Posted on 11/11/2008 7:49:25 AM PST by Publius804
Stay Faithful to Core Values
By RICHARD LAND
To regain a majority, Republicans must embrace core values with such conviction that Americans will welcome where Republicans will lead them in the future.
The first core value must be a pro-life agenda. Republicans must advocate for all life from conception to natural death. This is the decent thing to do. And there were 70 million white Evangelical voters on Election Day, 74% of whom voted for John McCain. The vast majority voted pro-life, not Republican. If the GOP turns away from a pro-life agenda, they will turn away from the GOP.
Evangelicals, a quarter of the electorate, cannot determine elections by themselves. Without them, however, Republicans face electoral oblivion.
A second core value must be a pro-family agenda. This agenda must include tax policies that revalue child-rearing (doubling the dependent child deduction, for example) and eliminating the marriage tax penalty. It should also promote parental school choice -- empowering all parents to make the choices concerning their children's education that currently only affluent parents are empowered to make.
Pro-life and pro-family agendas can appeal to minority voters in an increasingly diverse society. California, Arizona and Florida approved amendments banning same-sex marriage. They did so at least partially on the basis of African-American and Hispanic voters who "surged" for Barack Obama and then voted against same-sex marriage. In California (70%) and Florida (71%) black voters supported both traditional marriage and Sen. Obama overwhelmingly.
The third core value must be a diversity agenda that aggressively recruits ethnic minorities into significant involvement in the GOP. The 2008 Republican National Convention did not reflect America's ethnic diversity. Demographics dictate that this must change, and decency demands that it should. This must include a more proactive approach on immigration reform.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
But but but David Frum said we should ditch all that social conservatism stuff (even though it was about the only conservative to have a winning day on black Tuesday)!
The pro-life, “pro-family” agenda will prove to be more and more of a failure as the millenials start to grow up
If we want conservatives to be a permanent minority, this is the easiest way to do it
The column is short and to the point. And I agree with it. The GOP needs to put together a set of principles that are ironclad and to which all members of the party can give support. It is not necessary that each principle is held equally dearly by every member. It is only necessary that every member can give support to the ones they do not hold so dear and expect support for those that they do hold dear. The different factions within the party must be able to accomodate one another.
But just as important is this: THE PARTY, ONCE IT HAS SETTLED ON A SET OF CORE PRINCIPLES, MUST NOT PROCEED TO COMPROMISE THESE FOR THE SAKE OF LURING VOTERS. The party must, instead, concentrate on making its case for these and convince people to come to support them. We have seen, since Reagan, what happens as principles are compromised or ignored for the sake of expediency. It doesn’t work and it never will.
And the only people who should determine these principles are Republicans. NOT the media or democrats or independents or academics. Just Republicans.
Hi Titus, I don’t think that ALL of the social conservative stuff needs to go, but conservatives have to be willing to compromise on some issues. I do respect the fact that people will hold onto to their core values at any cost, but there are simply not enough social conservatives to win the electoral college. They are part of a shrinking demographic, unfortunately.
Do social conservatives not believe in smaller government and more individual liberty?
1. Platform planks of pro-life, pro-vouchers and pro-equal-opportunity.
2. Go to the electorate, don’t just show up and expect the elctorate to come to you...personalize and personify.
Corrolary to #2: Hie thee to the ghetto! Campaign heavily ^in^ urban areas and show minorities sincerity, empathize and feed them the platform from #1
Oh, and, corrolary to #1:
That’s all, it! Campaign on very few points and nothing else. A bigger platform distracts the electorate. Keep it simple.
Even the millenials will eventually have families that they don’t want to be used as sex rags for every leftist out there.
The Democrats have pulled off one the most audacious con jobs in the history of electoral politics. And my party the GOP, the stupid party, has allowed them to get away with it.
Everything always comes back to economic issues first. Voters come back to values issues if the economy is running well. If the perception is that economy is broken the electorate returns to pocketbook issues as the main consideration.
The Democrats have relentlessly and successfully sold the idea that middle class incomes have stagnated because of free trade and corporate greed. The GOP has become defensive on these issues and not defended the free enterprise system.
The truth of the situation is that Democrats and Liberals have been conducting a 40 year war on the free enterprise system and blue collar incomes. They have conducted this assault under the banner of environmental controls, an out of control tort bar, an anti-energy production and anti-transportation infrastructure program and a completely impenetrable anti-investment tax code. The Democrats have dome more to drive jobs offshore than all the free trade pacts combined.
The GOP needs to sharpen its message and make this linkage between middle class income stagnation and “latte Liberalism” sharper. That is why I support Newt Gingrich for RNC Chairman. He is the only figure in the party who seems to the intellectual wattage to make this connection.
We lost this election, first and foremost, because of the economy. Rightly or wrongly, we were blamed for the poor economic times. And people vote, first and foremost, with their pocketbooks. In normal or good economic times, when people aren't worried about their jobs disappearing, social conservatism will triumph over its opposite, except in deep Blue areas. The GOP removes social conservatism from the platform only at its extreme peril.
Then the millenials can be better parents then the baby boomers were
I am sorry, I don’t want Washington DC telling me how to run my business, and how to spend my money like the “messiah” is about to over the next 4 years
I also don’t want Washington DC telling me who I can or cannot marry, or what I can or can’t do in my bedroom
Let me teach my kids family values, I don’t need the federal gov’t to do it for me
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