What is the Republican Party?

After asking about whether Democrats can really lead this country, I started to ask the same question on the Republican side. I didn't end up asking the same questions of the Republicans that I did of the Democrats. My concern is that, while the Democrats have been leaderless and lacking an ideology for years, that has not been true of the Republicans since I can remember. Until now...

I would ask people to name me the top 10 leaders of the Republican Party. Right now. Go.

Here's what I came up with (please send me blog post with your list)

1. John McCain
2. Sarah Palin
3. Mitt Romney
4. er, Bobby Jindhal?
5. Mike Huckabee?
6. Charlie Crist?
7. Jeb Bush?
8. Mark Sanford?
9. Rob Portman?
10. Tim Pawlenty?

Not exactly the stuff of legends here, although Jeb Bush may be the only light out of the darkness (perhaps the topic of a future blog...). My question here is, "I'd love to know who is out there that reflects the next generation of Reagan/Gingrich/Bush core beliefs? Who is out there carrying the torch for William Buckley (whose son, by the way, endorsed Obama, and was excommunicated from the Weekly Standard)?

When the voice of the party is represented to the common man in the form of Conservative Commentators (Kristol, Limbaugh, Hannity) more than by elected leaders, what does that say about the party?

When I ask my Conservative friends to explain to me why they are voting for Obama, they tell me, almost to a person, that they don't like Obama's stance on taxes and government. I challenge them to find a dimes worth of difference between the two parties, though, on this topic in reality.

When I hear that people vote on social issues, for Republican candidates, and note that Republicans have been putting judges and justices on the courts for 20 out of the last 28 years, I wonder when these folks start to demand more action from their leaders on the issues they care about.

When I ask who is in the Congress that really represents THEM, I don't get much in return. Boehner? Blunt? McConnell? Lugar? Not exactly the thundering herd that we saw ride in to Congress during the 90's. Where is the leadership to produce a conservative economic plan like we saw from John Kasich in the 90's? Where's the effective leadership that we saw from Gingrich/Delay/Armey? Where is the soft shoe that makes for effective leadership in the Senate, like we saw in Trent Lott?

Say what you want about the Democrats, and they are an easy target to be sure. But this question isn't about them. This is an evaluation of the Republican party of today. Here's what I see:

This is a party right now, that doesn't really know what it stands for. They want limited government, and lower taxes, but just put in a plan to bail out wall street. to the tune of $700B and counting. True, many of them voted against the package, but most did not.

I can hear people saying "Yeah, but the Democrats split on this too..." That's right. But that is nothing new for Brand D. Brand R doesn't behave that way. This is the group that didn't have a single defector to the Clinton tax increases of 1993 (at least as far as I can recall). THAT is party discipline.

This is a party that is for "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" at the Party leadership level, but the rank and file is against it (just ask McCain or Bush).

Then I ask you again, "who does the party look to as it's leaders? Who are the up and comers?" Sarah Palin? I think the party is split wide open on her. Bobby Jindhal? People need to get to know him first, right? Mitt Romney? Does this party trust an East Coast elitist, who until recently, was pro-choice, pro-gay rights, and was Governor of Massachusetts?

Someone please give me a real answer to what the Republican Party is these days? What does it stand for? Who are its leaders?

Yes I am being critical, but I want a real answer to this question.