Memo to the GOP
Posted By Russ Emerson on March 23, 2010 at 6:17 pm
A few thoughts for the GOP, if they intend to retake and eventually retain majorities in the House and Senate:
1) “Repeal and replace” — that’s a good first effort. Keep trying. Don’t let the message get stale.
2) Emphasize our founding principles.
3) You might also consider somehow working “tar” and “feathers” into the messaging.
4) Take the message on the road. Face time beats screen time.
5) God bless Mitch McConnell, he is a great senator, and a great leader in the Senate, but the Senate Republican caucus desperately needs a different front man. McConnell has the facial expression and animation of a stroke victim who’s sucked on a lemon. Get someone more photogenic out in front of the cameras.
6) Anything, anything at all, that smells even vaguely like what will be labelled by the Democrats and media (but I repeat myself…) as “corruption,” maybe even “hypocrisy,” needs to be cleaned out, root and branch. Never mind that Democrats (Rangel, Frank, Holder, et al.) routinely get away with behavior that any Republican would be roasted for. This cleaning might include such things as backing primary challengers of tainted incumbents up for re-election, or removing offenders from prime committee assignments. Egregious offenders ought to be removed from the caucus.
7) Once in the majority, enforce the law. Refer members of either party to the Ethics committee, or for criminal prosecution as necessary.
8) Commit utterly to ruthless fiscal discipline. No earmarks, no new programs, no accounting tricks.
That’s all I’ve got for now.