Could you elaborate, Governor? Who are these outsiders who want into the party, but are being scorned instead of welcomed?
That's the problem with this sort of very general criticism. They never give us the specifics. I'm afraid this is just a veiled way of saying we must find different ways to pander to different groups, the stupid policy that was pursued from 2004 through 2008. The Governor seems to be suggesting even more of the same.
BlueNgold to Minn Gov:
You, Sir, are sadly lost in the world of elective politics and you no longer understand the people of this great nation. What the GOP needs most is to do a better job of messaging. The trick is not to try to be more ‘popular’ with the ‘cool kids’. The winning strategy is to be consistent, clear, and conservative. People need to hear from US what we think and what we would like to do. We wont accomplish anything by trying to compromise with as many people as possible - but we can accomplish great things if we take on the task of getting out in front of the people and convincing them to join us based on message and clear goals. And then we need to follow through! Our elected leaders in D.C. have largely lost their way, and become convinced that what people talk about at D.C. dinner parties is what people discuss on Main Street. The group-think liberal elite have tainted conservatism horribly.
Another suggestion the Gov: This should be mandatory reading for any GOP elected official at any level, and it is clear you haven’t read it in a while (if ever).
Ronald Reagan, March 1, 1975, CPAC.
“Let Them Go Their Way”
http://reagan2020.us/speeches/Let_Them_Go_Their_Way.asp
???
I don't understand... obviously the GOP should welcome EVERYBODY who believes in smaller government, lower taxes, controlled borders, and adherence to the US Constitution. What on earth is this pantload Pawlenty talking about? Is he saying that the GOP does NOT welcome everybody with those basic principles?
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty should clean up his own house before lecturing the GOP on how to clean theirs. With Senators Amy Klobuchar and (the very fraudulently elected fraud) Al Franken, I don’t think he has any room from which to speak!
Nothing wrong with inviting new folks in, as long as it’s made clear that the principles of the Republican party will not change to suit them.
All others, go over to the Democrats where you belong.
Now, in one sense, I agree with Romney. He was hammered by some over being a Mormon. I would have a lot of trouble voting for Romney, but that's mostly because of his chameleon type ability to adopt any position at the time it becomes convenient. However, on the Mormonism, a lot of that was ginned up by the press to fan what they knew would be concern by conservative Christians and Catholics. The thing is though, that the concern was there. There IS a difference between conservatives and liberals, in that conservatives will throw people overboard very quickly, while liberals will vote for Satan himself if he'll vote the way they want.
William Jefferson and Ted Kennedy are examples. If either of them had been Republicans, they'd have been hounded out of office the next round of elections after their scandals. Kennedy killed a girl and Jefferson had $90,000 in bribe money in his freezer. Larry Craig got bounced from Congress for moving his foot too far in a restroom stall.
TPaw is moving to the Center. The Center the Left has concertedly been moving ever Leftward.
We need someone to push us back to the Right. Palin is one, Jindal apparently another.
translation: RINOs in trouble.
Only way for RINOs to survive is to homogenize the parties even more.
McCain is proof positive that beltway culture is a serious delusion and a formula for dead end candidates.
no more dole
no more mccain
Epic fail from Tim “I shrunk the MN GOP” Pawlenty.
Yep, the Republican party should open it’s tent to all. Become more & more like the Democrat party. Darn I thought that is what they have been doing for the past 15 years or so. I’ll bet they could get more votes if they just changed their name. They could become the Democrat-Lite party. They sure as hell ain’t the Republican party I was a member of for 30+ years. (key word there is WAS)
Ha! Ha! Ha!.
Pawlenty just outed himself as the Moderate he is.
why would statists and socialists want to join a party that appears to be in favor of limited government and capitalism? They already have their own party
The principled one stands only for things worth standing for, and trusts people to be attracted to him.
Sure. Party power is more important the principles! Accept everybody!
Bed-wetting RINO Alert!
I don’t see anything in the party platform that stops anyone from joining us. They just need to get in line with conservatism.