I did not leave my party, my party has left me

Lately I have been very angry about the way in which the Republicans are going about their business in Washington D.C. They have become the party of no. No ideas, no leadership, no ability to counter liberal ideals, no political courage, no political identity, the list could go on and on.

I have heard many times in the last several months about the reasons that the Republicans lost the election; Obama was a positive and vibrant figure that could not be beat, the party lost it's way fiscally, the party lost it's way socially, the party was not conservative enough etc... The one that seems to be taking hold is that the party was not conservative enough on issues of social consequence and that it needs to shift further right in order to win in upcoming elections. To this argument I respond by saying, ARE YOU CRAZY!!! There are two reasons I believe that this is absurd.

First, new voters came into the fold in 08 in alarming numbers. Obama introduced many new people into the electorate and they came out for him in large numbers because he spoke to the middle well enough to get them to vote for him on social concerns (I am discarding Foreign Policy here because polls show that of the voters that thought Foreign Policy was most important they split for McCain). These new voters are not liberal or conservative, I believe that they are centrists with a left lean on social issues. I have discussed this past election with many new voters and I was alarmed by the eclectic nature of their views. Many value the environment, but also National Security. Many believed that social issues were more important in this election cycle, but indicated that had they voted in 04 they would have voted more on Security and Foreign Policy issues. Many indicated that they felt like Obama talked more intelligently about their core concerns this time around, but that they felt like he was not well versed enough should Foreign Issues become a flashpoint in the near future. While this is not scientific, I use it to argue the larger point that the Republican Party did not lose because they were not right enough. It is abundantly clear to me that the Republicans lost because they forgot how to talk to the middle about social/economic issues. A move to the right will not work. A strategy to talk to the middle will work. I do not advocate sacrificing conservative ideals to do this. I advocate remembering that Ronald Reagan did this with unbelievable success without sacrifice of conservative ideals. The party needs to find to find that resonating message to the middle and begin talking to new voters, and they need to do it now.

Second, the Obama Presidency will clearly be one of governing from the left. After all the rhetoric about the middle, he has given many indicators in the first month that the middle is not somewhere he will dwell. Obama has stepped up the partisanship and moved the party to the left. I believe that this will leave a void in the middle and allow for the Republicans to pick up not only middle voters, but also many new voters who have no real political affiliation with either side.

The message needs to quickly change. The Republicans need to stop whining about not having a seat at the table and just sit down. They need to start talking about alternatives to the Obama plan and pushing them in the media whenever they can. Of course the alternatives will not pass, but they must begin positioning themselves for 2010 and beyond. The continuous whining and lack of leadership will only guarantee eight years of far left governance, something I do not want to see and something the country can't afford.

The party also needs to drop the flimsy, transparent political ploys. The united stand against the stimulus bill was refreshing, but it was too late. Where were these same Republicans during the first bail out on the Bush watch? They were nowhere. In rallying against the Obama stimulus, without providing a cogent alternative, they looked like they were playing a political game. Similar to being for something before being against it, ring any bells?

In short I am a conservative, and I am proud of it, but we can't win again until we talk to voters with a broad spectrum of views. I am advocating talking to the middle with plans that make sense and providing a conversation about alternatives, instead of a shouting match about not having a seat at the adult table.