out how to get the message to the younger group. A lot of them seem to believe different things than we do.
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