Posted on 11/13/2012 1:08:15 PM PST by Sir Napsalot
(snip) Many Republicans figured that the economic malaise and the lack of any vision of a second term from Obama would doom him with voters, but we ended up getting stuck in our own blind spot where Obama is concerned.
As I wrote after the election, we can’t allow ourselves to fall into the trap of being mainly an oppositional party — being defined by what we’re against rather than what we’re for. We have to have a clear, positive agenda aimed at communicating specific policies that will improve the lives of voters in demonstrable ways. Too often, we offer philosophical slogans about economic policies without offering nuts-and-bolts solutions to back them up. That requires going into hostile political ground — especially in urban areas, where we fare the worst in national elections — and offer specific free-market-based policies to solve real problems for people whom Democrats can take for granted now. That is the most direct route to defusing the claim that the GOP is nothing but the party of the rich.
.... We need candidates who can communicate better and make sure that campaigns remain focused on those core values and specific policy agendas that will improve the lives of all voters.
If the Republican Party is to have a renaissance, it will have to be led by Jindal and the other Republicans of his rank in the next few years. Hopefully, the message will resonate within the party.
(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...
Yes! While that’s not what we are, that’s how it came across, mostly thanks to foot-in-the-mouth, easily parodied, clueless Romney.
One of the problems is that we have a massively dumbed down electorate, so we can’t assume that saying things like “states’ rights,” 1st or 2nd Amendment protections, or individual liberty mean a darn thing to them. So we have to begin from the ground up to get out a good, powerful message and get people excited about it. And we can’t start the week before the elections. We need to start now.
Jindal gets it.
We need to sell the concept of capitalism and what that really means for freedom and the exercise therof.
“It is no secret we had a number of Republicans damage our brand this year with offensive, bizarre comments — enough of that,” Jindal said. “It’s not going to be the last time anyone says something stupid within our party, but it can’t be tolerated within our party. We’ve also had enough of this dumbed-down conservatism. We need to stop being simplistic, we need to trust the intelligence of the American people and we need to stop insulting the intelligence of the voters.”
Calling on the GOP to be “the party of ideas, details and intelligent solutions,” the Louisianan urged the party to “stop reducing everything to mindless slogans, tag lines, 30-second ads that all begin to sound the same. “
He added: “Simply being the anti-Obama party didn’t work. You can’t beat something with nothing. The reality is we have to be a party of solutions and not just bumper-sticker slogans but real detailed policy solutions.”
…
If he does consider a White House run, his analysis Monday suggests he’s aligning himself with an emerging school of thought on the right that the GOP’s consecutive White House defeats can’t merely be solved by passing an immigration reform bill and appealing more directly to nonwhites. Jindal, a Brown Graduate and Rhodes Scholar, is already a favorite of conservative intellectuals and his assessment that Republican difficulties owe as much to economics as demographics will be well-received by right-leaning thinkers. Since last week, a sort of backlash to the backlash has sprouted up, with some conservatives castigating what they see as too much knee-jerk pandering on immigration and not enough discussion of what they see as the party’s unimaginative, donor-driven fiscal policies.
Jindal, the son of Indian immigrants, said the GOP “must reject identity politics” and “treat folks as individuals, as Americans, not as members of special interest groups.”
Raising Romney’s damaging comments about voters who don’t pay income taxes, Jindal urged the GOP to make clear they want the support of every American.
“The Republican Party is going to fight for every single vote,” he said. “That means the 47 percent and the 53 percent, that means any other combination of numbers going up to 100 percent.”
On cultural issues, he suggested the party not retreat from its stances opposing abortion rights and gay marriage but rather soften its tone on such matters.
Jindal was less forthcoming on immigration reform. He said the border needed to be secured but dodged repeated questions about whether he supports giving those in the country illegally a path to permanent residence or wants them deported.
After clicking on the link and reading it, I still don’t know what he is talking about...but I know I did not like to see the word “inclusive”...that reminds me of “ big tent” talk. We don’t need to worry about being inclusive. We need to worry about defining and articulating our conservative principles and then sticking to them.
And I don’t like Jindal maligning the rich. I like rich people. They create jobs. They hire people. We need more rich people. We need to be nice to rich people and give them elbow room.
For all you non-Louisianians, understand this. Jindal is the biggest RINO of the bunch. He’s got a gift for speaking but he’s a democrat in wolf’s clothing.
And, therein lies the rub. As long as the linguini-spined, limp-wristed cowards in the GOP-E allow the Dems to define us, we will ALWAYS be the party of the rich.
The GOP (if they survive and I, for one, could care less!) needs to re-educate America on what the GOP stands for and THEY need to start shining a very bright light on the crimes committed by the criminals on the left!! Let the GOP-E show some cajones and maybe . . . . . . . . . . . MAYBE . . . . . . . . . . . . they can get people back.
But, I don't see that happening - EVER!!! It's easier to hide in dark corners and run when the Dems point fingers at them. Besides, fighting the Dems in the gutter might mean that the elitest GOP might be late for Happy Hour at the club.
He’s not maligning the rich, he’s talking about a perception.
Inclusive isn’t a bad word either. What he’s saying is that the GOP needs to become an American-centered party that offers Conservative-minded solutions for all Americans.
Ed Morrissey (and Bobby Jindal) was saying in this election, GOP was basically an opposition party, everything against Obama, nothing positive.
That WAS NOT Romney campaign! Romney was not my guy in the primaries, but his national campaign clearly laid out his would be a substance presidency, a clear choice than Obama’s same old same old.
To smear the 2012 election like that (no clear vision etc etc) do us no good.
Not just politicians, but we ourselves need to have practiced responses and not get drawn into typical traps. For example, I was asked what I thought about Colorado voting for marijuana. The expectation was that I would set about being against it. Instead, I said that is how things are supposed to work, States decide and work as small experiments on such things. The response was,”well, yes, kind of, but it can get tricky knowing how to handle it when Federal laws conflict.” There it was, my opportunity to explain that it is not tricky, that it says it right there, that States get to decide. “They” hate it, but it brings them a step in this direction I think.
“dumbed-down” conservatism AKA “severe” conservatism
The problem with republicans is the message.
No, not our message, but the democrat’s message, which is:
“Vote for us, and get free stuff. Get your free condoms and your free phone, and your free housing, and your free food, and your free transportation, and your free college education, and your free... “
So, who does not want free stuff, especially when so many of those getting free stuff also don’t pay for that stuff when they don’t have to pay taxes.
How does anybody compete against big government that promises to take from the haves to give to the have-nots? How does anyone win the votes of those who believe that, businesses are evil and the wealthy are more evil?
The only thing that perhaps will bring the country back from the inevitable collapse of the economy, is to stop the spending which keeps those people wanting more “free” stuff. Once those people get a taste of what Greece and Spain are experiencing, perhaps then, they’ll be ready to start moving in a new direction. But, I don’t hold any hopes there either, since, from what is being witnessed in Greece, they still believe that, there is still more free stuff out there to be had.
I fear that, complete collapse is inevitable, and we don’t have the people in power to effective convey the message that, we are in a hopeless death spiral.
Becoming more “democrat-like” is not the answer, and would be absolutely the worst road to take.
Sounds like Jindal is joining the socialists in bashing free market capitalism.
In 2012, there was no way the GOP could lose, Carter II was doomed and the country approaching depression.
Mitt Romney, the failed governor of Massachusetts, who lost his chance for reelection and left office with 34% approval, and who has won a single election in 20 years of campaigning, was the problem, he was an artificial construct who had never been a part of republican or conservative politics, who was only focused on a personal drive to be president for no known reason or purpose.
We still don’t know what his politics are, or why he has been obsessed with being president for 20 years.
People here have different feelings on his election disaster, but everyone here can agree that they really don’t know anything about the man himself, or how the one term governor from Massachusetts ever came to be the leader of the conservative/republican agenda in America.
Mitt Romney, Karl Rove, and the anti-Reagan wing of the GOP are behind this mystery of the last 6 years in regards to William Weld’s protege, Mitt Romney.
Then you have poor reading comprehension.
that he does - refreshing to read
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