Recasting the GOP Message--The Ends DON'T Justify the Meanness

From the Bush/Romney/Cantor "listening, non-listening tour", to Dick Cheney's "Protect America at all Costs" message, to the Palin/Huckabee battle for the social conservative's soul, one thing has remained consistent. The Message from all facets of the Republican Party is 'all-negative, all the time'.

Mitt Romney keeps harping endlessly on the Washington/East Coast Liberal Establishment, and how we must rid ourselves of this menace. Huckabee has become the self-appointed justice of all things moral in America, showing such righteous indignation at any snippet of perceived amorality or depravity in the country. Dick Cheney is doing his best to remind America of why we voted the GOP out in the past two elections. Sarah Palin just reminds me of a political messenger in search of a cause to remind people of her relevancy.

I could continue to go on and on about Gingrich, Limbaugh, Hannity, McConnell, etc. They all have one issue to overcome, and they won't win again until they do these two things.

1. They need to present a positive message on what they can do for America.
2. They need to stop harping endlessly on what's wrong with America.

I would like to see ONE speech, one interview, one 'Fox News Sunday', one 'Huckabee minute' , one 3 hour Hannity or Limbaugh radio show, one Palin speech, dedicated to what the Republicans would do if elected to power. Unfortunately, I haven't heard a speech in ages where the content doesn't contain some shot at the opposition. And the shots are often not at individuals. They are at abstract "groups" of people. The secularists. The progressives. The appeasers. The "others". The problem is, there are too many of these "others" these days, to fashion a majority out of this line of thinking.

And it's getting scary. We need conservative ideas in the political arena. We need a two party system. But the Republicans seem to have given up on the idea of...well...ideas. The economy is terrible, people are concerned, and want to know that there may be options if this current economic agenda doesn't work out so well.

The Democrats spent years trying to run against Bush and Reagan, and for the most part, they lost. The winners messages for the most part, have been ones of positive action, of promise for the American people, and of ideas for how you want to lead the nation.

Where is that message from the GOP these days? Where are the ideas? Paul Ryan (R-WI) put out an alternative budget to decrease taxes and spending (although I found reading the markup to be about as easy to read as a Dostoevsky novel in parts). What I'd like to see is a pure argument FOR that tax policy, and what it would mean for Americans. And start to make the case. Otherwise, right now, there is really only one party with any real message. I am concerned that can be dangerous.

The GOP has taken the position that to stand on the sidelines and attack the position is their ticket back to power. I am concerned that they would rather watch the country possibly melt down than actually try to persuade people that their ideas are better.