The GOP is asking "What do we do NOW?"

A Democratic President with tremendous popularity and support from the US population? A shrinking base of support? A perceived rejection of your core economic beliefs? Retiring Senators? What's a party to do? Republican leadership has got holes in the bucket that are leaking everywhere. So what do you do to stop the bleeding?

1. New Leadership--John Boehner seems to think that he has credibility when he feigns surprise at the size of the stimulus package. That may have been perceived by people as genuine before the economic collapse, and before he led his party to 6 years of terrible budget choices while in the Majority leadership. Much like the delusional George W. Bush farewell tour, people will only be fooled so many times before they start to tune you out.

If Republicans want to play the loyal opposition role, the existing leadership should take a back seat to new voices. Perhaps Eric Cantor (VA), Paul Ryan (WI), or Adam Putnam (FL) could take up the mantle, and make a more convincing argument for fiscal responsibility. It is time for some of these guys to get out on the talk shows, and start getting in the mix a little.

On the Senate side, it is a little tougher. After all, how many new Republicans have we seen in the past 4-6 years? Only Bob Corker (TN), Roger Wicker (MS), Jim Risch (ID), John Barrasso (WY) and Mike Johanns (NE) as far as I can tell. All heavily Red states, and all replacing Republican Senators. With a caucus of only 41, and just about all of them responsible for Republican bills that have led to out of control spending, Iraq votes, etc., it is hard to NOW come out as the party of fiscal conservatism. Therefore, the GOP should start looking to point #2.

2. Find better candidates--Even with the unpopularity of George W. Bush, it is still amazing that only five new Republican could be elected to the Senate in the past two election cycles, and the losses in the House are so staggering. With FOUR Republican Senators (and counting!) retiring, David Vitter, Judd Gregg, and Richard Burr facing tough elections, 2010 could be a third blood bath for the GOP faithful. Why is this happening? Because Republicans still haven't looked at their positions, and determined whether they truly have their fingers on the pulse of the electorate.

Part of this is the inability to objectively look at the different areas of the country, and try to put up a candidate that may not be a Rush Limbaugh Conservative, but could WIN. Seriously, when was the last time the GOP put up a candidate for Senate in, say, Connecticut that had a shot at winning anything? The last time around, Senator Lieberman faced the strongest challenge from Ned Lamont, the Democratic standard bearer. Alan Schlesinger, the GOP candidate, got about 4% of the whole state! How can this party survive if it won't even find a real candidate to run in all 50 states? Time for John Kyl to find real candidates, who can win, and will vote with the GOP. That has to be job one.

3. Can't be the party of "NO"--As the opposition, the GOP is quickly becoming the party of "NO" Not exactly the way to rebuild the brand, in the face of "Yes we can". Time to start working with Obama. Considering the way Obama has made his intentions to be inclusive, very clear, this should be something that is achievable. It's time to realize that GOP positions won't be achieved just by holding your breath until you turn blue (no pun intended). Time to start shooting for getting 20-30% of your agenda included in the bills, rather than opposing bills, and getting nothing, hoping people will eventually turn on your opponents.

4. Need to express ideas in a positive way--If the GOP has new ideas, I haven't heard a single one. Saying no to stimulus, or "card check" (which by the way, NO ONE CARES ABOUT) is not new, nor is it really an idea. Time to get Newt Gingrich, or other thinkers on board, and lay out a platform for GOP success. How about taking over the energy debate with real ideas on how to decrease or dependence on foreign oil?


In the end, the GOP has got to figure out a way to stay relevant here, or they are going to find that more existing Legislators and potential Governors are going to flee the party of opposition and no ideas.