If there’s two things you should know about me, it’s that I’m a political nut and a huge hockey fan. Just as I support the Republican Party, I root for the Pittsburgh Penguins. I’m on the wait list for season tickets, and I do my best to watch every single game (82 in the regular season alone). If you follow hockey, you already know this: the Penguins are blessed with two of the best players in the entire world, are considered to be one of the hottest teams in the NHL, and last year came within two games of winning the Stanley Cup. However, the Pens have recently encountered serious adversity, with seven losses in the past nine games, a 8-15-1 record in the last 24 games, and a losing record (21-19-4) when OT losses are taken into account.

Just as the Penguins have elite players but are in a miserable rut, so too have Republicans fallen out of contention as a national party over the past four years. And like the Penguins, we have a number of options at our disposal that could possibly turn things around:

1. Luck. Over the past few seasons, the Pens have gone through rough stretches; the same is true of the Republican Party. However, for one reason or another in the past two years, the Pens have had something of a lucky occurrence that turned things around. Last year, it was a huge Thanksgiving Day shootout victory over the Ottawa Senators that turned the tide. Perhaps a lucky break could turn things around for Republicans, too.
2. Change the Lines. In hockey, a line consists of three forwards or two defensemen. The idea of a changing the composition of a line is that you keep the same players on the team, but shuffle around with whom they play. Penguins head coach Michel Therrien is notorious for changing the lines when things aren’t working. Perhaps we could change the lines at the RNC and our various state and local parties, shaking up their organizational infrastructure. For example, many believe that there is a pressing need to change the RNC’s structure by integrating eCampaign staff into every department.
3. Make a Trade. Last season, the Penguins’ general manager Ray Shero made a high-impact trade, obtaining superstar Marian Hossa in exchange for two role players, a prospect, and a first round draft pick. Hossa played a huge role in building a Pens team that made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. In the Republican Party, a high-impact trade could be replacing some of our worst elected officials with ones who would garner more respect and better represent the GOP. For example, in 2010, we could look to again try to trade Rep. Don Young for a principled, fiscally conservative Republican in the primary. We could also look to trade older career politicians for new faces that would fulfill a 40 under 40 strategy.
4. Promote a Player from the Minor League. Last year, the Pens brought up two of their minor-league AHL prospects: Tyler Kennedy and Kris Letang; this year, the Pens promoted Alex Goligoski, who currently leads all rookie defensement in scoring. All three players have contributed enormously to the team. The Republican Party could look to promote up-and-coming folks, and give them an opportunity to win at the major league level. Newly elected Rep. Aaron Schock is a great example of the potential success we can encounter when we promote star-caliber minor leaguers to the big league.
5. Replace the Coach. There has been speculation that the Penguins might part ways with head coach Michel Therrien in an attempt to shake things up. Likewise, Republicans are currently searching for the right person to lead the Republican National Committee. Do you keep the Chair who oversaw the RNC while it lost many seats in Congress and the White House, or do you replace him? And if you replace him, what sort of person do you replace him with? These critical and challenging questions confront both the Pittsburgh Penguins and the members of the RNC.

Just like the Penguins, Republicans face the enormous task of figuring out which combination of these strategies is necessary to get out of this slump. Part of the difficulty is the fact that choosing the wrong combination will at best do nothing to improve the situation, and at worst could result in an even deeper hole.

What do you think?

Last 5 posts by Aaron Marks

• Onward and Upward: Building a Sustainable Majority - January 22nd, 2010
• Dear Young Voters: This Is What You Get When You Don't Vote - December 1st, 2009
• The Youth Vote and the 2009 Elections - November 6th, 2009
• The Best of the Post-2009 Election Spin - November 5th, 2009
• Introducing NextGenGOP Executive Director James Kane - October 20th, 2009