Republicans need to propose a future and work towards it (chad)

As Republicans, we are faced with the unfortunate reality that our ideas frequently lack the easy, fuzzy and warm narrative that Democrats can offer. In his recent Doublethink Online piece, Conor Friedersdorf brings up the example of rent control - while liberal policies may actually make things worse for poor families, the pro-rent control narrative is easier to tell.

Unfortunately for us, in addition to the head start the left has in crafting an attractive story, the word "Republican" now has it's own set of drawbacks.

...

He's got it right. The problem we face now is that we aren't proposing a future, we aren't saying "Here's what the world will look like with our policies in place, here's how our policies make your life and future better." McCain took a crack at this with his speech outlining what Iraq will look lke in the future - good. Now, this needs to be expanded to the rest of his agenda. And it can't be done with fifteen bullet points, it needs to be done in a clear, concise way that cuts through the clutter.

...

While the factions of the GOP don't all have to agree on each bit of policy, there has to be more than a process we tend to agree upon - we need an outcome that a Republican government is working toward. When we were in power, when we had the reins, we failed to achieve outcomes that Americans wanted, and thus, as Winston's column notes, we were "fired". Luckily, we still have a chance to prove why we should be hired again.

source

I agree. I have been thinking about this for awhile and while my thoughts were not as well articulated as Ms. Soltis's I was headed in the same direction. I'm glad someone more articulate and more likely to be read than me came along and laid this out.

What is the future we see?

Here is what I see (and these are just off the top of my head this list could really be expanded)

1. An America that is prosperous because of sane economic policies.

a. Tax policies that maximize the amount of income a worker gets to keep.
b. Companies that are competitive because our corporate tax rates are among the lowest in the world instead of the highest.

2. An America where it's citizens feel secure in their day to day lives

a. A public private split on social security in which taxpayers can divert up to half of the employee contribution to a private IRA / 401K / Mutual Fund
b. Access to Medical savings accounts
c. Energy Independence

3. An America where it's citizens feel safe.

a. Win in Iraq - A secure peace in the Middle East
b. Minimum Criminal Sentences and Three Strikes Laws
c. Energy Independence

I know this is a short list but what I wanted to try and do is present points that could be laid out as interconnecting parts of a vision not just individual policy points.

Originally posted with slight differences at my blog Kuru Lounge

Edit - Right after I posted this I found another article via Instapundit that addresses the lefts effort to control the narrative. Despite all the pledges of a clean campaign this is going to get nasty.

posted by xgenghisx at 08:00 PM

| Access Comments