Steps Necessary for GOP Rebuilding
Glenn Reynolds is right. There is lots of interesting stuff today at the Next Right. A lot of it goes into great detail about a post I had planned for today.
I had intended to list the points I think the next chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) needs address and offer some thoughts on that race. The bloggers there go into much great detail, so in my list of where, I believe, the GOP needs works, I’ll, as appropriate, link their posts. Patrick Ruffini thinks we need do three things: Rebuild our infrastructure, Find our message, Find new leaders. I think it involves a little more than that.
- MESSAGE: GOP needs one main “message man” with a team of effective (and telegenic) spokespeople to communicate a clear Republican message. And we need develop a message which resonates with voters. (Somewhat related: GOP Needs an Ideas Czar, Which Comes First – Ideas or the Message?)
- FUND-RAISING: The party needs to build upon Mike Duncan’s fundraising apparatus, especially for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC))–check names. Needs to develop means to raise more money via the Internet.
- GRASSROOTS/PARTY INFRASTRUCTURE: Need to rebuild state and local parties, update databases of Republican-leaning voters, register new voters. Need to have a better Get Out the Vote (GOTV) effort for 2010.
- CANDIDATE RECRUITMENT: Should strive for serious candidates in all Senate races, even those (e.g., California, Hawai’i, New York and Vermont) where victory now seems impossible.  Also need to run candidates in all House races which have the potential of becoming competitive.
- NEW MEDIA: Need to better utilize the web and new media. Development of Rightroots.
- HISPANIC OUTREACH:Â Need to figure out why McCain did so poorly among Hispanic voters and develop Hispanic outreach with goal of exceeding Bush’s 2004 share of Hispanic vote.
- YOUTH OUTREACH: Need to reach out to young voters. While nearly 70% voted for Barack Obama in the election recently concluded, most had little idea what their man stood for (beyond the amorphous concept of change). Some surveys (and abundant anecdotal evidence) showed that many of these voters have libertarian inclinations. GOP needs to tap into that (Somewhat related: Diversify Your Freedom Portfolio (Part One) (Part Two).
Now, the question is which of the candidates for RNC chair is capable of doing all these things. James Richardson offers a rundown of the leading candidates. (Chris Cilizza offers his take here and Matt Lewis here.)
While I think Michael Steele is the ideal man to deliver the GOP message, I (as do others blogging about the race) have doubts about his organizational ability. John “Chip†Saltsman, the former chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party, appears to possess those managerial skills. If he hadn’t managed Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign, I might be more favorably inclined to his candidacy. Still, that campaign was sucsessful in getting its voters to the polls in the caucuses. And our party didn’t do a good job this all of getting our voters to the polls.
Jim Geraghty offers a more favorable take of Saltsman here.
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If outreach means lucid explanations of conservative principles and how conservatism places the interests of the USA and its CITIZENS first (both short term and long term) and includes some truth-telling (i.e. there is no free lunch) then I’m all for it.
If outreach means pandering to the various hyphenated-American groups then we’re doomed. The only way to out-pander the left is to adopt their philosophy… which, come to think of it, the president and the GOP did.
Comment by SoCalRobert — November 26, 2008 @ 9:07 pm - November 26, 2008
And of the items you list, I’d vote grassroots and infrastructure as most important. Rebuild those and the other items… fundraising, candidate recruitment, message development, and outreach take care of themselves.
Comment by V the K — November 26, 2008 @ 9:37 pm - November 26, 2008
Amen, Socal! Our way must NOT be the hyphenated-American groups. We have the solutions which benefit everyone!
Among my observations of the GOP is that as a whole, Republicans lack a fundamental understanding of the structure of a functioning party. They think you can dip in and out, paying attention only close to election-time, or focussing mostly on gubernatorial and national campaigns. It’s like having a ball team with no bench strength. What is needed is a pyramid, with a lot of ground troops at the bottom, including a lot of people being involved as PCOs, zoning commission members, etc. Most of these community level jobs can be incredibly boring and don’t seem important, but they are necessary so that candidates can be trained through running for smaller elections and so you have a candidate pool from which to draw county positions, then lieutenant governor positions, etc. Conservatives usually are busy with their personal lives and don’t like to do these “servant-like” positions. So, those who are willing to do them are often just those who seek power and don’t have any coherent ideology.
If county and state parties would learn how to communicate the importance of these lesser positions to the overall vision, more people would participate.
The Christian Coalition used to run some helpful training seminars years ago in basic instruction about how political parties work, and how elections are won. I’m not sure if any other organization ever bothers to do the same thing. What amazed me was the fact that so many conservative voters knew nothing about how the system actually works. One of the benefits of these seminars was that local politicians would attend them and speak about their own experiences getting elected. It was very motivating in terms of generating activism when you can actually meet these local officials and speak with them personally, that is, without having to attend $100.00/person fund-raising dinners!
As I am surmising, McCain-Feingold effectively shut down the activities of the CC. However, there’s no reason another organization dedicated exclusively to defending Constitutional rights, or some other strictly conservative viewpoint could not do the same type of training.
In my limited experiences of county GOP conventions, I’ve seen at least half of the available seats go empty, and chairman’s positions go uncontested due to lack of interest, even, in one notable case, when everyone detested that chairman.
Conservatives have been on the outs for so long, they tend not to have realistic expectations. They squabble among each other over the perfect school voucher, or school choice method, or whether we should move to a flat tax or a national retail sales tax instead of being content with the incrementalism which is how our system works. Liberals on the other hand, understand this. They chip away for years, as they have with health care, with education, with Goals 2000, etc. until they have eventually attained their goals.
In 1996, I saw Republican candidates for the presidency maneuvering around and arguing about in which cases abortion should be permitted. This shows a naivete beyond belief. What I would advise strategists to do is to focus on what reduces demand for abortion in the first place, as well as pointing up the heroic and unselfish nature of those mothers who choose to have their babies and place them up for adoption as opposed to aborting them. A PR campaign of this order will accomplish far more than squabbling over how to un-do Roe v Wade. Social conservatives need to become more sophisticated in being able to explain why their causes are causes which benefit everyone, whether religious or non-religious. Those who find the values voters frightening might want to get to know enough of them to get a feel for what they think.
Comment by Vivian — November 26, 2008 @ 10:04 pm - November 26, 2008
SoCalRobert, agreed.
Comment by GayPatriotWest — November 26, 2008 @ 10:25 pm - November 26, 2008
That is why a two-man (or woman-women)team are needed. Michael Steele the face and someone like Newt Gingrich behind the scenes, getting the grunt work done like fundraising, candidate recruitment and the like. And, I urge ANYONE that cares about the future of the Republican party and conservatism to go to the Next Right and link on to Rebuild The Party. I did and offered some ideas. It is really important to come together now, not keep the sniping going. It only helps the other side.
Comment by Mark J. Goluskin — November 27, 2008 @ 12:37 am - November 27, 2008
Michael Steele and Newt Gingrich would be a great team to lead the RNC.
However, may I go back to message – please do not pick an old man to do a young man’s job. No one wants to hear about past exploits, they want to hear what the future holds.
We need to start grooming the young upcoming politicans NOW!
Comment by PatriotMom — November 27, 2008 @ 6:08 am - November 27, 2008
Get Haley Barbour back on the RNC job ASAP. He might have an eye on the White House, himself, but he knows the ropes better than anyone. He may not have the “purity” that Democrats demand of Republicans, but he is 100 times more “pure” than any Democrat on the scene.
Republicans can not choose candidates that will pass the Democrat “litmus” test. Democrats have the talent of supporting Clinton’s draft evading and then trying to nail Bush with the same charge. They will attack a Republican’s religion, a Republican’s tie to a lobbying firm, a Republican’s wealth, and you can bank on attacks on the weak mind of the Republican candidate.
The RNC must have a chair who knows how to take the mud, while clearly pointing out, in an effective way, who has the mud on his hands. That is a talent and Haley Barbour has it.
Comment by heliotrope — November 27, 2008 @ 9:36 am - November 27, 2008
Why does my post not appear? Did I get caught by a censor because I said something unapprovable?
Comment by Stopped Clock — November 27, 2008 @ 9:37 am - November 27, 2008
[...] Steps Necessary for GOP Rebuilding While nearly 70% voted for Barack Obama in the election recently concluded, most had little idea what their man stood for (beyond the amorphous concept of change). Some surveys (and abundant anecdotal evidence) showed that many of these … [...]
Pingback by barack obama campaign | IBM.COM IBM - United States — November 27, 2008 @ 10:31 am - November 27, 2008
I think, as you have noted also, it is a huge and great idea to notice where the leftist illuminati succeeded in this election. They won and there are some lessons to be learned by their strategies (without adopting their principles.)
Comment by ew — November 27, 2008 @ 11:40 am - November 27, 2008
Thast basically what the Democrats started doing, especially in running candidates in races that seeme unwinnable at the time…worked really well for them.
Comment by Darkeyedresolve — November 27, 2008 @ 7:59 pm - November 27, 2008
I think #3 makes a good point about incrementalsim. Some conservatives demand all now, or nothing; that is just not the way reality works. Conservatives can’t be liberal-lite, but we can’t be all or nothing now ideologues either.
Comment by Andrew — November 29, 2008 @ 8:37 pm - November 29, 2008
They also have to try to do something about the general homophobia and ignorance that is still sadly held by too many Republican supporters. It’s wrong, it’s ugly – and it is hurting candidates in the voting booth, too.
Comment by Peg — December 1, 2008 @ 11:45 pm - December 1, 2008
What the GOP needs is inspiring and truthful *principles*, and the backbone to stand up for those candidates who step up to the plate to articulate them. Most of the rest of your points will then happen naturally.
Example: GOTV effort. The GOP already knows how to do GOTV. And it knows it needs it. The problem is, finding masses of nationwide volunteers. Have an inspiring and principled candidate (or slate), and the volunteers will come. Have an un-inspiring and apparently unprincipled candidate (or slate), and they won’t.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — December 3, 2008 @ 5:59 pm - December 3, 2008