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

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Via Meadia

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Front Porch Republic

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David Brooks

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The Soap Box

McCain on Inclusion

I have been making the case for weeks now that the GOP needs to be a big tent party. This Sunday John McCain agreed. From Politico
Appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” the Arizona Republican said the GOP needs to do a better job of communicating with voters and recruiting local candidates. Reflecting on his 2008 White House run, he said: “Maybe I didn’t do a good enough job communicating with the American people.”

Asked if being inclusive meant welcoming candidates and voters who support abortion rights or gay marriage, McCain said: “It means that we can have people in our party who do not have the same views on specific issues, as long as we share common principles.”

“We have to understand that maybe a candidate that can win in one part of our country, like the South, may not be able to get elected in Pennsylvania,” he said.

1 comments:

Beth said...

I must disagree, principles cannot be dismissed so easily, John McCain made himself very clear that he was for big government the same as Obama, THAT is why he lost and the GOP will continue to lose. McCain's problem was that he is McCain. If you have two parties saying the say thing, then it becomes a popularity contest and not a vote for a principle.

May 12, 2009 8:32 AM

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