When I first sat down to tackle Aaron’s original question to all of us here at NextGenGop.com (“How can the Republican Party get back on the right track?”), I was full of ideas and commentary to type up. As I started to read Aaron and Brad’s posts I realized that they were saying exactly what I was thinking myself. Funny how that works, huh? This post is probably going to sound like an echo of ideas and points brought up in previous posts, but with some new ideas and thoughts.
First of all, let’s talk about ‘spreading the word’. I strongly agree with Aaron that we need to redefine how our party conveys our platform. This comes in the form of party message and how we get that message out to the people. Who are we as a party? What do we stand for? What do we stand against? As conservatives, we can easily answer these questions for ourselves. For others though, the task may not be that easy. We need to not only solidify our stances as a party, but we also must add a level of fluidity to our platform. As Brad pointed out, there are a few vastly popular centralized liberal websites while there are many conservative sites each with a small following. We need to combine and unite these voices under smaller, centralized networks.
Next I want to talk about what Aaron describes as ‘new media’. The great power that comes from Web 2.0 is networking. I can think of countless websites that are insanely popular that really have nothing to do specifically with networking users at all, but since they incorporate these features they come out as the clear winners against competitors. Great examples of this would be YouTube, Digg, and Google. Do you really need social networking for posting videos online? Absolutely not. There’s a whole list of websites where you can upload a video for free and then link it to people. The fact that YouTube has built in networking makes it that much better and attractive to users. I really do believe that the future of the GOP depends on creative social networking website(s) that can allow the free flow of information from user to user. Just like how Obama’s social networks allow you to see a breakdown of all of your friends and contacts (like Aaron previously stated), these features are key to attracting and maintaining a strong user base.
Integrating both of my previous points to create a RightsRoot movement is the logical next step. I believe using a social networking website to create a RightsRoot Movement is the best way to achieve many of our goals in re-establishing the GOP. This helps open up dialogue between contributors and commentators. Establishing contact between conservatives all across the nation can only help improve and encourage dialogue between everyone and anyone, whether they are committed conservatives or independents and democrats looking for answers. We need to connect, share, and better ourselves as a party, united.
Here are a few brief points in list form that I think need to be included for our new message. Again, these may and probably will restate some of the things Aaron and Brad have already talked about in their previous posts and are in no particular order:
- No corruption, period: Whether this comes from pork-barrelling, money/bribe scandals, or scandals that break our moral values. We should publicly condemn these politicians and public figures to further solidify our message. Actions always speak louder than words.
- National security: Whether we are talking about terrorism abroad or securing our borders at home, we should always be the party that stands for protecting this country at all costs.
- Government reduction: This comes in the form of less taxes, a free market system, and minimzing over-excessive Government regulation in our country.
Overall, I believe that our better times are on the horizon. Can we unite and turn around the party before the upcoming 2010 elections? Absolutely. It’s going to take some hard work and great dedication by everyone who believes in the Republican Party. Could it take longer then two years? Again, yes. It all depends on the willingness of contributors and commentators as well as politicians and the public alike. But either way, change is coming; and I believe it is not only needed, but for the best.
Last 5 posts by James Clarkson
- A Few (New?) Thoughts - March 31st, 2009
- How to not be 'closed-minded' - December 31st, 2008
- Republican Loss Myth #2 - November 13th, 2008
- Republican Loss Myth #1 - November 6th, 2008
- Young Voter Turnout in Colorado - November 4th, 2008
Change is coming. There are some young republicans out there that are truly devoted, but so many people out there are not identifying with the party, even though we believe in the same things that they do.
The Democratic Party is becoming younger, attracting younger voters. The Republican Party is beginning to do the same, but we have some major catching up to do in order to gain enough control in the government to make some true changes again.
I believe one thing the party must accept is that we must allow some of the younger Republicans to take some important roles that will allow them to begin to bring the Republican Party back to the success we should have.
This website really caught my attention because the Republican Party needs to look to the next generation. With Democrats gaining power in the past election and possibly even more this election, the party needs to not only get back to our roots and what we stood for, but we need to continue onto the future and create a plan not to return us to the past, but to take us into the future. In a world that is changing, we need to take control of this nation and help lead it to a new era of success. As stated, our original beliefs that have started to fade our what attracted people to our party. Battles that are not being won and our distracting the government from leading the nation and more governing the personal lives of each person. We need to realize not what we think needs to be done to return America to the old days, but we must help it move forward, while remembering what we have learned from those old days. The Democrats are about change, change, and more change. When I read the history of America, I’m filled with pride. Why should we change everything when this nation has been loved by its citizens since its creation. Obviously, we don’t need to change everything, we need to remember what made us proud in the first place.
I’m going to be looking to get more politically involved over the next four years because I believe now more than ever our party and ideology is at a very precarious point in history.
I came across this website while surfing. I find it interesting that it shares a lot of my concerns. Quoting Fred Barnes doesn’t hurt you either when it comes to gaining favor with Republicans like me. And the Contract 2.0 is great.
I, like most Republicans, am a staunch Reaganite. I think Ronald Reagan was the greatest president of our lifetime, if not the century. Because of Reagan, I became interested in political science and took it as a major in college, earning a B.A.
I have a dual degree in Poli Sci and Literature. I’ve had extensive business training in the real world after graduating. I am partners in a business. I understand the intellectual arguments that go into discussing political policy. I’m not trying to impress you or sell you on believing what I’m about to say. I just want you to know this because its the basis upon which I have given this great thought and come to the conclusion I have. I know that I am also just a regular middle class guy from Virginia who, like the rest of us in life, is just a flea on an elephant’s ass in the grand scheme of things.
But I need to know if my observations based on my background are going to be in line with those of my political party. Because if they are, I am willing to fight for the future of my party. If they are not, then I have more work to do in convincing my party.
The first step to getting the Republican party back to its Reagan roots and reviving its greatness has to be in the selection of its next great leader. We cannot have party in-fighting between moderates and conservatives, or the elite and the rank and file. If everyone who shares my sense of urgency about how important it is to get the Grand Old Party back to being grand again can agree on one person, one candidate, one standard bearer who can lead this party back to greatness, then I think we’re in business.
It’s been a painstaking toil intellectually to find the qualities of greatness in a political candidate after the bar was set so high by Ronald Reagan. It’s been really tough. There have been tricks of the light like George W. Bush. There have been tricks of the mind like Fred Thompson. Therein lies the first issue in choosing our new standard bearer.
I’ve supported both Bushes, and actually thought W would keep the philosophy alive. However, after a brilliant first term, he sputtered on issues of fiscal responsibility and spending. He oversaw the Democratic party’s destruction of our financial system and didn’t utter a word. Bush the father broke his promise on tax increases.
I’ve always voted down the line Republican at both the state and national levels. I’ve researched political candidates, studied leadership in seminars I’ve attended for business and kept in touch with my Reagan roots using Reagan as a litmus test for what I was looking for in a leader.
During this year’s primaries, I still didn’t see it in one candidate. I saw bits and pieces of it in the different candidates. Fred Thompson had the ideas, Mitt Romney had the charisma, Mike Huckabee had the populism, John McCain had the military hero background and Rudy Giuliani had the nuts and bolts leadership skills. If you asked me during the primaries who I wanted to win, I would have told you if you can combine all the candidates into one, I’d vote for that guy.
Are my standards just way to high, or was I just not seeing any true great ones out there? Since Ronald Reagan’s passing, there has been a void in leadership. It’s been a saddening void which basically led me to a melancholy reckoning that “okay, I’ll vote for McCain because he’s the lesser of two evils.”
Then something changed that melancholy to profound hope. John McCain was the last guy on the list of primary candidates that I would vote for. Even after McCain had locked up the nomination, I still voted for Romney in the Virginia primary. Saddened by the fact that our best days may be behind us as I watched the rise of Obama, I reluctantly got on board for the lesser of two evils. Then John McCain did something more profound than just running for president. He did something that history may some day look back on as the choice that saved the party.
I’m going out on a limb. I’m staking my entire political being on this one. I’m willing to eat crow if I’m wrong. I know who the next great one is.
But don’t believe some schmo from Virginia just because he’s got a couple of degrees. I want everyone from your group to the groups across this great country to take a real good hard look. Do the research yourself. But more importantly, understand that some of the research cannot be done because it hasn’t happened yet. I want everyone to watch our next great leader over the next four years. Watch how this person takes the foundation on which this person’s life has been built and adds levels of greatness to this foundation.
I told you I know who the next great one is. But don’t believe me. Believe John McCain, a man who would lose an election if it meant putting his country first.
For the sake of the party and the future of our republic, I implore every American and every republican to come to their own conclusions and say, you know maybe this person really is the next great one. I can give you compelling arguments in the days, weeks and months to come. But it’s not important that I see it. It’s important that everyone else in the party sees it.
John McCain, foot soldier to the last great one, selected the next great one to be his running mate. Sarah Palin embodies everything that Ronald Reagan stood for. She fills the void left by the passing of Ronald Reagan. She’s the greatest hope our party has. If my party is willing to accept her as its leader and standard bearer, I’m in.