Republican Party reeling…but there’s still hope
By JR Hoeft | Sunday, November 23rd, 2008 | PoliticsEnough is enough.
Brian Kirwin and I were invited out the Republican Party of Virginia Beach breakfast Saturday to reprise our election analysis panel from the other week at the Nimmo Republican Women’s Club. What was supposed to be a thoughtful and frank discussion about where the party tripped up and what hopeful messages and ideas the conservative movement should have for the future, turned into an hour of speechifying and pathetic navel gazing.
Herein lies the problem with the GOP.
Enough is enough.
I love Ronald Reagan. Number 40 was the ultimate optimist regarding lower taxes, limited government, and the “city on the hill.”
Without a shadow of a doubt, we Republicans can look to Reagan as our political hero who showed the clear path as to how to win elections.
But we have no Reagan today. He’s dead.
I’m sorry, but he’s gone. Six feet under and not coming back.
It is time for Republicans to get out of the graveyard and into the business of life.
The dour, sour and despondent looks of people at yesterday’s event made me want to lose my breakfast.
There is absolutely no reason why the GOP with its positive messages can’t still win.
While our hero may be in the afterlife, it doesn’t mean that the conservative movement has to go there too.
The GOP has to snap out of it.
Enough is enough.
You know, organizational management is not that complex. All you really need is a message and a reason to believe.
Take any organization that is successful and you will find a successful message. Where is the GOP successful message?
During this entire campaign, where was the advocate for keeping government off your back? Where was the advocate for saying government is not the solution, but the problem? Where was the advocate saying that working until May to pay the government is an issue, not a solution?
It just didn’t exist.
Look, when Republicans advocate freedom, we win.
Charter schools, vouchers, lower taxes, strong defense, market solutions, charitable giving, etc. appeals to most people. Those same people understand that having “mommy” in the White House, House of Representatives, or the Senate telling us how to go about our business is the exact wrong course of action.
I think Brian said it best yesterday when he said McCain wanted to bail out the mortgage and banking industry while folks thought Obama was going to cut taxes for the middle class. And who was the Democrat?
This is not rocket science people.
So many economists have shown that when government gets involved in regulating and managing the free market, this centrally controlled environment falls flat on its face.
Therefore, it’s pretty simple. Sometimes it may seem counter to popular sentiment, but when Republicans advocate free-market solutions in an optimistic, hopeful, and productive way, they will win.
Obama gave people the rhetoric and style they were so longing for: hope and change.
Why Republicans dismissed that and allowed it to happen is a shame.
But what Republicans can do from here forward is show that we are a party of self-sufficiency and personal responsibility; a party of governing to promote free enterprise and the safe and secure exercise thereof; a party of education and personal growth; a party dedicated to preserving our Constitution and equality and civil rights for all.
It’s a pretty simple equation…but it requires hope, thought, action, intellectual honesty and, most importantly, not looking at one’s feet.
Let’s rock. Let’s start working for America.
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About the author
Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.
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33 Responses to "Republican Party reeling…but there’s still hope"
Not quite a reprise. You guys missed a critical component
Indeed.
How do you really feel?
I have seen some of this in Ohio, but for some reason it has turned people to be motivated to be involved. Not a ton of whining… A little.
Just two schools of thought. One is to return to ultra-conservative “Values” (read let the religious right take control again) and the other is to be more open to ideas and focus on Fiscal issues, states’ rights, smaller government, not so much on social issues (Gee, guess which side I am on).
It will be interesting to see what pans out. But yes, enough is enough. Hear, hear!
Jim – good luck, you’ve got some work to do, but if you can clean out all the neo-con non-conservatives and tampen down the social conservatives, you just might have a chance to take the GOP back to Reagan’s vision. The problem is that these very people will stand in your way, because they believe in a different vision for the GOP.
Regardless, I do wish you luck, a Republican party in the mold of Reagan’s vision would be a good thing for America.
I would like to see the Republican party return to Limited Govt ideals for both our fiscal and social lives. I would love to wave a banner for the GOP that said “Freedom and Love”
One thing I noticed..do you ever hear Democrats bash other Democrats the way Republicans bash other Republicans?
Something to think about.
Brian is right here. So far most of the comments posted under this article have been bashing at least 26% of the electorate.
Intellectual naval gazing indeed!
An even greater issue is the matter of where to begin. The influence of those of would suppose a top down approach need to be banished from leadership if the Party is truly going to be of the people and for the people. Local politcis has for too long been neglected by the GOP on balance and many gains, both in potential new candidates as well as grassroots mobilization have been made at the local level by the other side. Opponents to vouchers, school choice, charter schools, curriculumn and such are pressign at the local level while the GOP stands idle, You cannot address this concerns from the pulpit of national politics and expect there to be a perception of competancy while local level officials botch the whole ideal. You cannot have local GOP officials be overly pro-growth and pro-business at the expense of citizens quality of life concerns like transportation for example and then expect those same citizens to view GOP candidates with an open mind. When you have historic GOP localities throwing out GOP officials for independents and Democrats but still vote Republican on the national level it speaks volumes about the disconnected message of what the GOP truly stands for and how it should be implemented. IMHO the GOP has neglected the influence of the local level issues and should be making a stronger case for things like charter schools for example thtough town hall meetings and lead from the front on addressing the needs of people, all people not just Republicans, regarding education and treat it like a civil rights issue. There was a meeting in Richmond, where the school board officials did not even bother to come and listen to the concerns of citizens….these are the voids the GOP should be filling even in urban areas where they have not been as successful. Point. Change the dynamic and the strategy moving forward to provide the opportunity for more citizens to begin to understand that this notion that its the Democrats who have their interests at heart is simply an urban myth. You can’t change anything if you are unwilling to engage citizens in the issues that most impact them.
“You cannot have local GOP officials be overly pro-growth and pro-business”
I thought the Republican Party was supposed to be pro-growth and pro-business.
It is important for us to remember, as well, that Ronald Reagan was one of the great statesman in the line of conservatism. There is nothing new under the sun. Conservatism has been around since the days when strict constuctionists fought to preserve our constitution, in our nations early days. Ronald Reagan gave people a reason to believe in strict constructionism. We have some leaders out there who are capable of making our nation believe in conservatism again. Let’s get behind them.
If the GOP fails to focus on why is has lost support it is doomed to repeat its mistakes.
The call for “enough is enough” is so premature and self serving.
You can’t fix what you don’t understand is broken.
But hey … knock yourselves out. The GOP will continue to loose elections.
Using denigrating terms like “neo con” and “right wing” to demean conservatives that used to support the GOP is not a strategy for moving forward.
One thing the GOP needs to do to restore trust in their brand is to actaully govern according to classic GOP core principles.
It’s not about a sales job and marketing campaign – it is about a party that actually delivers the goods.
In Virginia the GOP leadership delivers us higher taxes, bloated government, broken promises, and train wrecks like HB 3202 and unconstitutional all-appointed regional taxing authorities.
Meanwhile, on the local level – as pointed out by others – WHERE is thre local GOP to stand up to abuse of eminent domain, citizen’s privacy, and the steady drum beat to Socialism by way of corporate wellfare and now bold faced give-aways of hundreds of BILLIONS of taxpayer dollars.
John McCain had a chance to oppose the $750B to 850B Wall Street bail out. Instead, he and the GOP brand joined the same train as Barack Obama.
The GOP leadership dropped the ball with that brain dead decision.
If the GOP doesn’t examine how that happened and fix it, then all this chatter of “enough is enough” is far too premature.
The GOP banged the drum against Barack Obama “spreading the waelth around” – but the GOP engages in the same behavior!
My friends – the GOP needs to VOTE in accordance with the same conservative principles that have been advocated here.
Voting matters to conservative voters.
Apparently empty and vague promises of HOPE and CHANGE matter to non-Conservative voters.
How is this for a radical concept? Actually LOWER people’s taxes and reduce the size of government.
Now THAT is a starting point for rebuilding trust in the GOP brand.
But to accomplish that the GOP has to rid itself of guys like Will Sessoms and Ken Stolle. Something it has not shown any real effort to do.
It was REPUBLICANS that inflicted the HRTA on the good people of Tidewater.
It was CITIZENS that took the General Assembly to court – with the help of an old school REPUBLICAN layer (Pat McSweeney) and conservative GOPer Paul Yost’s money.
What plan has the GOP put on the table to fix this mess?
… I am waiting …. go ahead, see if you can find one … I’ll wait.
Oh, time’s up – the GOP will lose again because of their failures to solve transportation without raising taxes, increasing debt, and forcing unaccountable regional government and endless tolls everywhere.
But hey, you don’t want to discuss all that – you want to launch a new marketing campaign – rally the troops – and just move on, right?
Yes, Reid. And what about your plan to fund transportation through land values.
That would’ve worked out just hunky-dory!
But hey, you don’t want to discuss all that – you just want to carp about everything other people do.
Brian, I am more than willing to discuss solutions. Always have been. It is sad to observe that the GOP leadership appears unwilling to do the same.
Instead we still do not have a Constitutional Amendment to protect the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF), nor and plan to reduce our region’s traffic congestion for commuters.
As I recall, you support such an agenda.
Here we are, 2002 was a long time ago and even with GOP majorities we still do not have a viable solution, nor has the GOP rallied behind one since the sound defeat of the YES Camapign back in Nov. 2002 – that would be 6 years ago … and counting. As I recall, it takes 5 years to complete the process to amend the state Constitution. Had the GOP delivered, the TTF could be already protected and that stumbling block would have been removed.
But hey … let’s just move on and ignore the failures of GOP leadership.
Rally the troops by involking Reaganesque slogans instead of actually fixing what has been broken within the GOP leadership.
Brian,
Finish the thought my friend, “at the expense of citizens quality life concerns”. I did not say nor imply that the GOP should not be pro-growth or pro-business, I said that they should not be them at the expense of the quality of life nor should they be those with the intent on passign the bill to Richmond or the Federal Government. The GOP needs to be the Party for solutions and that starts at the local level. If you live in a County where citizens pay 80% of the burden and business pays 20%, then you can surely expect higher property tax in the future for citizens. Brian, I thought Republicans were about less taxes, smaller government but you can’t continue to “play politics” and expect people not to catch on eventually; here people are railing over higher assessments (16% higher) and then a decrease in property tax rate and yet the tax payment is still more than the year before on average. How now can the locality cut taxes again when its facing shortfalls in both the General Funbd and the School Board. Again, the GOP needs to be the Party of solutions, no matter how daring or new. For example, on top of charter schools why not get behind the concept of home schooling which lesson the burden on the County in terms of class sizes and enrollment, lessons the number of students requiring busing, and can return classroom sizes to easier managable levels for teachers whose schools are already at 110% occupancy. Only through new debated ideas can newly formed solutions come about. Ask yourself, how much on average each County/City pays per student per year out of of the budget and think of the impact if we at least stop allowing the debate be shaped by those opposing charter schools and home schooling.
Reid, you may find it easier to move forward without your head chronically looking backwards.
You supported your plan to draw about 10 TIFs around roads and use all the great increases in land values to pay for roads. If the General Assembly enacted your solution, just imagine what the books would look like on that?
I’m glad you do support Glenn Oder’s idea about using port revenue. I was hoping you’d talk about that instead of turning up the volume on “Glory Days” and recounting how you abandoned the Republican Party and helped the Democrats win.
My guess is reid is in the camp with the others of the left that have blame the GOP for two consecutive budget shortfalls in Richmond as a failure of the GOP and not the Governor nor his Party. The Democrats have had two consecutive popular executives and after seven years now we are left with what…a 3 billion shortfall. Seems to me people like reid are quick to throw blame around rather easily without looking at the underlying truths that it was Democrats in the beginning that got behind the abuser fee solution that in the end was rejected because of the pressure put on by NOVA liberals like the Raising Kaine community. I seem to recall the transportation debate arising as far back as Gov. Bailies adminstration friends and no one has wanted to face the hard truths on the issue, no one. Instead, they simply watched and oversaw a massive growth paradigm take place in NOVA without any plan in place to respond to what that growth would demand or result in. Thats brillant planning!! But then coming from people who can’t even manage projections for budgets accurately why should we be surprised.
Perhaps what is being missed here is that when Republicans run as libertarians like Reagan, they win, and they succeed in office if they remain true to those values, but when they run as democrats, as McCain did, or run as libertarians but govern as democrats, as Bush has, they fail.
Explain Gilmore. He was too moderate?
This is fun. Anyone bring popcorn?
Alter of Freedom, you suppose incorrectly. The GOP controlled General Assembly permitted massive growth in state spending. Yes, we have had 2 Democratic governors that helped make this massive increase in state spending “law’, but the responsibility is certainly shared by the GOP.
I am as far from being in a “camp” with “others on the left” as one can get.
Gilmore, for whom I voted, as he was more libertarian than the Libertarian on the ballot, was thrown under the bus by the RINO’s who infest the General Assembly, and the Senate in particular, in their rush to suck up to Warner while he was governor.
Instead of standing up for him and the Car Tax phaseout, they abandoned and criticized his tax cuts, siding with Warner to raise taxes.
That made him damaged goods in the Senate run, and Chichester, Lanteinge and their ilk stabbed him in the back again during the election.
So, no, Gilmore was not too moderate, but he was betrayed by those who are.
So the voters only ditched Gilmore because the Republicans told them too?
That fails logic on so many levels.
C’mon Reid, quit looking back. That’s history no one cares about. You need to look forward to all those nice new taxes the GOBs are going to help stick you with because they forgot history.
You are needed in the new RPV, where carping about being left out of the GOBs blogvolution is a more pressing problem than busted budgets.
Darrell,
No lie. Okay … where do I get the GOP kool-aid to drink? Let’s all sing “Kum-buy-ya” and help give “bailouts for everyone!” Wa-Hoo! Why, my economy feels stimulated already! I love this GOP group hug! Let’s break out the minority party “underdog” Talking Points and let the games begin!
“Well … there he goes again . . .” (Thanks Ronnie – your ghost is all we need to lead us to the promised land . . .)
When you drink Kool-aid and sing Kumbuy-ya you get Obama in the White House with a Clintonian cabinet so lets wait and see how that works out before we follow suit. The only way we can succeed is through challenging eash other to formualte new solutions. 2009 will be a trying test for the State GOP, not McCain’s or even Gilmore failed campaigns, in that if McDonnell fails in his bid for Governor the root of the problem will certainly run deeper than anyone here knows today.
Fear not Reid, the housing industry is lining up for its bid for a bailout, but at least they will be smart enough to come to Washington with a plan.
The VBTA “Transportation Plan’ can’t be taken seriously. As mentioned, it takes local Property Tax money to cover state Transportation expenses.
It’s a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul.
I think that one thing that we can do for the future is to be FOR something again. I mean, sure we oppose the liberals when they are wrong, but we must convince the American people that our priciples are superior.
Strict Constructionism
Moral Values
Strong Defense
etc…
Reid’s transportation plan is to live closer to your job.
Brian,
What a great example Reid is there: he lives out at the Beach while working in Portsmouth.
Henry, try to keep up (please?). (1) I live 12 miles from my job. I work in Town Center and i no longer live in Sandbridge. (2) The VBTA and TLP Transportation funding recommendations do not use local money for state projects. But they do make use of a principle based on a combination of:
A. User pays for what they use.
B. Those that benefit most from tax funds used for new infrastructure are targeted to pay for the new infrastructure.
As to the comment about being “for something” – and not just “agaist” the Democratic party. Great point. I agree,
I’d simply add that being “for something” without having our elected representatives actually VOTE for those same things is a path to more lost elections.
Reid,
If you don’t suck off that property money for Transportation at the state level, it would go to local government.
Henry, what baloney that last statement you made is. Who do you think believes that fairy tale?
Reid,
Once again, facts get in the way of your extremist agenda.
Anyone knows Property Tax revenue in Virginia goes to local governments. If you siphon off future revenue from land values, that’s money that would have gone to local government.
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