I recently wrote a piece for my local school paper and I wanted to post it here too because I believe it summarizes a lot of the points we’ve brought up here on this site. While it isn’t comprehensive, I believe it works well as an introduction to the site and the purpose we’re here for. And so without further ado, the GOP Comeback Plan.

As the dust continues to settle from the 2008 elections, one thing is certain – the Republican Party has lost its place. Washington now faces single party leadership in the executive and legislative branches – it may only be a matter of time before liberal nominees for the Supreme Court start to arise.

These facts speak for themselves and lead to a serious question for the Republican Party – how can it regain its former prominence?

A few significant changes are needed to reposition the Republican Party while preserving its core principles. These changes need to be broadly based on its fiscal and social policies, as well as its overall marketing strategy.

Many claim that conservative free-market principles died after the September 2008 crash. They claim the only way to solve our current economic crisis is to use government spending. By using taxpayer money and increasing our foreign debt, we could create government jobs and employ enough people to keep our economy running.

Conservatives, on the other hand, say government jobs do not produce products for the economy – examples from the New Deal government jobs include teams of people who would dig holes and fill them back up to get government checks. Ultimately, even infrastructure jobs do not create additional market share for the economy, but merely increase the viability of domestic transportation.

The Republican Party needs to focus on proposing clear alternatives rather than heaping disparities. One solution would be to propose significant oversight for government spending and to target small businesses for significant resources for growth. Many of the problems of our current economic crisis have come from lack of oversight, so becoming the party of economic transparency will significantly enhance the position of the Republican Party.

In terms of social issues, the Republican Party could also benefit from a change in strategy – by repositioning the party line to be more positive and rephrasing the arguments for conservatism, the GOP can reach out to different voters while maintaining its base.

It will take a significant effort, but regaining control of the discourse concerning the party’s social issues can help the GOP present a unified and more cohesive approach in their appeal to voters.

Repositioned social conservatism will help the party make gains in minority groups where social conservatism is important – in California, around 70 percent of African American voters and 53 percent of Latino voters voted for Proposition 8, a measure limiting marriage to heterosexual unions.

Many key Republican strategists are already working on how to use social conservatism to appeal to these voters.

“We did not lose because of social issues,” said Scott Baugh, Chairman of the Orange County Republican Party, “The vast majority of Republicans are anti-abortion. Voters in the state favored Obama, but they voted down gay marriage. And there is widespread opposition to illegal immigration.”

When fiscal issues are off the table, social conservatism may return as a significant voting issue for the Republican Party comeback – consider the fact that “values voters” were significant in 2000 and 2004, but the economy was the largest issue in 2008.

To bring these factors together, the GOP needs to revamp their marketing using the Internet. There is no dispute that one of the reasons Obama was able to bring his message together with such a significant impact was because of his online strategy, which was unmatched.

Fortunately, the Republican Party has already started the process of catching up. Already, there have been many attempts since the election to do so – events like the GOP TechSummit brought many grassroots organizers together to discuss a cohesive online strategy for the GOP.

The utility of events like these will not just be in the planning or execution however – the Republican Party will need to maintain their presence online and keep with the rising technological capabilities of the Internet to preserve any gains they may make.

By repositioning the party line on social and fiscal issues and bringing these together though a cohesive online approach, the Republican Party can regain its position and make a comeback which preserves the base but still reaches out to the voters it lost in 2006 and 2008.

Last 5 posts by Brad Tidwell

• Voter Fraud- There's an App for That? - April 14th, 2010
• Obama and International Perception - October 20th, 2009
• The Healthcare Debate, Simplified. - October 2nd, 2009
• Win $100 for Reporting Campus Leftist Abuse! - September 30th, 2009
• Serena, Kanye, Wilson and the GOP's Crisis of Coverage - September 22nd, 2009