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MY OPEN LETTER TO THE POST 11/2 GOP:
I am sure that we will gain many seats in both the House and Senate on November 2nd. What concerns is whether the GOP will bungle the success.
Here are my suggestions for the way to handle things in the post 11/2 environment:
1. Forget all notions of “compassionate conservatism.”
The whole notion of the compassionate conservative is ridiculous. There is nothing about conservatism itself which lacks compassion. The moniker of “compassionate conservative” was a tacit, if not explicit, admission that the dems’ mischaracterization of conservatives as racists hard-hearted, mean-spirited, etc. were true. So knock it off!
2. Forget about compromise and bi-partisanship.
If the GOP truly exceeds all expectations on 11/2, the mandate will be clear; the citizenry is fed up with the radical liberal agenda of Obama and his congressional enablers. When the democrats are in power, they do not want any input from republicans, unless they can drag the republicans into their own camp. IOW, compromise means us giving in to them. Bush’s biggest failure as president were those instances in which he allowed democrats to draw him in. No Child Left Behind is a good example as was his commitment to amnesty. His failure to use the veto pen was the worst. The mandate now is for smaller government, control of the deficit, control of spending, and policies that ACTUALLY encourage job creation. In this, you must make the democrats come to you. There is no room for compromise.
3. Learn to frame the debate.
The prime failure of the GOP, in my opinion, is its inability to frame the issues in a compelling way. Instead, the party insists on playing defense and allows the democrats and its handmaidens in the MSM to set the tone, make the accusations, and structure the debate in a way disadvantageous to conservatives and republicans. There is no reason to constantly allow this. Republicans need to learn the chess game. We need to be several moves ahead of the opposition, not constantly running to catch up.
4. Stop trashing your own!
The democrats never trash their own. In fact, regardless of the allegations, they circle the wagons and deny, poo-poo or turn the tables. The republicans, out of some misplaced sense of piety, do quite the opposite. This is acceptable should the allegations, if proven, amount to ethical breaches or criminal conduct; however, this is hardly the case when it comes to people like Sarah Palin and Christine O’Donnell. It’s time to support republicans who deserve support and not to trash them for petty egotistical reasons.
5. Don’t subvert new conservatives in office.
The anti-incumbent trend this election season is obvious. Institutionalized Washington is being kicked out. When the members arrive in D.C. with their mandate, DO NOT go back to business as usual, dragging them along. That ship has sailed. The country needs a new approach.
As Obama would say, "It's time to buck up" . And for those of the non-distaff persuasion, as Sharron Angle would say, "Man up!" |
