What the Moderate Republican Stands For

Republicans came to power as the party of big ideas, and without returning to that model they could be looking at a long winter. Additionally, those big ideas need to focus on Middle America. Three issues that could work are conservation, reform and localism.

Conservation- a return to the Teddy Roosevelt model of conservation. One doesn’t necessarily have to buy into global warming to appreciate the need to protect the natural resources we have.

Reform- the federal government is bigger than ever, and won’t be getting any smaller over the next four years. Republicans need to fashion themselves as national reformers. Much of Middle America wants the government as safety net, but bloated bureaucracies breed corruption that needs to be dealt with.

Localism- this is the lynchpin that brings it all together. If we bought our food locally, shopped locally, governed locally, many of the issue we now have to deal with would go away, or at the least become manageable.

Below is a collection of writers who speak about the things that matter. Some are Right, some Left and some Center, but all intelligent and rational voices.

The American Conservative » Rod Dreher

Via Meadia

Front Porch Republic

David Brooks

The Soap Box

Perspective Needed

Everybody agrees the GOP must become more web savvy and that a better connection has to be made to conservatives online. Few would also argue with the notion that efforts must be made to catch up to the Democrats in online fundraising and organization. But then we have the problem with the Republican party itself and its refusal to get serious about the kinds of reforms that would make a conservative like me proud to belong once again.- Rick Moran at The Next Right

If you spend any time reading some of the popular right wing blogs these days it is easy to get a sense of doom and gloom about the near future of the Republican Party. But it really isn’t that bad. We are only 4 years removed from owning the White House, the Senate and Congress. Granted it hurts now because we have lost those, but not by a historic amount. The vote was 52%-46%. And let’s not forget the nation still considers itself center-right.

When we look beyond the presidential to local election results we see that many of the newly elected congressional members while democrat, would probably be better described as blue dogs, who were elected in essentially conservative districts. Did the nation really go through a sea change, or was it just a.) Fed up with Bush and b.) Scared to death of the financial collapse?
Republicans can actually take some comfort in the way Obama ran for office and is beginning to (almost) govern. He ran as someone who would cut taxes and limit wasteful spending. Now, as he fleshes out his staff, he is filling it with economic moderates who seem to support essentially pro-growth measures. The Democrats may have won, but they appear to have stolen the playbook. Conservative principles have been so successful that have been co-opted.

The Republicans certainly need some time to regroup and get back on their feet electorally, but I would be surprised if this was anything more than the normal ebb and flow between left and right in a basically center nation.

Post sponsored by Quality-Resumes. 

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