Posted on 11/07/2008 12:26:51 AM PST by nickcarraway
The Republican Party is in tatters. Over the next few years the party will have to rebuild itself and even select new faces in the coming decade. Among the top candidates for the job is the Indian-born governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal. “Jindal is going to be one of the big gainers from a full-scale Republican defeat,” said a key Indian-American political fund-raiser.
The Republicans are roughly at the same stage in their history that the Democrats were at after the Ronald Reagan wave. What was notable about John McCain’s defeat was how many traditionally red states turned blue. Virginia, for example, has not voted Republican for 44 years.
The Grand Old Party will need to carry out three separate reforms.
First will be to find working ideology. McCain’s defeat indicates that the Reagan mix of Christian votes and tax cuts can no longer win independent and moderate votes. Without these, the party cannot win the presidency.
Jindal is part of a younger generation of Republicans who retain the conservative values but combine it with high levels of administrative efficiency and a squeaky-clean image. It helps that Jindal made his mark in the field of healthcare, one of the issues that led many working class Americans to defect to the Democrats. Jindal is scheduled to visit Iowa next month, a pilgrimage that all presidential hopefuls make.
A bit distressing to see that map after Tuesday. It used to be a LOT more red. Comparing it with 2004, it’s similar to an MRI result that shows advancing brain death as the oxygenated, healthy red cells die over time, leaving only lifeless blue ones. Those that are purple appear to be those cells in a stage of dying off.
Only repeated, heavy doses of conservatism will revive this critically ill patient.
Understood, I’ve thought and spoken the same words.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.