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

Battle for the GOP

Good post from Kristpher Lorelli at Race 4 2012 in which he discusses the tensions between libertarian-styled conservatives and the social conservative partners in the GOP.

States like New Jersey, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Michigan used to be reliable Republican states for federal elections, but have been trending Democrat for the last 15 years. Many Republicans have dismissed these patterns as merely based on changes to voter demographics, but maybe it is not the voters who have changed, maybe it is the GOP that has changed? In local elections, voters in these states have proven to us that they are still willing to vote for pro-growth, small government, law and order Republican candidates.

If the Republican party cannot find a way to widen their tent and allow back libertarian-leaning voters, permanent minority status may be a term used to refer to the GOP for decades to come. The first step in this process is to ratchet down the rhetoric against these Republicans and develop and implement policies that play to their disdain of the federal government. Stop referring to them as liberal Republicans and RINO’s, but only as equal members of the political family. Only when this begins, can the party begin the long climb back to majority status.

Another interesting point he raises is the fact that only 24% of respondents claimed to be Republican in the latest PEW survey.

1 comments:

BB-Idaho said...

One suspects the 'southern strategy' was built to unravel..