A Strategy for the Republican Party

If anything has become apparent on the American political scene, it is that no one likes or trusts extremists. The Republicans lost the Congressional election and will lose the White House unless they are willing to drop some of their more extreme and immoderate planks. Republicans need to prioritize goals for the future of America and adopt a strategy of inclusion that embraces all Americans. A strategy to win would look like this:

First, can we please stop fighting old battles? The repeated attempts to overturn Roe versus Wade are going nowhere. The decision has been in place for thirty years, leave it alone. The only exception is obviously late term abortion, which any reasonable person finds objectionable.

Second, go watch the Birdcage. One of the funnier plot themes is the conservative Republicans being so hypocritical when it comes to values. It is an unfortunate truth that this is how most Americans view the Republican party. The Foley and Abramoff scandals only served to solidify this. Republicans used to say during the Clinton days that "Character counts." Well, this needs to be the catch phrase for the Party. Rather than being concerned with the perks of power, the Party should be concerned with serving the electorate.

Third, dump the dinosaurs. The Republican party is viewed as the old white guy party. Nothing sends a stronger signal of being out of touch with the mainstream than a one dimensional party. Not to say that all need to go, but certainly the ones with attitudes stuck in the 1950s need to go away. I am talking to you Tom Delay. Further, when you look at emerging demographics, what you see is that immigrant minorities are the fastest growing segment of our population. These are the people to reach out to for the long term success of the Republicans.

Fourth, Republicans need to embrace the electorate across the board by doing some common sense things: Raise the minimum wage, support stem cell research, enact some common sense gun control laws, support research and development into alternative fuels.

Finally, stop pushing laws and agendas that really do not make a lot of sense and only paint the Republicans as being out of touch: Drop the gay marriage issue. You do not need to pass more laws and constitutional amendments, just let it alone.

You might say that this represents a departure from the traditional platform. No, its called getting back to common sense. The Republicans are wasting time, money and effort on minor issues that really ignore some of the bigger problems in the U.S.: A growing gap between the impoverished and the wealthy, a gap in education that appears to be based on wealth and class; national security; the obvious dangers to our environment; our dependancy on foreign oil.

My last word on this: The Republicans must reach out and embrace the electorate, rather than simply counting on its existing support base. As our society changes, so must we.