A Time for Change: Remaking the Grand Old Party

Jordan Summers

The Grand Old Party is suffering from some significant credibility issues.  After being completely overwhelmed during the 2008 election, the Republican Party is facing a period of significant choice.  After getting fat and happy, the party is confronted with a landmark decision regarding the direction the party should take in its pursuit of positions of influence.  As an individual who voted Republican in the two elections, I find the immediate reaction of the conservative base alarming. 

Take a look at the current faces of the Republican Party.  Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Dick Cheney, and to some extent George W. Bush are among the most recognizable and vocal members of the GOP.  Even those who seemed to show significant promise have fallen. Take for example Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, whose inept response to President Obama’s address in February sent him back into relative obscurity, or Nevada Senator John Ensign, whose recent revelation of an affair doused any presidential ambitions he may have had.  The call from many within the conservative base to reemphasize the party’s alleged hypocritical and irrational “values” will only amplify the leadership’s failure to live up to those values.

Undoubtedly many in the right are immeasurably frustrated by the fact that these individuals still represent the party.  Too often Republican leaders, who have most vocally preached the morals and values, have undermined the party’s credibility by violating the same principles and values which they have demanded of others.  The acceptance of the recent failures of the Bush administration, and taking responsibility for the poor decisions of many of the party’s leaders are the first steps back to relevance.

Ultimately, the problem is that the party has lost direction. Its leaders once took a stance of great humility, and deferred to the power of the American people rather than government programs and bureaucracies.  Currently, the party seems more focused on returning to power than self-improvement. The GOP should return to being a party that emphasizes the vital role of families in our society—without placing a constraining definition of what constitutes a family.  It should be a party that works to get out of the way of the people and businesses, a party that allows the true competitive advantage of the United States to take hold.

By becoming the party that leads by example instead of preaching, and by reaching across party lines when it’s reasonable, the party can transform its public image.  In fact, there are already signs of opportunity for the Republican Party to reach out to independent voters who support many of the Democrats’ social views but express significant concern over the fiscal policies of our new administration.  It is values like fiscal conservatism and personal choice that can help bridge the gap and attain voters