The Way Forward (Vanity: But a positive one)

We need some new thinking to get us out of the wilderness as soon as possible....like in two years. We can definitely do it. Here are a couple of my thoughts. I encourage Republicans to think out of the box on ways to repackage and reposition without giving up any core values or pandering.

A SHADOW CABINET We need to adopt the British model. Establish an official, high profile, Republican shadow cabinet that issues press releases on what they would do differently if they were governing. Whoever is in this shadow cabinet should be in campaign mode for the next four years, not sitting around in Washington, but out where things are happening. If there are layoffs, get out there and hold a press conference. If gas prices go up, the shadow cabinet should be at a refinery calling for more refineries. If there is a natural disaster, the Shadow Cabinet can be on the ground faster.

The Presidency is not nimble. He cannot be everywhere, he cannot suddenly decide to go to some rural setting at the drop of the hat. The Shadow Cabinet can be there quickly and be more responsive to real people. Let Obama speak from the basement of the White House....the Shadow Cabinet will be speaking from the scene.

This would be a good way to get Republican names out in front of the people. The national media may ignore them, but local media will report on the fact that 8 or 9 Republican shadow cabinet members showed up at the local factory.

GOOD HUMOR It would make me very happy to see Sarah Palin on such a body, or lead it. Despite having suffering the worst trashing of any politician since Lincoln, she smiles, she has good humor, and people are intrigued by her. As Governor of Alaska she probably will not have the time for national politics. But she is a model of how Republicans should respond to things. With good cheer and a positive outlook. No grumps or overly-serious as our spokesmen.

Ronald Reagan was teflon because of his good cheer and humor. He connected with people. We need to put front and center people like that. That is why the Democrats absolutely mauled Palin. They recognized that quality and are afraid of it. Put forward a shadow cabinet with 8 or 9 of those.

ENVIRONMENTALISM Democrats stole this issue and corrupted it. The original environmentalist was Theodore Roosevelt. We are responsible for our national parks, we are responsible for the first major protections. Our environmentalism grew out of a natural love for the land, respect for our agrarian past, and a rugged individualism. Out environmentalism was based on common sense and reality rather than just "good feelings". Conservatives conserve, it is part of our name.

Unfortunately, the liberals have so stolen and twisted this issue that we frown when we hear about it. We have abandoned our own conservative environmentalism completely and have allowed them to completely own it. Environmentalism and conservation, which we invented, has become a dirty word for us.

Take this issue back. Our opponent is the party of the consuming cities...we are the party of rest. The strongholds of our opponents are the actual threat to the environment, not the red counties we represent.

RETIREMENT We have to readjust. Privatizing Social Security has always had a stock market component. That obviously was not the greatest idea in a Clinton-fueled bubble economy. But what is a winner is letting people control their own money. It doesn't have to go into the stock market, it just has to be under the control of the individual worker to do with as he pleases.

The Democrats are moving toward seizing people's 401K to allegedly "protect" it. In reality, it will be for the purpose of pumping up the Social Security fund so they can steal from it for a while longer. We must make this a cornerstone. We must make every effort to prevent Barney Frank and Congress from raiding people's funds. Republicans have to make the people understand what is going on. Conservatives conserve.

YOUTH EDUCATION We have lost the youth vote. We can get it back. Reagan got it. That is where I came from. We have to revitalize Republicans on College Campuses. We have to treat the college youth as worthy. We can't talk down to them. We have to admit our mistakes and give them a message of how conservatism is important, and has been important to the country. Speak to them like adults and explain the conservative message logically. Republicans should make it a point to go to college campuses and speak to students in smaller groups and individually. Sure, there will be protests arranged by uber-liberals but those are ineffective when talking to small groups or individuals as a person.

FAIRNESS DOCTRINE If they push it through, then every Republican must be on the lookout for media bias and report it to the FCC. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. Republican organizations must check every media column and article and make sure they are all 50/50. The New York Times better make sure they are 50/50 or face a flood of FCC complaints by us. If they reinstate it we must make sure not to accept it...we must point out how bad it is by making use of it.

REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES In my state Representative Vic Snyder and Senator Mark Pryor DID NOT HAVE REPUBLICAN OPPONENTS. THEY ONLY HAD GREEN OPPONENTS. This is a travesty and must never occur. Republicans must put up candidates in every race, especially every Federal race. Even if those candidates have ZERO chance of winning.....they still get tons of free air time and debate opportunities to make people familiar with the Republican message. No Democrat must go unopposed. Whoever is head of the RNC better fix that.

DEALING WITH OBAMA The knee-jerk reaction of the Republican base will be to spend the next four years concentrating on ridiculing Obama at every moment, being snarky, and calling names. Ann Coulter, though I love her, is wrong in concentrating on giving Obama the "Bush treatment". Remember that Bush got reelected despite this rotten tactic. Republicans should not be out vomiting on cars. It's a loser.

We must pick our battles, and their will be plenty to choose from. We cannot take a shotgun approach to criticizing him. If we criticize his choice of puppies, we dilute our criticism of his social security plan. If we criticize his choice of tie or his wife's dress, we dilute our criticism of his tax plans. There will be plenty of real issues to criticise him on without making it a cacaphony.

People tire of endless criticism, they start to tune out an endless repetition of foaming at the mouth (Bush), and sometimes even start to sympathize with the person being criticised (Clinton). People also sometimes see unwarranted criticism of the President as disrespect for the Presidency. Pick your battle, and then hit that issue hard and don't dilute it with moonbat behavior the rest of the time.

If we want to criticize someone 24x7, Pelosi, Reid, Waters, Frank, and the rest of the clowns are an inviting target, especially over the next two years. I say they are wide-open to 24x7 criticism and foaming at the mouth.

I don't think we're in the wilderness. Close to it's borders, yes, but not there yet.

I agree so much with “choosing our battles”. And ridcule, while easy, is not a strategy.

I say give Obama a week or two “honeymoon”, study the issues, choose the ones most important and mount a cohesive counter attack.

We still have the numbers in Congress to do this.

No flames here, IMO. You have great points. The people do tire of constant jeering and slandering. People (the general public) can see for themselves. They can identify and know stupidity on their own. Let the public have their own heads and eyes.

Look what's happening to the media, especially all the liberal rag newspaper industry. They are sucking wind right now for memberships, sales and because of layoffs.

The MSM and the left-wing slanted TV bots will follow suit and fall off the cliff eventually, also.

Oprah will lose credibility when this Marxist is exposed full circle. Trust me.

We have a dual challenge of being critical and yet sounding positive at the same time. In theory it should be easy to point out what is wrong with an Obama plan and, on the positive side, suggest an alternative. I think everyone except the moonbattiest leftists got tired of the Bush derrangement syndrome. That does not mean the opposition should be sweet and passive. The Republican leadership (?!) made the mistake of sounding wishy-washy in opposing the Democrats while not offering very much in the way of positive alternatives. Finally, drilling for oil became a good issue - conservatives could at last be very critical of a failed Democrat energy policy while offering a positive and practical alternative. An immediate goal should be to rebuild things in time for 2010.

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