A New Year’s Resolution for the GOP

The Republican Party seems to me to have the same problems as the car industry. Both have products that people don’t want. Both have top executives who have turned off the public with their behaviors and now have credibility problems. Both need to figure out who they want to be, what products they have that the country wants and how to repackage their image and save their tarnished brand names.

The equivalent to the “bailout” for the GOP will be the next six months when the country is preoccupied with Obama and the rest of the Democrats who will now be in charge. Instead of spending all their energy attacking the new leaders, the Republicans need to get their act together and figure out who we are. We know who we are not. The GOP has renounced the policies of Bush, Cheney and Rove or rather these three have turned their backs on the tenets of the GOP. Neither is McCain our leader for in spite of being the supposed party banner bearer last year, he never seemed to have connected with most Republicans.

Republicans historically has been the party of big business so for once they need to start treating this party as a business. Every major company must be able to answer three questions: What are our most profitable products? How do they differentiate us from our competition? How do they portray the image we want to project?

What are our products? The Democrats and Main Stream Media (MSM) have tried to define us by our most controversial “products”; the social issues which divides everyone: abortion, religion, gay marriages. Additionally, for the last eight years, President Bush has made it nearly impossible to claim our most fundamental stance but luckily he will be gone. So now is the time to take back the primary tenet of the Republican Party: small government.

The next few years will be tailor made for a comeback of the Republican’s doctrine of small government and individual’s rights. This belief is why most people become Republican’s in the first place. They are tired of high taxes, government intrusions, and too much of their money going to people who don’t deserve it. This is exactly what Obama, Nancy and Harry will be doing as they take over later this month. Or rather more government spending is the plan of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. I’m not so sure about Obama. He is a very canny politician who may be more to the center than the far left will like. Whether or not Nancy and Harry can force him to the left remains to be seen. (And I must admit this potential power struggle will be fun to watch from the side lines!)

Nonetheless, the GOP needs to focus itself on the issue of small government, lower taxes and giving power to the people. For the few left in Congress, instead of sniping at Nancy and Henry they need to start meeting with Newt Gingrich, the architect of the last Republican revival. By the time of the mid term elections in 2010 they should have their own platform to present to the public. One that will show a consolidated party offering a product that people will want as an antidote to the past two years of Democratic spending. If done correctly, the GOP image of small government and people’s rights will be reborn and ready to grow stronger during the last two years of Obama’s reign.

So the New Year’s Resolution for the Republican Party should be to spend the time needed to regroup. Let Limbaugh, Hannity and the like go after the new Democratic leaders. And while people are preoccupied by these loud voices the GOP politicians can be quietly mapping out a new manifesto for the party. A party that will define itself and not let the Democrats or MSM define us. This means having a 24/7 rapid response team who is always ready to respond to any derogatory attack on the party, party leaders and party ideas. This concept was perfected by those running for President last year but it needs to be in place all the time, and not just during elections.

The new manifesto should also describe a party that ignores what divides Republicans from other Republicans and yet clearly shows what differentiates us from the Democrats. Since social issues can be toxic, although this will not make anyone happy, a policy of “agreeing to disagree” should be followed for now while we concentrate on the bigger issues, such as government spending and the economy. As Obama tries to fix the economy by throwing more money at it, accountability will become a key word next year. Republicans need to claim it for their own; to be the party of small government and accountability. This will then allow Republicans to spend money where needed to help the public but at the same time show that we want to do it prudently by demanding accountability of how that money is spent.

I could go on but that is enough for now. So while the world is watching Obama, the Republicans should be quietly determining who they are, what they stand for and how to win back the heart’s of the people. Personally, I can’t think of any other New Year’s Resolution that would be as challenging, as important or as fun than to rebuild the GOP. For all our sakes, I just hope that this is one New Year’s Resolution that is kept.