How do Republicans recover?

The Politico's Arena recently had a very interesting symposium on the future of the Republican party.  The question: What's the most important first step Republicans should take on the road to recovery?  My answer is at bottom, but among the more interesting/provocative answers from the Politico correspondents...

• They can do nothing, and wait. "Change" is a formula that works well about every eight years, since everyone can read into it whatever they want and people are disillusioned with the incumbents.  Or they can try to figure out what they are about: appealing to the "base", small government, big government, social reactionaries, economic liberals, lower taxes, farm subsidies, religious fundamentalists, etc. But parties are a collection of factions, and so find it near impossible to do.  So they wait. -- Kenneth E. Scott, Parsons Prof. of Law emeritus, Stanford Law School

 

• Republicans, follow our lead. No, I don't mean become Democrats (though you are welcome) - I mean do what we did: take the single step of finding one core principle you can all agree will be best for the country and stick to it.  For the Democrats in 2005 facing the self-proclaimed "permanent Republican majority," it was America's inter-generational social compact of Social Security. Despite our other differences, we banded together in a big tent and fought Bush's privatization efforts with one voice, setting the stage for further bottom-up consensus-building that led to the New Direction Agenda of 2006 and the Presidency in 2008. While there is always temptation in any political party to win a top-down battle of partisans versus moderates, the unifying solution comes from a bottom-up agreement. And if you moderates can't agree or are ignored, come on over. -- Christine Pelosi, Attorney, author and Democratic activist

 

• Some people say the Republican party should move back to the right, others call for moderation and modernization. But there are different ways to “move to the right.” I think the message that can unify conservative Republicans, moderate Republicans, and Republican-available independents is fiscal conservatism, limited government, low taxes, and economic growth.  But as Christie Todd Whitman writes in today’s Washington Post, a party that comes to be identified as anti-immigrant, anti-gay, creationist, anti-choice, and trying to block scientific research such as stem cells is going to lose a lot of the moderate, libertarian, and independent votes it needs. As David Kirby and I have pointed out in a couple of studies on “the libertarian vote,” about 15 to 20 percent of the electorate hold broadly libertarian views that set them apart from liberals and conservatives. Those voters often go 70 percent Republican, including in 2000, but they shifted sharply toward the Democrats in 2004 and 2006. (No data yet for 2008.) Republicans can’t win without them. Themes like freedom, choice, and “leave us alone” appeal to those voters, but they’ll be more effective if the GOP learns to apply them more consistently.  In one of our polls, 59 percent of respondents said they would describe themselves as “fiscally conservative and socially liberal.” That’s a big pool of voters for both parties to seek. -- David Boaz, Executive VP, Cato Institute

 

• First, Republicans need one or two big ideas. They should spend some time in the think tanks and universities. They are a party that no longer has big ideas, a key element to the coalition that Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich built. Until they have a compelling argument, we will see more lethargic campaigns such as 2008.  Some of their current arguments are simply tired and outdated. Others, like a blanket attack on government, no longer make sense after Bush’s record between 2001 and 2008. Second, they need to focus on one or two sets of domestic policies that will appeal to moderate voters. Republicans have depended on the Karl Rove model of appealing to the base. But the political landscape always changes, particularly with the success of the 50 state strategy. Third, they need to call up promising recruits from their farm team. This campaign, from the primaries to the general election, saw a Republican Party that looked older and tired.  They need to support younger and fresher voices  in the GOP to prepare them to take center stage in 2010 and 2012. Finally, they need to spend some time out of power. Republicans were damaged in party because they shifted from the party of opposition to the party of power. With that came problems like corruption and the need to compromise positions for re-election. -- Julian E. Zelizer, Professor of History and Public Affairs, Princeton

 

• Where to begin? How about a consistent message on why Big Government is bad? Big Government is bad for excessive interference in people's economic lives, but it is ALSO bad for excessive interference in people's private and social lives. Big Government is bad when it wastes money on domestic policies that are ineffectual, but it is ALSO bad when it wastes money on foreign policies that are ineffectual (or worse): invading other countries that are not a military threat to us, and violating human rights of non-citizens. -- William Easterly, Professor of Economics, NYU

My own 30,000 foot level prescription:

• The public mood has been set by the Democrats, so change the subject.
• Make a better, more thorough case against big government tinkering.  That's going to be a target rich environment.
• Bypass the Right's rotted, complacent movement by building a more healthy market of ideas and information - i.e., new guards - new infrastructure designed for the modern era; and yes, rebuild the party, too.
• Create a long-term strategy for the goals of limited government that you've been preaching for so many years, but politically incapable of actually accomplishing; particularly, focus on a policy agenda that addresses on the underlying structural problems - the perverse incentives that make "more government" the default winning position.