Margaret Thatcher is supposed to have said, “First you win the argument, then you win the election.”
Besides scheming and plotting, debating tactics and stretegems, maybe the GOP needs to figure out what vision it has, OTHER than the same one in use for the last, oh, 30 odd years.
Aside from policy wonks and political junkies, the GOP will be lost in the wilderness until it can convince regular Americans that it has a plan to :
1. Reduce the deficits- seriously, reduce the deficits. The GOP lost its credibility on this issue, and until they can honestly say, “We will cut this program or raise that tax”, they will be seen as just blowing smoke on “fiscal responsibility”.
2. Win or get out of the wars- the big debate within the military is whether we should pursue a counter-insurgent strategy of nation-building (roads, infrastructure, hearts and minds stuff), or a counter-terroism strategy of just hitting and containing Al-Quaida- which side is the GOP on?
3. Restore the economy- most ordinary people have no clue whether bailing out the banks is a necessary evil, or just a stupid evil. But most ordinary people would ask, how does lowering the marginal tax rate mark any change in policy from what we have had over the past decade?
In essence, the GOP and conservatives need to explain clearly why the past 8 years didn’t bring peace and prosperity; when I hear people explain that well, Bush wan’t a real conservative, they sound like leftists explaining that well, Stalin wasn’t a REAL Communist, that if he had been, by cracky, Russia would have been a paradise.
First, win the argument- then you will win the election.
