GOP must be the change it wants to see

Seattle PI.com ^ | November 19, 2008 | SAM REED, WA State SOS

[NCDragon]

In the aftermath of the Obama Tsunami, Republicans at the state and national level are digging out and correctly spending some quality time analyzing what happened and how to move forward with rethinking, rebranding and repositioning for the days to come.

As one of two statewide Republican elected officials left standing (the estimable Attorney General Rob McKenna is the other), my hope for our Grand Old Party is that party elders, activists and donors resist the ultimately self-defeating instinct to move toward narrow ideological dogma, negativism and unhelpful government-is-bad rhetoric.

I hope the party that I have loved all these decades increasingly will be the idea-rich home of pragmatism and reform, the welcoming party of inclusion and the creative party of can-do problem-solvers. We are, after all, the party of Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Dan Evans. We have succeeded for 148 years by championing individual freedom and responsibility, equal rights and opportunities for all, fiscal conservatism, strong local and state governments, a vibrant free-enterprise system, conservation of our natural resources and a strong national defense. To cant away from such mainstream American thought and away from the practical, common-sense middle is precisely the wrong approach.

[unspun]

For one thing, Republicans need to draft legislation which prevents C-levels and board members from drawing huge compensation from public corporations that are being driven into the dirt.

[Doogle]

.... and how to move forward with rethinking, rebranding and repositioning for the days to come.

..that was the original problem

[G.Mason]

" ... I hope the party ... "

No need to read any further.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

the practical, common-sense middle [...] a new generation of post-partisan problem solving [...] not pursuing rigid ideological agendas [or] bashing government...

[ChetNavVet]

New contract for America, citing exacly the GOP positions and intentions - ammended and updated to highlight / reflect the opposite of what the new administration will surely do. (Pointing out thier libtardation)

We need the legislative back in 2010

[CE2949BB]

In the aftermath of the Obama Tsunami,

That was a tsunami?

Talk to me when a candidate gets 75% of the popular vote.

[TomGuy]

my hope for our Grand Old Party is that party elders, activists and donors resist the ultimately self-defeating instinct to move toward narrow ideological dogma, negativism and unhelpful government-is-bad rhetoric.

Sam apparently didn't hear the message from the 2006 GOP defeat that gave both the House and Senate to the Dems.

Sam is pushing for the same-ole policies, bigger tent-ism, ideologies that got them canned in 2006 and in 2008.

Sam apparently didn't hear the message from 2008 GOP defeat that gave the White House to the Dems.

Sam is typical of what is wrong with the GOP leadership -- they are deaf, they are not listening, they are ignoring their base.

Verily, I say they continue to wander the wilderness of minority-ism wherein they will dwell for 40 years.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

“Obama tsunami”

I stopped reading there.

The left is trying to brand this as a Reagan-Carter type of landslide. It wasn't McCain got more votes than Clinton did.

58 million voted against Obama.

Why does the left think that conservatives will take advice on how to change the GOP from leftists who would rather see us locked up in jail than winning elections?

[TomGuy]

Talk to me when a candidate gets 75% of the popular vote.

He did get 68% of the Electoral College votes. That is a massive defeat for the other party.

He got 2-to-1 plus 19 over McCain. That is a massive defeat.

Like it or not, it was a tsunami and it wiped out the GOP contender 365 to 173, final count.

Until the GOP accept that and learn from it, they are damned to repeat the history of defeat -- of 2006, of 2008.

[freekitty]

That about says it.

[WildcatClan]

To cant away from such mainstream American thought and away from the practical, common-sense middle is precisely the wrong approach.

The title itself sounds like one of Zeros vapid platitudes recycled for Republican consumption. I am not sure how one gets more "middle" than John McCain. The middle is filled with some common sense, yet more mediocrity and a telegraph that says, "We have lost our will to fight and will compromise our beliefs for political expediency." What you do is govern, legislate and lead in such a way that the middle comes running to you. Our problem isn't that we need a re-branding. No, our problem is we have forgotten what our product was and have a done a poor job selling it to American voters.

[Taichi]

Tsunami? 52% to 48%.

Just another RINO that has to excised from the party.
If you can’t be Republican and believe in Republican principle like smaller government and maybe just maybe actually being partisan why be a Republican?

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

That about says it.

Word for word, straight from the "My Friends" playbook.

Shyeah. Let's all fall for that one again. ;)

[Oldexpat]

SOS stands for Same Old Shiite.
The GOP in WA thinks it can win with Rat Lite.

[polymuser]

.

Sam's a poster boy for the problem with the GOP.

.

[TADSLOS]

But the election is over and America and Washington need to put politics and division aside and get on with the collaborative and creative act of governing.

In other words, more of the same, tired good old boy one way bi-partisanship. Whatever it takes to keep screwing Americans. Yeah, that's the change we need, Sam. Idiot.

[TomGuy]

McCain got more votes than Clinton did.

58 million voted against Obama.

That is as silly as saying McCain won more counties, but Obama only won the big cities.

They are meaningless grasps at numbers. Sixteen years separated Clinton's first win in 1992 and McCain's loss in 2008. The population has changed by several tens-of-millions during that time. And the demographics (city, suburb, rural) have changed, as well.

There is only one number that, according to The Constitution, counts, and that is the Electoral Vote. And like it or not, Obama won that big-time over McCain (365 to 173).

Gore won the majority vote in 2000, but Bush became president -- because the Electoral Vote is the one that they count.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

In other words, more of the same, tired good old boy one way bi-partisanship.

Creeping Noonanism. Rots the brain from the inside out, like an old cantaloupe. Thankfully, most cases end up being terminal. ;)

[fieldmarshaldj]

Sam Reed certified the theft of the WA Governorship by the rodents. He’s nothing but a trojan horse Democrat.